IMPACT Recap

Thankful For The Thorns

August 22, 2022 · 0:47:45

SufferingFaithGratitude

Recap

Pastor Travis Hearn opened by sharing his personal 'love-hate' relationship with 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, where the Apostle Paul describes a 'thorn in his flesh.' He explained that a 'thorn' represents any persistent source of pain, discomfort, or torment in our lives—be it physical, mental, emotional, or relational, such as depression, anxiety, addiction, or past failures. The central message was a call to be thankful for these thorns because God uses them for our good and His glory. Pastor Travis provided three biblical reasons for this gratitude. First, the thorn keeps us humble, preventing us from becoming conceited and self-reliant, as it did for Paul. Second, the thorn keeps us dependent on God, forcing us to trust in His sufficient grace rather than our own strength, logic, or other people. Third, the thorn is where we experience God's supernatural power most profoundly, for His strength is made perfect in our weakness. The sermon concluded with an invitation for those who did not have a relationship with Jesus to begin one and a prayer for miracles, emphasizing that God is able to accomplish infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.

Main Points

  • We should be thankful for the 'thorns' in our life because they keep us humble and prevent us from becoming conceited.
  • We should be thankful for the 'thorns' because they keep us dependent on God's sufficient grace, not our own strength.
  • We should be thankful for the 'thorns' because they are the very place where we experience God's supernatural power made perfect in our weakness.

Verses Mentioned

  • 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 - "Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (NIV)
  • Psalm 119:29 - "Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me and teach me your law." (NIV)
  • Psalm 140:4 - "Keep me safe, Lord, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from the violent, who devise ways to trip my feet." (NIV)
  • Psalm 141:9 - "Keep me safe from the traps set by evildoers, from the snares they have laid for me." (NIV)
  • Romans 7:15 - "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." (NIV)
  • Romans 5:8 - "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (NIV)
  • Proverbs 17:3 - "The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart." (NIV)
  • Proverbs 20:30 - "Blows and wounds scrub away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being." (NIV)
  • Psalm 119:71-72 - "It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold." (NIV)
  • Ephesians 3:20 - "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us." (NIV)
  • John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (NIV)
  • Romans 10:9 - "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (NIV)

Daily Action Plan

Monday

Scripture Reflection: 2 Corinthians 12:9 - 'But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."'

Focus Point: God's Sufficient Grace

Action Plan: Identify one 'thorn' or difficulty you are facing. Instead of asking God to remove it today, ask Him to show you how His grace is sufficient for you in it.

Deep Prayer: Lord, thank you that your grace is enough for me today. Help me to depend on you, not my own strength, in my weakness.

Tuesday

Scripture Reflection: Psalm 119:71 - 'It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.'

Focus Point: Learning Through Pain

Action Plan: Reflect on a past painful experience. Write down one positive lesson or way you grew closer to God because of it.

Deep Prayer: God, help me to see how you have used pain in my life to teach me and draw me closer to you. Give me a teachable heart.

Wednesday

Scripture Reflection: Proverbs 17:3 - 'The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.'

Focus Point: Refinement

Action Plan: Consider a current challenge as a refining fire. Choose one attitude or action you can surrender to God to be refined today.

Deep Prayer: Father, I submit to your refining work in my life. Purify my heart and make me more like Jesus, even through difficulty.

Thursday

Scripture Reflection: Ephesians 3:20 - 'Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine...'

Focus Point: God's Ability

Action Plan: Write down one situation that feels impossible. Pray specifically, asking God to do what only He can do, trusting in His ability.

Deep Prayer: God, I believe you are able. I bring my impossible situation to you and ask you to work in a way that brings you glory.

Friday

Scripture Reflection: Romans 5:8 - 'But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.'

Focus Point: Unconditional Love

Action Plan: Spend time in quiet reflection, reminding yourself that God's love for you is not based on your performance but on Christ's sacrifice.

Deep Prayer: Jesus, thank you for loving me at my worst. Help me to rest in your unconditional love and extend that same grace to others today.

Saturday

Scripture Reflection: 2 Corinthians 12:10 - 'That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.'

Focus Point: Strength in Weakness

Action Plan: Practice 'boasting' in a weakness. Tell a trusted friend or write in a journal about a personal limitation, acknowledging your need for God's strength.

Deep Prayer: Holy Spirit, teach me to delight in my weaknesses as opportunities for your power to be displayed. My strength is in you alone.

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