Weakness: June 27, 2011

JUNE 27 2011. TODAYS WORD FOR MONDAY JUNE 27, 2011.

WEAKNESS

DEFINITION:

Lack of strength, firmness, vigor or feebleness; an inadequate or shortcoming; not able to withstand temptation; a defective quality.

SCRIPTURE:

And He said unto me, “My grace is sufficient for you; for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” II Corinthians 12:9.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Throughout the life of Simon Peter, he has been described as a fragile stone and as a rock. In Peter’s life we see that he was both a fragile stone and a rock. He displayed at times moments of unbelievable courage and then in a moment of time showed spiritual failure.

After Peter declared Jesus as Christ, the Son of God, Jesus said to him as recorded in Matthew 16:18, “I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

Jesus saw the strength of Peter’s faith but He also knew Peter’s weaknesses. Peter often reacted on impulse without thinking. When Jesus told the disciples He must suffer and die, Peter took Jesus aside to argue with Him saying, “Never Lord! This shall never happen to You.” (Matthew 6:22)

Peter had strong faith that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, but seemed to think that he knew better than Jesus as to what should happen. Peter was weak in his understanding. While Jesus was on trial Peter showed himself to be weak when he denied he knew Jesus not once, but three times, just as Jesus had warned him that that was what he would do.

Peter’s name means, “a small stone,” and he proved to be fragile when he tried to dissuade Jesus from going to the cross and when he denied Jesus three times after His arrest. Even though Peter had his weaknesses he was made perfect in God’s strength and proved to be a strong rock as the foundational leader of the church.

Peter reminds us that no amount of personal strength or talent can make us adequate for this life and its challenges. We are all, FRAGILE STONES, and need to put our total dependence on our Lord for our strength. Yes, Christ’s strength can empower us in our own weaknesses to be able to deal with the troubles we face in this world.

God uses our weaknesses to reveal to us His sufficiency. It is when we acknowledge our weaknesses that we see our need to rely on God’s strength and not our own. This is what the Lord said to Paul in the verse we wrote above, that His grace is sufficient and his strength is made perfect in weakness. Our weaknesses keep us humble and allow God to demonstrate His power.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Ephesians 4:26.

In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.

PRAYER:

Help our family today to realize that in the natural we are fragile stones and we need to rely on Your strength and enabling power. Help us to grow spiritually each day by reading Your Word and communicating to You through prayer. Give us a blessed day today