Skip to main content

Staffs and thorns



Gen:47:31
Israel bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff. 

Not just of old age. But of the dislocated hip that happened in Peniel. 
Man who made himself through hard work and toil. Through striving and deceiving. Now leans on a staff because he cannot stand on his own. He humbles himself because the staff constantly reminds who he really is, his inherant nature. A deceiver. 
Some things stay with us life long in order to remind us who we are. A thorn in the flesh was always there in the life of the greatest disciple of Jesus in order to keep him humble. These thorns are angels, says a Malayalam song writer. 
We often pray, fast and submit prayer requests for these staffs and thorns to go away. But little do we realize that, it is these staffs and thorns that keep us humble, in need of God. Staffs and thorns make us realize who we really are, our intrinsic nature - rebels, self centred, prideful. 
Let us thank God for the staff and thorns in our lives, that they have brought us closer to God. 
Labels:

Comments

  1. Mathews Philip8 December 2021 at 06:43

    🙏

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous8 December 2021 at 10:04

    Yes, thorns in my life is are the reminders of my fallen nature and how I am restored by His grace and need to be surrounded by that for ever.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous8 December 2021 at 10:05

    Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous8 December 2021 at 10:06

    Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come
    Let this blest assurance control
    That Christ (yes, He has) has regarded my helpless estate
    And has shed His own blood for my soul

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. the halfbaked bard8 December 2021 at 10:36

      Amen. We need a constant reminder of where we are saved from. Other wise we would think we deserve all this. Prideful.

      Delete
  5. Smita Itty 8 December 2021 at 18:28

    O yes it's so true
    They are constant reminders that we need God always 👃

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

why fear

Post a Comment
Read more

What has been entrusted

1Tim:6:20 O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Each of us have been given these entrustments. It can be family; it can be privileges and opportunities; it can be blessings in this world; or knowledge or insight from God;  it can be your job; it can a good habit.  Whatever you can think of- it is a gift from God entrusted to you. Guard it. Value it. Cherish it and take care of it with utmost thankfulness and seriousness. When you think of people, who do not have what you have, it fills you with gratitude to God. And you take care of it with seriousness; without a careless attitude. That will take away the routine mundane boredom to deal with it. Contentment is the key to gratitude. The truth to realise is - that you have been given. That you have been gifted. The reality is that all you have is not what you deserved. Therefore do not take these lightly. You have been just kept as a steward, not as an owner of what you "have". A steward does not deserve....
Post a Comment
Read more

Jehovah yeshmor

But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength. 2Tim:4:17 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom 2Tim:4:18 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress My God in whom I trust. Surely He will save you from the fowler's snare And from the deadly pestilence He will cover you with His feathers  And under His wings you will find refuge His faithfulness will be your shield and your rampart Ps:91:2-4 As the mountains surround Jerusalem  So the Lord surrounds His people both now and forevermore Ps:125:2 And I myself will be a wall of fire around it, declares the Lord. Zech:2:5 The Lord will protect you. He will guard you. He will be your shield. Jehovah yeshmor. Do not be afraid of anything under the sun. For He the Sovereign ruler is our Father. Image credit: https://stock.adobe.com/search?k=%22wall+of+fire%22
2 comments
Read more

Contentment

But Godliness with contentment is great gain.  1Tim:6:6 Contentment is being happy with what you have. Contentment is the opposite to greed; covetousness; dissatisfaction; wanting for more. Godliness coupled with contentment is great gain. A surity that God would provide for all my needs. An assurance that God would supply all my needs according to His riches and glory. That He is Jehovah Jireh and I need not worry about my needs. He will take care. This will also help you to give. Like the widow who put the two copper coins which is all that she had. Knowing fully that her God would provide. Cheerfully we can give. Whether in surplous or in nothingness. Knowing for sure that God loves a cheerful giver, we can give happily. Knowing for sure that He would give back, in good measure, pressed down, shaken together.  And finally you will be free from greed. It starts well - planning, money orientedness, ultimately leading to compromising on many important things just t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cleanse

If a man cleansed himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy and useful for the Master and prepared to do any good work. Flee from the evil desires of the youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace. 2Tim:2:21-22 Cleanse yourself from ignoble things and set yourself apart for noble things. Why concentrate on the evil desires of the youth when you have more richer things to pursue - like righteousness, faith, love and peace. Make yourself useful for the Master in the way you can; concentrating on being holy and doing things for the Kingdom. Why waste your time and energy in useless browsing, meaningless chatter and harmful quarrels. Pursue godly things. Unless you feed yourself with godly things, there is no pursuing noble things. If you feed yourself with ignoble things you will persist to pursue ignoble uselss things. Image courtesy: https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/clean-vs-cleanse-difference-usage
1 comment
Read more

Blabber

Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it, will become more and more ungodly. 2Tim:2:16 Refraining from harsh painful words, that hurt others is a godly advise. Here is a step further. Useless, harmless, godless chatter will make you more and more ungodly.  Unnecessary loose talk will take you nowhere. Talk with a purpose always. Use words, what you really mean. Have a discussion which is worth it.  Your words, let it reflect who you are - a child of God. An ambassador of God. Royal priesthood. Heir of God. Talk like a prince, not as a commoner. Do not blabber. Be men and women of substance - by having a solid content in your words. Talk to each other about things which do really matter.  But for that you need to have that content in your heart.
Post a Comment
Read more

Saved

Tit:3:5 He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. No matter how many times I think about this, I am all the more overwhelmed each time. There is no monotony. This is no jargon. There is no monochromatism in it. That I am saved not because of my righteous deeds, but by His mercy. Not because I deserved it, but He chose to. Mercy is infact not giving me what I deserved . And what did I deserve? I deserved only eternal hell; eternal damnation and eternal separation from my loving Father. Because I rebelled, for the Scripture says, the wages of sin is death. God doesn't hold a scale to weigh out my good and bad deeds. He doesn't see whether I was better. He doesn't see whether I am better than my darker side to decide on my salvation. He doesn't compare me with my brother to decide on whether I can be redeemed. All my righteous deeds are like filthy rags before Him. When He looks at me - I am an object of wrath. I am...
2 comments
Read more