Radio Broadcast Wednesday 07/23/2025

Classic Christianity – Power in Weakness – Part 3 – 7-23-25

Power in Weakness – Part 3

Those who are born again of the Spirit of God have the Power of the Holy Spirit living in us. He is there to teach us ALL Truth. He is there to give us Life. He is there to be our Life on a moment by moment basis, by Faith from beginning to end for ALL time. So our boasting is to be in Him. That is key. We have been given His POWER, through the Spirit of God who lives in us. Most will not understand this, because most are not born again of the Spirit of God.

“I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1:18-23

—

~ “I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to gain, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to Paradise. The things he heard were inexpressible, things that man is not permitted to tell.

I will boast about such a man, but I will not boast about myself, except in my weaknesses. Even if I wanted to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me, or because of these surpassingly great revelations.

So 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 perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

…..

And a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, having done what, will I inherit eternal life?”
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good, except God alone.

~ “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” 1 John 5:12

~ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; the one believing in Me, even if he should die, he will live. And everyone living and believing in Me shall never die, to the age. Do you believe this?” John 11:25,26
—

Pray to God:

Do you really want to know the WHOLE Truth of what is going on today?

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

Lord Jesus, teach me the truth of the world today and give me the wisdom to know the truth and identify the lies of the devil. Thank you God.”

~ Bob George emphasizes the importance of embracing weakness to experience Christ’s power. For true salvation comes when one realizes their inability to save themselves, leading to faith in Christ. Bob discusses the challenges of living a Christian life, including dealing with personal sin and marital issues, and stresses the need for reliance on God’s power rather than self-effort. He highlights the concept of a new identity in Christ, which transcends earthly struggles and sin. Bob encourages believers to recognize and draw on the divine power available to them, as exemplified by Christ’s resurrection, to overcome personal weaknesses and live a life of faith.

—

~ “So the issue is, rejoice in your weakness. You got insults, you got hardships, you got persecution, you have difficulties. Sounds like a good old marriage. He said, Then when you’re weak, you’re going to be strong. Now, what else does this power do? How does it manifest itself? In Ephesians 1 he says, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints and of his incomparably great power for those who believe.

So guys, the Bible is telling us that there is an incomparably great power available to us. See, our problem is, how do you know when you got it so things we’re talking about? You know when you’ve built your muscles, that you’ve done something right. You know when you’ve gotten through school and educated that you’ve done something right. How do you know when you’ve been the recipient of this kind of power? It says that this power that Paul says I’m talking about here is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead. It’s the same kind of power that I’ve given you, that I used to raise Jesus from the dead. That’s pretty powerful stuff, isn’t it? And seated him at the right hand in the heavenly realms.” ~ Bob George

Bible Study Booklets

Announcer 0:13
Welcome to Classic Christianity Radio with Bob George Bob’s clear, timeless teachings on the complete forgiveness and unconditional love of Jesus Christ will transform your life as you learn about God’s amazing grace. Let’s join Bob as he teaches us from God’s Word.

Bob George 0:29

So you see, guys, there’s in reality where we have to die, to our own self sufficiency in order to come alive, to his. Where I have to come to a point in my life of saying, Lord Jesus, from what you’re looking for, I can’t pull this off. Isn’t that true in regard to salvation? Let’s say we say, hey, I want to be saved. I want to be strong in Jesus and get saved. Okay, go out and try it. How far are you going to get? Guys go out and do this and this and this. You’ll get saved. Will you? How do you get saved? When you come to the end of yourself. There’s not a person sitting in this room or in the sound of my voice today that. If indeed they’re saved, there wasn’t a point in time in their life when they said, I can’t do it Lord, I cannot pull this off. I’ve tried. I’ve tried all the religious stuff that they told I cannot pull it off. I fall flat on my face every time. The things I want to do, I don’t do, and the things I don’t want to do, I’m doing them anyway. Wretched man that I am who will free me from its bondage of sin and death? And you hear a small voice that says, Thanks be to God. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, He has set me free. And we come to Him by faith, total, without effort, by him and him alone. We right or wrong? It’s how you come to Christ. How do you live with him? As you receive Christ, Jesus, the Lord, so walk ye in him. How did you receive Him? By coming to the end of yourself and walking by faith. How do you walk in him? By remaining at the end of yourself and walking by faith so that he can brag and delight in your weakness. You get insults in the world. Do we get insults with each other? Everybody like you? How many of you, when you got a hold of this message, I cannot wait to go back to my friends and give them this good news, they will be so happy to hear this? How many of you ever read into that? I just now, how many of your friends were really happy to hear this? No, they thought you had just gotten demon possessed. So folks, you got to learn, and that’s where God’s Word comes in, that if a whole world is against me, Christ is for me. Been married. Did your mate leave you? Ever happen? Don’t need to hold up your hands. Did your mate leave you? Is that the end of the world? Might have seemed like it at the time. What got you through that? If God is for me, who can be against me? Why do I want to hold on to him if he doesn’t want to hold on to me? Well, why do I want to hold on to her if she doesn’t want to hold on to me? If God’s for me, who can be against me, I’m never going to be alone again. Whether I’m with her or whether I’m not with her, I’m never going to be alone again. God said to love one another. If you choose not to love me, that’s your prerogative, but I choose to love you. Those are all renewing of the mind. It’s beginning to see things from God’s perspective, but rather than man’s perspective. Said, I’m going to rejoice in the fact that I have these insults. Why? Because it reminds me of the sufficiency of Christ.

Guys, I’ve said this before, and we’ve talked about it before. Why, when God saved us, did he come to invade our life and leave this old yucky flesh in place? Why? Well, first of all, let me ask you a question. Are you all aware of the fact that you still have yucky flesh? Does anybody in here doubt that at all? If you do, we’ve got an insane asylum down the road a little bit, if we’d like to get you to. And we still have yucky flesh. Now, do you think that God is not powerful enough that he could have eradicated that flesh? I mean, when he saved you, I’m just no more flesh. You’re just going to be absolutely perfect. That’s what we’d like for it to have been. In fact, some of us, when we came to Christ, that’s what we were taught, you’re going to be, you’re going to be sinless now? That only lasted for a couple seconds. But the issue is that that would when we are, when we’re, when we’re in Christ, Jesus, that that is Christ living in me, but he chose to live in this body that contains indwelling sin. He left it there. But he said, If you’ll walk in the Spirit, you won’t fulfill these desires of the flesh. He didn’t say, I’m going to take the desires away from you. There would not be, quite frankly, guys, if God would have taken every sinful desire away from you at salvation. Do you know how long you’d hang on to Jesus? About five minutes. Do you know why Paul was able to say, I rejoice in my weakness? Because he recognized my weakness is what keeps me dependent on Jesus. That’s why he left us with this flesh. It keeps us dependent on Jesus. Otherwise, who are we going to be dependent on? Me. I don’t care if at salvation I didn’t have. Have anything to do with him eradicating this flesh, I’m going to ultimately take credit for it. And many times you say, Well, I don’t glorify my yuckiness. I mean, I’m not just walking around bragging about it. I don’t have to brag about it. It’s just there. It just raises its ugly head whenever it wants to, but it’s what keeps you dependent. And if we’ll begin seeing this, we’ll begin seeing Hold on a minute. Instead of rebelling against my weakness, I’m going to start rejoicing in my weakness, because our tendency is, dog gone it I’m going to improve that. I’m going to get better. I got a bad temper, I’m going to work on it. I got a critical spirit, I’m going to work on it. Any of you have any of those, don’t work on it. How much good does that do guys? You can work on it all day long. You’re never going to eradicate it. You say, Well, that’s not good news. Yes, it is, because you and I are indwelt, it says that we have living in us God and that I have the ability to participate in that divine nature that lives in me anytime I want to. That’s supernatural, guys. I also can participate in this flesh of mine, and I can do that quite well, and I’m familiar with it, aren’t you? Not with mine, with yours. But that’s a choice. I have a choice to participate in the divine nature and do things God’s way, think things God’s way, or to think things my way. And guys, if I’m full of pride, it’s just my way.

That’s why in Christian marriages, that it says to learn to submit one to another. What is that saying? Is quit always wanting to be right. Like a guy said, I married my wife, her name was right. I just didn’t know her first name was always. I we want to be right. He said, You’re going to have to give that up and say, I don’t care what I’m thinking. This, this thing sounds so good. You can do some great, funny things with this, men from Mars and women from wherever they’re from, and all that kind of stuff back and forth. But the issue is that is not the issue. It’s not the thing that this is just the way we women think, and this the way we men think. The issue is, I know that’s the way you think. That’s why you need the Lord, because both of you are messed up, and you need. Amen. Paul says, Amen, you need the Lord. That’s why in decision making, it’s not here’s what I feel and here’s what I feel, and I feel this way because I’m a man. I feel this way because I’m a woman. But let’s say, What does God say about this? What’s God say about it? And guys, if we don’t use that as a standard, we’re just out to lunch. We’re just out on our own. If we don’t make our decisions based upon what God has to say, then we’re just out on our own, and destruction is ahead of you, either destroying of your marriage, destroying of your relationship. How many of you are married in this room? Okay, how many of you, when you got married, stood before the minister and said, I pledge to be angry and I pledge to get my way, so help me God? And I pledge I’m going to hang in there till death do us part. I took my wife for better or for worse, even though she’s worse than what I took her for, that’s what I took her for.

No, I’m there to love and obey, cherish, just so they love. It’s unbelievable. Six months later, ready to kill each other. What happens? We destroy it with our mouths, with our minds. We get in and take something that God put together beautiful and begin the process of destruction. Why? Getting our own way. Getting her own way. In other words, instead of saying, I’m going to glory in my weakness, and husband, you glory in your weakness. Because, man, you got them, we’re going to go to God. You. We’re going to go first to God to see what does he have to say about it. I’m not saying he may not reveal anything to us at that time, but that’s where we’re going to start. We’re not going to start with what I think and what you think. We’re going to start with, What does God have to say? If you do, you’re going to solve yourself in marriage, tons of problems, I tell married people today something that Amy and I have learned, if you’re in a decision making process about something until the two or you are together, don’t do it. We’ve done both ways in our marriage. Well, this is what I think we’re going to do, well, Amy, well, I don’t think we should do that. Well, I don’t care if they do it anyway, and you live the results of it. I don’t think there’s a decision that Amy and I have ever made on anything when we weren’t 100% together that hasn’t proven to be absolutely successful. Didn’t God, make the two of you one? If he made the two of you one, then have a oneness. That’s why it says it’s so vitally important. Do you know the only thing it talks about in marriage in the Bible is, don’t be unequally yoked with each other. People have these marriage seminars. And I say, I don’t know what you talk about in these marriage seminars, there’s only a couple of things the Bible talks about in marriage. I mean, I could have a 10 Minute marriage seminar, but I don’t know, you know, people say, Why don’t you do one on marriage? I don’t know how to do one on marriage. I could do one on how you live your Christian life. We get more results out of our conferences than any marriage conference I’ve ever been to, because you learn how to think. But if people will just if we’ll just learn that it’s not important for me to be right. What’s important is for us to be accurate. It’s not what do I think it’s what does God have to say? Go there first. Some people are in rebellion of that, well, it just shows you where your heart is.

Click to Donate to Bob George Ministries

Check out our website, Shop.BobGeorge.net. Let’s join Bob. Now as he continues the radio program.

Announcer
Classic Christianity Radio thanks you for your support of our online and radio ministry. Make sure to visit BobGeorge.net to order a copy of the closer look Bible study series. A Closer Look Bible studies features eight in depth study guides that detail hundreds of Bible verses to help you deepen your understanding of the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ a closer look. Bible Study Guides are an excellent tool for both individuals and larger Bible study groups. Please visit bobgeorge.net to order your copy of a Closer Look Bible studies, as well as many other wonderful books, CDs and study guides. With your support, we can continue to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Let’s continue now with our Classic Christianity Radio program.

Bob George 14:03
So the issue is, rejoice in your weakness. You got insults, you got hardships, you got persecution, you have difficulties. Sounds like a good old marriage. He said, Then when you’re weak, you’re going to be strong. Now, what else does this power do? How does it manifest itself? In Ephesians 1 he says, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints and of his incomparably great power for those who believe.

Now, guys, I don’t know about you, but for me, I have to look at that and say, How many times have I ever experienced that kind of power? How many times have you ever experienced that kind of power? You say, Well, it doesn’t seem like a whole lot, but he said, it’s available. He said, I’m praying that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. I hope that you’ll be able to see something here that you haven’t seen before and don’t try to understand it on a physical level, it’s a spiritual truth that has to be comprehended spiritually, that your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know to know something, know the hope to which he has called you, and the riches of this glorious inheritance that you and I have and as saints, that’s knowing that God has given you and me an eternal inheritance. All of this guys is a part this power. We’re told later that it’s in the Gospel that this power comes, that this power is a byproduct of our understanding where the source came from. And guys, in all cases, you know where the source is? It’s in the Gospel and the truth of the gospel. It’s in coming that our hearts may be and our minds enlightened to know that we are forgiven people, and to put consistency in that.

Let me give you an example. How many of you believe that God is made up of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit? How many of you believe that to be true? Okay, so is there any difference there the three? It’s called the three in one, isn’t it? It’s like an egg, shale, white and yolk. Which one’s the egg? How many of you believe that Jesus went to a cross and took away eternally, the sins of the world from the eyes of God? How many of you believe that God was involved in that action, as well as the Holy Spirit? So the whole trinity involved in that action, wasn’t it? Then, if your sins have been taken away, which they have been, away from the eyes of God, never to see it again, and Jesus did that through His Holy Spirit, then what about this statement that if you’re a Christian, it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to point out sin in your life? I want to ask you a question. Who took away the sin in the world? Well, the Holy Spirit. Then, if the Holy Spirit’s the one who took away the sins from the eyes of God eternally, then how are you saying that the Holy Spirit’s pointing sin out to you? Does that make sense, or is it double talk again? Is God dealing with you on the basis of sin today? Then why would the Holy Spirit be pointing it out to you?

Now do we live in this world, and do I still have yucky flesh? How come you’re also agreement with that one? Does God deal with me on the basis of a new life? Isn’t that what this whole thing of salvation is a new life? Christ living in me. When my actions are inconsistent with who I am as a child of God can you call that sin? You can call it sin. What else do you have to call it? What else do you have to say about that sin? Is what? It was taken away. That’s what you immediately that is sin, but it was taken away. But God, Bob, it’s inconsistent with who you are. That’s not who you are anymore.

I’ve said before that if you took a the king of the land, and this king was, was a gracious king, and he went down into the marketplace, and there he saw this girl. And. That was beautiful, but she was a prostitute. And he went up to her, and he said, Ma’am, I want to marry you. She said, Huh? Said, Yeah, I want to marry you. And she agrees to marry the king. The very moment that she marries the king, what does she become? The queen. Now, how much sense would it make for the queen to go back down into the village and be a hooker? Does it make sense why she’s a queen. She’s got a new identity. This is exactly what God is trying to get across to us. You have a new identity. Now. You can go back down, if you want to, and fool around, but it’s dumb as dirt, because you don’t belong there anymore. And you don’t here’s here’s the key. You don’t need to do it anymore. You don’t need you have no need for it anymore. You got a new identity, and that’s how God is dealing with us today. Holy Spirit pointing out sin at boy, you don’t get that unconfessed sin. You don’t get that confession. You’re going to hell. Is that not what’s being taught? Or you’re out of fellowship with God, and he’s got his back turned on you. How’s God turned his back on you when he’s already taken that sin away from at the cross? Can you answer that? Guys? Do we believe it? Do you believe that Jesus took away your sin, then how in the world can you go along with this God’s God’s pointing it out to you. Can I get you it’s not true? Is it good news that that’s not true? It’s excellent news. Do people want to hear it? No, no, no, you’re making it too easy. Well, it seems to me, you’ve tried the hard way, and it doesn’t work too well. Why would you be resisting an easy way? Because it may be easy for you, but it certainly wasn’t easy for the Lord Jesus.

And so he says, I pray that you’ll be enlightened. Know the hope to which he called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance and of this incomparably great power. For us, who believe, the power is like the working of his mighty strength which he exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly realms, far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every title that can be given, not only in his present age, but in the one to come that my friends, according to the Word of God, is what God has available to you and me, that kind of power, we’ll say, Well, why don’t we experience it? Because we don’t draw on it. We don’t draw on it.

Well, I went out to the Grand Canyon, but I didn’t see it. Why? Well, I had my back turned on it, so I didn’t see it. Most spectacular sight you ever look at, but I didn’t see it. Why backs turned on it? I didn’t know. I didn’t know was available. Somebody turned told me to turn the other way, and I did. I didn’t ever see the canyon. But guys, we need to learn that it’s there before we can draw upon it. But what I’m saying to you and to me is that kind of power is in you and is available to you to live your life, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is living in you and me. So don’t ever say, Well, I just don’t have the power to quit. I’ve tried, but I can’t quit. Then quit trying. No, I’ve tried to quit smoking. I can’t quit smoking, then quit trying to quit smoking. And ask God to change your want-er. I tell people, don’t tell me you can’t quit smoking, because I quit smoking when I was lost and I used to suck those cigarettes down like I had a maniac. I quit smoking because it was killing my health and because it was controlling my life. So don’t tell me you can’t quit when you know the Lord, when I quit when I didn’t know the Lord. If you’ve got the power of God living in you, there’s not one sin that you’re engaged in that you can’t quit, but you you know how you’re going to quit by quit trying. Quit, trying to do it. Quit it, trying. Say, Lord, I can’t do it, but you can see, doesn’t do me any good. To say I can’t do it. I mean, that said, Okay, that’s, that’s good. That’s not it. It’s I can, but you can, there’s the big deal. You can. Oh, Lord, I got this temper. And you know, after all, I’m Irish, I just can’t. I know you can’t, but he can’t. He can make you a loving, gentle person, if you let him. That power is available to you. You’re just not drawing on it.

So guys, as we come to conclude this message. What I want us to see is that there’s a lot of things in the Bible that we just kind of gloss over. But when these passages are there, I have to look at those and say, Well, do I believe Jesus is God? Yeah. Well, the same book that taught me that Jesus is God is the same book that says the power that raised Him from the dead is living in me. I got to do something with that for me to be saved. Said, Jesus died on a cross to take away my sin. Was raised from the dead so that I could be justified in Christ, Jesus, I got to do something with that. I’ve got to be saved. And folks, I got to do something with this if I’m going to ever experience the power of God that’s available to me, going to have to plug into it and recognize this is truth, and this truth will set us free. We’re not going to do it by just sitting around and saying, I hope it comes someday. It’s coming to the point of saying, Lord, it appears to me that what you’re saying is the way that this power is going to be manifested in me is when I come to understand that I can’t, but you did, I’m going to start rejoicing in my weakness so that I can begin experiencing your power, because you’re not going To compete with my power. It’s when I let go of it that I’m going to experience what it’s talking about here.

Announcer 27:11
Thank you so much for tuning in to Classic Christianity with Bob George. We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s program. We truly hope that today’s message has inspired you to walk a life of faith in the Lord find more information online at BobGeorge.net. There you will also find available CDs, DVDs and Bible studies available for purchase. It’s through your help that we are able to spread the good word of Jesus Christ. Until next time, walk in faith be good to one another and praise the Lord. Amen.