I Corinthians 1:26-29
27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29 That no flesh should glory in HIS presence.
💥💥💥
God spoke to me and caused me to be born again in 1975. A few nights after that, God caused me to be transported into heaven. I was with God, with Christ, with the Holy Spirit. (I saw no images. This was a spiritual experience.) And at that time I was "merged" into the body of Jesus, made one with the Word of God, God and the Holy Spirit witnessing.
A few nights later this exact same thing happened to me again as I slept in the night.
After that, I was on fire for God, for the Bible, for all things of God. All I cared about and all I wanted to hear about and all I wanted to talk about was God and spiritual things.
One day, I was with my Church of Christ cousin and I spoke about God and she said nothing. But after awhile, she said, "Well, I believe you are a Christian ... I just don't see how you can be."
I just laughed.
(Later I realized she didn't understand being born again.)
💥💥💥
Pam Padgett was the middle child of three girls, raised in a Catholic home.
Her eldest sister managed to get a nuns garment in a child's size and she love to wear this about the neighborhood when she was a child.
Pam didn't want anything to do with religion. She thought the Catholic church to be "spooky".
In her teenage years Pam strove to "fit in" and wanted to be with the popular girls. But she didn't know how to do this. So she never achieved the position she desired.
But of the 3 girls in her family, it was Pam who God chose for HIS own, for salvation, to have HIS Holy Spirit.
God told her that HE was her only hope and that nothing else, including teachings of the Catholic church, could save her. She asked God to save her and HE did instantly.
And when the scriptures didn't fit what she saw in the Catholic church she came out and went to another church. The pastor at the second church read from the Bible and Pam found this so exciting.
One day at the church service God said to Pam: "What are you doing here? I told you to leave, now leave."
(Pam had spoken the scriptures at that church showing that the divorced woman would commit adultery if she remarried. Mt.5:32; Romans 7:2-3; I Cor. 7:39; Mk. 10;13. Pam was despised by the singles class at that church because of her speaking of scripture on this subject since there was a divorced woman in that class who wanted to remarry. This divorced woman was even married at that church by those ministers. Yet Pam stayed there until God spoke to her telling her to leave that church group.)
God gave Pam a spiritual gift of "helps".
1 Corinthians 14:27-28 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church (to care for the church), first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
God led Pam into computer programming work and at one point God gave Pam a dream showing her I, Joan Boney, was to be her "supervisor."
When God showed me, by a dream, to set up a blog in 2012, I called Pam and asked her to do the technical work required to allow us to publish a blog. With her computer background this was no problem for her to set up this blog.
When I published books on Amazon in 2015, I asked Pam to do all the required set up work for the books.
When God told me to begin presenting messages on Podcasts in 2020, Pam had the technical ability to set this up. (Spiritual gift of helps.)
💥💥💥
We were never the popular people, the beautiful people, those people sought after in the world, the famous or rich or admired.
But God chose us and set us where HE wanted us and often people have said to me, "I can't believe you are doing this."
💥💥💥
I Corinthians 2:1-5 (The apostle Paul says:) And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and HIM crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
💥💥💥
I Corinthians 1
31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord (the Word).
💥💥💥💥💥