Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Weakness vs. Power | New Testament | 2 Corinthians 4

Episode Date: July 4, 2023

Do you strive to be impressive? Do you need to be powerful in order for God to use you? In today's episode, Patrick looks at Paul in 2 Corinthians 4. From the outside, Paul doesn't look powerful or impressive. Find out how God uses Paul's weakness for his glory. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in one year. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Corinthians 4

Welcome to 10 minute Bible talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. Jesus turns everything upside down. I'm sure you've already noticed that. He calls the least the greatest. He calls the servant the leader. He turns death into life.

And while there's a beauty in this concept, it's the opposite of how we think by default. The truth is that we often want leaders who look great, sound great, exert power, exude strength. but this isn't how God works. Instead, he works through people who look weak, sound foolish, give away power, exude meatness. This fact often makes it hard for people to believe the gospel. We want to follow the big man with the big mansion, not the meek rabbi who didn't even own a home. Why does God do this? Well, I think there's many reasons, but Paul says that one reason God works through weak and meek and powerless people is because if God worked through glorious people, we'd be tempted to think that the results of their ministry were the results of their intellect,

their human strength, their human leadership capabilities. But God wants to make one thing clear. The effectiveness of ministry is not rooted in human power. It's rooted in the glorious power of his spirit. The Corinthians were a lot like us because they wanted strong, bold, attractive, powerful, eloquent leaders. But instead they got Paul. His opponents used his weakness, his lack of eloquence and gentleness against him. They said, hey, are you going to follow that guy? Well, I want you to see how Paul responds. We'll pick up in 1st Corinthians 4. Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry,

we don't lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We don't use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly, we commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the side of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your serfants for Jesus's sake. For God, who said,

Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed,

perplexed, but not in despair. persecuted but not abandoned struck down but not destroyed we always carry around in our body the death of jesus so that the life of jesus may also be revealed in our body for we who are alive are always being given over to death for jesus's sake so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body so then death is at work in us but life is at work in you paul calls himself a jar of clay He's not impressive. But the fact that an unextradinary man like him could be used by God is not proof of his secret greatness.

No, it's proof of God's greatness. Have you ever considered that you're a jar of clay? We are all aware of our weaknesses. We wish we were more attractive, more intelligent, better at leading, better at speaking, better at sports, better at jokes, better at, well, you get it, a lot of different things. But your weakness is not a weakness in God's eyes. what you're ashamed of, he may very well see as your greatest gift. Why? Because he loves to work through weakness. Because when he works through weakness, it proves that he's at work, not a human. How would

your life change if you stopped spending so much time trying to make yourself better, faster, and stronger? And instead, you spent that time asking God, would you use me as I am? I mean, I'm just a jar of clay, but I want my weakness to prove your glory. In a similar way, How about our schools, workplaces, and our nation change if we stop chasing after people who exude human strength and human capability, but instead chased after those who embrace humility and meekness so that they could be vessels of an otherworldly power. I want you to know this. It is often when we feel weakest and closest to death, figuratively or literally, that God's power

comes the most alive in us. if we don't give in to the lies of shame and instead cry out to him in my weakness use me for your glory where do you feel weak cry out to him use me for your glory where do you feel inadequate cry out to him use me for your glory where do you suffer from imposter syndrome cry out to him use me for your glory where do you think you're not enough cry out to him use me for your glory The kingdom of heaven is veiled. Its power is hidden in weakness. Its strength is hidden in gentleness.

Its beauty is hidden behind blemished faces. Cry out to him today. Use me, Jesus, for your glory. Before you forget, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talks newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes, and you'll get an email every Wednesday that's going to help you beat that midweek slump and go deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening. Thank you.