WEBVTT

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Day 330, or November 26th Believe Actions Before

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Words Our thoughts today are rooted in 2 Corinthians

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12, verse 12. I persevered in demonstrating among

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you the marks of a true apostle, including signs,

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wonders, and miracles. And now the big picture

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surrounding this verse. Paul concludes his advice

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to the Corinthians by telling them what God has

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to say about boasting. He says that it is better

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not to boast, but if you can't resist, then boast

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about God or the way he works in someone else,

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but never about you. On a different subject,

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Paul then shares the problem he has with his

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thorn in the flesh without actually telling us

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what it was. This puzzle has fascinated scholars

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throughout the centuries, but don't miss the

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point. It was how he handled it and how he got

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the most out of it rather than what it was that

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was important. Paul tells us that he begged God

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to remove it, but when he didn't, he got as much

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benefit from suffering from it as possible, by

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making it a reminder to rely on God even more.

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And now our action step for today. Almost in

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desperation, right at the end of his letter,

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Paul pleads to his fellow believers in Corinth

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to believe him and all he has said because of

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what he has done amongst them. During a recent

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Tour de France, there was a series of accidents

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because someone had scattered sharp tacks all

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over the track. Many cyclists came to a stop

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and some of the leading men were delayed. The

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leader, who had never won a race previously,

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was early enough to have missed all this, so

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had the opportunity to increase his lead even

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more. He refused and slowed his pace to allow

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the pursuing defending champion to return to

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the group. He said, I thought it was the honourable

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thing to do. His credibility was greatly enhanced

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because he said the right thing and then proceeded

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to do it. What a great example to us all! Even

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though we may never be in such an important race,

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we need to show such compassion and sincerity

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in the daily race that we call life.