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Transforming times of Discouragement

Transforming times of Discouragement
Words of Faith 6-16-16
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2016
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
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Acts 18
[1] After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

Every place that Paul had visited in Europe had been difficult! When he came to Philippi, he was jailed, flogged, and then run out of town. For what? Casting a demon out of a tortured slave.
In Thessalonica, jealous religious people incited a riot and they were forced out of town by a legal sanction against the believers there. In Berea, the people were nice but some of the Thessalonians came and chased Paul out of that town! Paul had to be guarded to get safely to Athens. He then preached his most eloquent sermon, but in Athens only a handful responded.
Paul was probably deeply discouraged if not depressed by the time he left Athens. It is no wonder that Paul wrote of his arrival in Corinth that he came there in weakness and fear, and with much trembling (1 Cor. 2:3). None of his companions were still with him. They had all stayed behind in various places. He was all alone. The simple line "After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth" says a lot! Who would have blamed Paul if had just gone home?!
Here is a question. What do you do when ministry gets discouraging? What do you do when life gets discouraging? What do you do when you try your best to do what you believe the Lord wants you to do, but you get kicked in the teeth and run out of town? What do you do when those you thought you could count on are no longer around?
Paul went forward, not backward. Sometimes progress is as simple as that. Go to the next place. In spite of his weakness, fear and trembling, Paul kept going. He entered the biggest city he had probably ever been in. It was a city which desperately needed the Lord. It was a city filled with every imaginable sin. Yet, he went there with one resolve, to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2).
Adversity does that. Adversity has a way of burning away the fluff so that the only thing that remains is what is truly important. Paul wrote, "I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power (1 Cor. 2:1,3-5)."
As Paul saw the decadence of Corinth, something stirred within him. No more quotes from poets. No more reasoning with the philosophies of the day. The cross. That is what these people need. The cross of Jesus. Nothing more. Nothing less.
The Lord meets us in that same place in our times of discouragement. He draws us back to the cross. He clears aside the unimportant things and give us resolve to go on not in our own strength but in His. The place of discouragement can be a powerful point of transformation. The vision to reach Europe was rekindled but Paul's message was refined and he saw the first really grand breakthrough in Europe.
Have you been discouraged? This may be a critical time of refining. Don't run away. Move forward and meet Jesus at the cross. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed (2 Cor. 4:8-9).

Lord, give me strength in the times of discouragement to see the wonder of the cross as Paul did. Give me courage to move forward, not backward. Refine me by the transforming power of the cross that I may more closely follow you. In Jesus' name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2001, 2016
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.