BLESSED IN VISIONS AND DREAMS

BLESSED IN VISIONS AND DREAMS My Dear Precious Child, In Paul's momentary lapse in wisdom, in his second recorded letter to the church at Corinth, Paul resorted to bragging about his many horrid and painful adventures in My name that, as he said, came with his appointment by Me of being an apostle of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, bragging that he had had more persecution than the other apostles. After he was finished with his boasting, he went on in his bragging and told them about his many spiritual adventures in receiving revelations and visions from Me. He acted as if they had happened to another man, but he spoke of a man who fourteen years earlier, whether in the body or outside of the body he could not say, was snatched up to the third heaven. Paul, himself, was once snatched up into heaven to hear words that could not be spoken in human languages by mere men. Paul said that he would boast about that man but not about himself unless it was about his weaknesses. He wrote that if he were to boast that it wouldn't be folly because he would be telling the truth. (II Corinthians 12: 1-6) He wrote finally that he would not claim that adventure into heaven happened to him because it would cause people to think more of him than what they observed in person. He wrote that, unless he got too proud, he was given a thorn in his flesh, a demon from satan, to beat him up and keep him from getting conceited. Paul wrote that he prevailed on Me three times to be healed but that I had said that My grace was sufficient because in weakness My power is sufficient. So Paul boasted in his weakness so that My power would rest upon him. Therefore, he decided that he would be content with his weakness, with mistreatment, with distress, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Jesus Christ because when he was powerless was when I became strong in him. (II Corinthians 12:6-10) Continuing with this self elevation, Paul wrote that he had become foolish but that the Corinthians had driven him to it. He told them that they should have been commending him. He wrote that even though he truly was nothing, he was in no way inferior to the other "super apostles." He wrote that he had performed before them the great signs, wonders and actions of My power. Paul attested to the fact that the churches where he ministered were not inferior to the other ones except that he had been no burden to them. With a little sarcasm Paul wrote that the people in Corinth must forgive him for not being a burden to them. He wrote his second letter with several thoughts in mind, one being to gently boast at his being equal to other apostles, another being to praise the people of the church for repenting so quickly in answer to his first letter of stern correction, and another to thank them for their giving money to another church. Paul was very verbose in his two recorded letters to the Corinthian church. He had been wounded by their lack of spiritual maturity, considering it a bad reflection upon himself. Your Father of Dreams and Visions