I've been there a few times in my life. Most don't understand it. That's understandable. However, it hit home to me when the Apostle Paul said, 'Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches' (2 Cor. 11:28). A number of years ago, the pain was so intense that the physical affliction Paul spoke about earlier in 2 Corinthians 11 would have been much preferred. I can take the long hours and the hard work. I can even take the pressures on my family. But the emotional pain is the one and only thing that forever tempts me to throw in the towel. When I feel that way, I can almost hear the Lord saying to me, 'Are you in it for Me or are you in it for yourself?' That's gut-check time. Am I really a servant of Christ (2 Cor. 11:23)?

Randy Smith

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Seafood	Thai	Thailand, Sauce/gravy, Barbecue	8	Servings

INGREDIENTS

6	tb	Thai fish sauce
5	tb	Thinly sliced scallions
3	tb	Fresh lime or lemon juice
3	tb	Finely chopped cilantro
1 1/2	tb	Minced serrano chilies
2	ts	Roasted chili paste
1/2	ts	Minced garlic

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Will keep in
refrigerator for 3 days.Recipe from Tommy Tang, New Yorker Magazine,
5/25/92. MM:MK VMXV03A.
File ftp://ftp.idiscover.co.uk/pub/food/mealmaster/recipes/mmdja006.zip

A Message from our Provider:

“He who angers you, controls you!”

The real issue was the design, or purpose, of God’s plan in laying upon His Son the burden of the Cross. Was it God’s purpose simply to make salvation possible for all but certain for none? Did God have to wait to see if any would respond to Christ to make His atonement efficient? Was it theoretically possible that Jesus would die “for all” yet never see the fruit of His travail and be satisfied? Or was it God’s eternal purpose and design of the Cross to make salvation certain for His elect? Was there a special sense in which Christ died for His own, for the sheep the Father had given Him?

R.C. Sproul