I was talking to a dear friend the other day, and she made a statement that we have to be like a Timex Watch, we have to just keep on ticking. I told her there was a sermon in that statement.  I remember having a Timex watch for a number of years.  During that time, I know that it was treated roughly.  I never took it off in the daytime.  I washed dishes, bathed my mother-in-law, worked in yard, and what ever else I wanted to do.  As of a matter of fact, I still have that watch.  I knew that working in the yard at the new house, I would need to wear an old watch, so I went to my jewelry box and there it was, just lying there being unnoticed for a few years, and just waiting to be put back into service again.  Joe put a new battery in it, and It started ticking and is keeping good time. The watch has to be 20 years old. So everything that watch has been through, it has hung in there.  Even though the battery did run down,

I guess you can say, it did not give up.  It waited patience for someone to pick it up out of that jewelry box and give it another chance.  I know that sometimes I have also felt like that watch, I just need God to refresh my battery and for someone to give me another chance. Have you ever felt that way? Now be honest.  I thought of Apostle Paul and what he went through.  Now I can say he went through misery for the work of the ministry.  

2 Corinthians 11:23-30 (New International Version) 23. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.

24. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.

25. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,

26. I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers.

27. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.

28. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

29. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

30. If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. **

Reference Notes in my Study Bible say, "Very reluctantly, and after several protests concerning the foolishness of it. Paul begins to boast of his experiences as a servant of Christ. Ironically, he focuses attention on experiences that many (then and now) would consider signs of weakness rather than strength. 

Now, I do not know about you, but I feel that he must have had a lot of strength and faith in God to keep on going. Lets look at the scripture below and consider what Paul's thoughts were on the matter. 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 (New International Version) 7. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

8. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;

9. persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

10. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

11. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.

12. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

13. It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak,

14. because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.

15. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

16. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

17. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

18. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Paul is encouraging us to work hard for the glory of God. Even when times are bad, just hang in there. Tie a knot in the rope and hold on. Not to lose heart. The troubles we may be going through now is just temporary. Do not look at our circumstances, but look on what is eternal.

Joyfully, In The Master's Service
    Blessings, Prayers and Love,
    Pastor Pat

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