The Thorny Rose

Divine protection from arrogance

Photo by Leah Wilson on Unsplash

As you may have realized by now, much of my blogging has to do with revelation regarding scripture. One of the goals I feel called to as a writer is sharing my love for the scripture. My heart is to create a desire in others to study and find the nuggets of revelation that come from the Bible through the Spirit. If I could say one thing to the generations coming after me, it is this: The word of God combined with the guidance of Holy Spirit is the source of Life!

There is another side of this coin. As I have come into depths of revelation regarding the scripture as revealed by Holy Spirit, there is also glory. This glory is the light of heaven that shines and illuminates the scripture. It is truly supernatural and addictive. Arrogance that can happen when speaking of heavenly things is dangerous. I love to listen to teachers who are revelatory. There are times a scripture is shared requiring the understanding of Holy Spirit eye-opening revelation to experience what is being shared. It is a place of Glory and light, but feelings of knowing something that others don’t know can be dangerous.

The problem can happen within the confines of our flesh nature. We see something illuminated by the Spirit and it becomes the one and only truth. Unless we are humble and realize that we belong to a body who sees in part and needs one another to reveal the whole, we can become arrogant.

The Holy Spirit has taught me this: Scripture is multi-faceted. Once I was shown a verse as a prism. One person standing across the room would see reflections of color and light coming from the verse-prism that might be in blue shades reflecting from a window, while another person standing in another area of the room sees shades of red that might be reflecting off the furniture. While both people are looking at the same prism of scripture, their surroundings give different perspectives to what they are seeing. This is how the scripture can be reflected by the light of the Holy Spirit illuminating that particular passage to a person. There are many examples of this. Think of how many sermons you might have heard on a single topic like Love from 1 Corinthians 13. The word of God is living, it is like a two-edged sword. It is truly multi-dimensional.

I love this rendering of the scripture with footnotes from Dr. Brian Simmons in Passion Translation Bible.

2 Corinthians 12:7 TPT

“The extraordinary level of the revelations I’ve received is no reason for anyone to exalt me (h). For this is why a thorn in my flesh was given to me, the Adversary’s messenger sent to harass me, keeping me from becoming arrogant.”

(h) 12:7 “The true character of spiritual revelations is that they exalt Christ, not people. It is a paradox that the greater our understanding of God, the less we truly know and the more humble we become. Paul refused to be exalted in the eyes of others. This is the nature of true apostolic ministry.”

Therefore, it is my understanding that Paul was explaining the need for the thorn to keep him from being arrogant. I personally believe that if the Apostle Paul fought arrogance, after all the humility he endured as he realized how wrong he was in his previous persecution of the church, then every one of us should pay heed and examine ourselves for arrogance. When we come to God it must be in humility. He gives grace to the humble and He resists pride which is the result of arrogance. This resistance is a closed door for us until humility brings back the face to face relationship God desires. The only way we receive grace is through humility.

Many years ago I went through a very humiliating season. I was in leadership with women’s ministry, and I was constantly being criticized as if there was a target on my back. I was rebuked so many times by the women around me that I pulled away from everyone. I was hurt and very defensive. It was difficult for me to see what my wrong doing was because my natural nature was self protective. Yet, it was through this season that I was drawn closer to Christ as He revealed His own walk and rejection by others. He showed me the final result of His persecution in this scripture:

John 14:30 TPT

“I won’t speak with you much longer, for the ruler of this dark world is coming. But he has no power over me, for he has nothing to use against me.”

The only way the accuser has power over us is if there is some sort of offense that rests in us. A thorn can keep us from arrogance by how we react to accusation and rejection from others. If we are free from offense and let it slide off like water on a duck’s back, then the accuser can find nothing in us. I don’t want him to have anything to use against me either. The person who has really died in baptism, is too dead to be offended. If I died, and it is no longer I that live, then it’s proven when I don’t respond by becoming offended when criticized, but rather accepting that my flesh needs correction. I can find joy in my weakness if I am too dead to be insulted. It is part of the refining fire that will purify the Bride. The fire should be hot enough to result in purity. When the enemy comes then she can also respond like her Groom: Satan has no power over me, for he has nothing to use against me.

A rose is beautiful but part of its beauty is its thorns!

(Art below is pour painting fun during 2021)