Each week we post a scripture to challenge you to hide God’s Word in your heart. Commit it to memory, meditate on it and apply it to your life.

This week’s memory verse:

2 Corinthians 12:9

My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.

Click to tweet this week’s memory verse.

Meditate:

This verse records the words of Jesus in response to Paul requesting the Lord to remove his “thorn in the flesh.” The Bible doesn’t tell us what the thorn in the flesh was, although the Corinthian church to whom he was writing to probably knew. It could have been something like poor eyesight or ill health or some kind of psychological issues such as depression or it could have been an ongoing temptation of some kind. Most of us have our own “thorn in the flesh” – maybe even more than one. What is yours?
Paul prayed fervently and repeatedly until he received the Lord’s answer. When the answer came – it was “no.” For whatever reason, God did not remove this thorn in the flesh. It might be hard to understand why God chose not to. We might could argue that Paul could have served God better without it – but God, in His divine wisdom had a reason for the thorn in the flesh to remain with Paul. Perhaps his witness was even greater because of it – we don’t know. The point is that if we believe verses like Jeremiah 29:11, then even when God’s answer to our request is “no” (whatever the request is), we can rest in the knowledge that God does have a plan for us and that plan is meant to prosper us. God always acts in such a way that it is for our good – even if we can’t understand it. His plans for us are always to give us a hope and future.
When God’s answer came it wasn’t “No way Paul! You deserve it and you just have to live with this thorn in the flesh.” No – instead God’s “no” was given with both comfort and encouragement. God told Paul that He would give him grace to live with the thorn in the flesh and that through Paul’s weakness, he would know God’s strength because it is when we are at our weakest that we depend and rely on God the most.
If God chooses not to remove your “thorn in the flesh” will you become angry or rely on God’s strength in your weakness? Will you give God the glory if His answer is “no” just as much as if it were “yes”? Will you allow your “thorn in the flesh” to become a testimony to the power and glory of God in your life – or will you gripe, grumble, complain and use it as an excuse to not serve Him?

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God, Love and Marshmallow Wars: This book contains 365 daily challenges for couples to strengthen their relationships to each other and with God. Couples will complete activities such as Scripture memory, conversation starters, relationship builders, learning about Biblical marriage, romance builders, personal reflections, and date ideas. Click here to purchase your copy. (This link will open a new widow and take you to Westbow Press’ bookstore.) It is also available at Christian Book Distributors, Amazon, and Barnes & Nobel

Looking for a speaker for your next ministry event? Julia is now booking for 2019 and 2020 Christian events for women’s and couples’ ministries for both small and large events.
Book with us now.

Julia is CEO of Wellspring Christian Ministries, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people and couples develop a passionate relationship with God. A public speaker, conference trainer, event planner, and blog writer, Julia is a two-time graduate from Grand Canyon University with a bachelor in Psychology and a masters in Professional Counseling. Saved as a child and raised in church and in a Christian home and private Christian School as a Pastor’s kid, Julia has taught Sunday school, led music, played the piano, served as Children’s Director, and engaged her gifts in many other areas of church life. Previously employed with the Florida Baptist Convention, Julia organized events and led conferences for church ministry assistants.

Julia enjoys sharing her journey as a growing Christian with others looking for a deeper connection with God. Through Bible study and her own life experiences, God has given Julia a passion to help couples understand God’s design for marriage while they learn to place God first in their marriage, cultivate meaningful relationships, build intimacy, and address the tougher issues that come in every marriage so that they can experience a marriage that honors and glorifies God. Julia also loves mentoring, teaching, and working with women to help them learn to live as Godly women.

With her history and experience growing up in both small and large churches, Julia enjoys bringing top level quality events to churches of all sizes. Her father largely pastored small churches and therefore she understands that these vital parts of the believing community need to be good stewards of the resources God provides them with. This knowledge inspires her passion for being available with a fresh perspective for those who want to provide their congregations with meaningful spiritual growth opportunities.

To request more information or a booking,
fill out the online form here.

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Genesis 17 1

God promised Abraham to make him a father of many nations but as Abraham and Sarah grew older, they decide that God might need a little help in keeping the promise and Sarah gives her maid Hagar to Abraham as a wife so she can bare him a son…and she does. However, God makes it clear that this child is not the child of the promise. In Chapter 17 of Genesis, God renews His covenant with Abraham. First He identifies Himself as the Almighty God who is all-sufficient to do as He promised. God tells Abraham to walk before Him and be perfect. Have you ever thought about what it would be to walk before God? There is nothing we can hide from God, even if we were to walk behind Him. But to walk before Him means living our life in the full attention and sight of God. It is walking in fellowship with Him. Living life in obedience to Him. It is walking by faith and not by sight. It means living in such as way that there is nothing to hide.

When God told Abraham to be perfect, He was telling Abraham to be an upright, sincere person in heart, in his words, and in his actions and behaviors. Abraham was not sinless. We see this when he informed kings that his wife was his sister so they wouldn’t kill him to be able to have Sarah for themselves. There has never been, nor will there ever be, a perfect person other than Jesus Christ. The Hebrew word used for “perfect” is tamin. It is the same word used to describe Noah in Genesis 6:9. The root meaning of the word is whole, integrated, as one exerts all their energy into one pursuit – in Abraham’s case, that pursuit was to live righteously and blameless before God. He was to be “all-in” to God’s plan. Completely dedicated to His cause. He was not free to live like the Canaanites. He couldn’t absorb himself into their culture. He was to remain separated, set apart, holy. There would be no room for half-hearted service to God. It was all or nothing.

God still calls us, His children, to be set apart and different from the rest of the world. We are to be fully committed to living for Him and fully willing to do whatever He asks of us. Just as God told Abraham, so He tells us today, “I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be thou perfect.”

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Cover_m Have you seen Julie’s new book: God, Love and Marshmallow Wars? This book contains 365 daily challenges for couples to strengthen their relationships to each other and with God. Couples will complete activities such as Scripture memory, conversation starters, relationship builders, learning about Biblical marriage, romance builders, personal reflections, and date ideas. Click here to purchase your copy. (This link will open a new widow and take you to Westbow Press’ bookstore.)