II Corinthians 5: 11-15
Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men,
The terror of the Lord, knowing that He is our Judge, is why we try to persuade people to believe the Gospel. We don't want them to be condemned.
but we are made manifest to God;
We are readily perceived by God, we are obvious and plain to His understanding of who we are, we have no secrets from Him.
and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences.
Paul wants to be seen by these brothers and sisters just as clearly and uncomplicated as God sees him.
We all should have this attitude of wanting to be known simply and clearly by those around us, as if we live in glass houses.
We are not again commending ourselves to you
We're not trying to boast to build ourselves up in your eyes.
but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart.
Paul is the example they can hold up in answer to those who only talk, but don't have the character to back it up.
For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you.
If we seem crazy, God will sort us out; or if we are sane, it is for your benefit.
For the love of Christ controls us,
His Love in us constrains us from doing what would not be good for you.
having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;
Because Jesus died for each one of us, it's as though we all died.
and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
This is the Good News, that Jesus is our Lamb of God, whose Blood has more than enough value to pay the sin-debt of every person who ever lived.
Now those who have been saved are no longer to live as though nothing happened to them spiritually, but to consider that they died with Christ on the Cross; and as He rose from the dead with a new Life, so they are to also live their lives as though they are risen from the old life to a brand-new life, with the Holy Spirit living in their spirits now, with the power and authority to live for the benefit of their Lord who bought them.
This is the picture we act out in Baptism. See my blog of June 5, 2019 for this explanation.
O my Father, please help us all to understand what You have done for us in Christ. Help us to take seriously what You have accomplished supernaturally in each one of us, causing us to be born into Your own family, as Your children. And now You are teaching us how to live as royal princes and princesses with the pure and noble character of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Father, teach us how to think Your thoughts, to have Your attitudes toward the things in our lives, to have the World-View You have, and to understand events according to Your Word.
Send out more workers into Your mission fields, Father; send each one of us to go at least once for a little while, to see what people in other areas face as they live their lives. Broadcast Your Word to every living person, using our mouths, our fingers, our hands and feet meeting their needs, showing them Your Love for them, too.
And may every lost sheep be brought into the safety and belonging of Your One Fold with One Shepherd. And all the rest will have no excuse.
And every eye shall see, every ear shall hear, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim in every language that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Sovereign King, to the glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever, Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, September 30, 2019
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Our Highest Ambition
II Corinthians 5: 6-11
(6) Therefore, being always of good courage,
Having confidence in the promise of God in the earnest of His Spirit (yesterday).
and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord--
(7) for we walk by faith, not by sight--
We are absent from the Lord in that we don't see Him with our eyes, only by faith.
(8) we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
We are confident that when we leave these bodies we will be at home with the Lord, which will be much better than our life here.
(9) Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.
We all should have as our highest ambition that everything we do would be what He would have us to be doing, no matter how mundane or ordinary. So whether we are living here in our bodies, or are gone to be with the Lord, we want to be pleasing to Him.
(10) For we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
This is the Judgment Seat of Christ, our Judge, the Bema Seat for rewards, where He will have rewards for each one of us; some more, some less (see The Judgement Seat Of Christ For Rewards and Our Great Prize).
(11) Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord ...
Knowing that Jesus will be our Judge should give us a healthy fear, a deep respect for His authority and righteousness, to encourage us to live our lives according to His ways.
O my Father, help us to always consider You in everything we do, whether we are doing mundane, everyday, ordinary things, or we're serving formally or informally, or shopping, or working, or whatever we're doing, that we would do it for Your glory, praising You for the ability to do it.
Show us how to love one another as You have Loved us, knowing each one of us, and meeting all of our personal needs, as well as our eternal needs. Help us to discern the best way to minister to the needs of those we encounter, to be Christ to them.
And not because we want to be rewarded, Father. Let us love You, and may Your Love for us be our motivation to serve those You Love, because You Love them.
And when Jesus returns, may we be surprised at the rewards He has for us. And thankful and grateful for all You have done for us. Because You are the one doing it all, just using us as Your hands and feet.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
(6) Therefore, being always of good courage,
Having confidence in the promise of God in the earnest of His Spirit (yesterday).
and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord--
(7) for we walk by faith, not by sight--
We are absent from the Lord in that we don't see Him with our eyes, only by faith.
(8) we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
We are confident that when we leave these bodies we will be at home with the Lord, which will be much better than our life here.
(9) Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.
We all should have as our highest ambition that everything we do would be what He would have us to be doing, no matter how mundane or ordinary. So whether we are living here in our bodies, or are gone to be with the Lord, we want to be pleasing to Him.
(10) For we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
This is the Judgment Seat of Christ, our Judge, the Bema Seat for rewards, where He will have rewards for each one of us; some more, some less (see The Judgement Seat Of Christ For Rewards and Our Great Prize).
(11) Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord ...
Knowing that Jesus will be our Judge should give us a healthy fear, a deep respect for His authority and righteousness, to encourage us to live our lives according to His ways.
O my Father, help us to always consider You in everything we do, whether we are doing mundane, everyday, ordinary things, or we're serving formally or informally, or shopping, or working, or whatever we're doing, that we would do it for Your glory, praising You for the ability to do it.
Show us how to love one another as You have Loved us, knowing each one of us, and meeting all of our personal needs, as well as our eternal needs. Help us to discern the best way to minister to the needs of those we encounter, to be Christ to them.
And not because we want to be rewarded, Father. Let us love You, and may Your Love for us be our motivation to serve those You Love, because You Love them.
And when Jesus returns, may we be surprised at the rewards He has for us. And thankful and grateful for all You have done for us. Because You are the one doing it all, just using us as Your hands and feet.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Why We Groan
II Corinthians 5: 1-5
For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens.
We know that our physical bodies are only temporary, and will not last very many years. Even if we live to be a hundred years old, it's just a drop in the bucket of Time. And when this body wears out, we already have a spiritual body that God made, waiting for us in Heaven.
For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from Heaven,
While we live here in our mortal bodies, we are vulnerable to sicknesses and injuries and malfunctions of our systems. We wear out and wear down. We're looking forward to having that spiritual body that is not subject to any of these weaknesses.
inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked.
We don't want to be without our bodies, we need them to express our thoughts and emotions and to do actions, to live our lives. We need bodies to live in.
For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by Life.
We have to have some kind of body, in order to live a life; but we want for these frail, temporary bodies to be superseded by the strong, invulnerable, eternal, spiritual bodies we will be getting.
Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God,
God is the One who planned for us to be His own children, before He made anything, with the perfect, spiritual bodies He's built for us already. That's why He created us. That's His purpose for each one of us. That's why He's working in us to grow us in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, into His very image, His character and perfection, which is the same as God the Father.
who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.
A pledge is a down payment of what is to come. God's Holy Spirit gives us God's Life, to make our dead human spirits alive while we live here now in this World.
This divine Life in us gives us the power and authority to do God's work here now, and to overcome temptation and the enemy in the authority of His Name.
We are already, right now, children in the divine family of God (I John 3:2). We are not to consider ourselves gods now, because we are still little children in school; but when we "graduate" and receive the spiritual bodies He has for us, then we will be His kings and queens, sitting with King Jesus on His throne, as He sits with His Father on His throne. That means we will have His authority to rule. But we will always be under His authority over us, as God the Father is over the Son.
Understanding this order of authority is the kernel of faith; the central, most important part of what our faith is. It's putting ourselves into submission to our Lord, and in extension, to one another. It's loving God and loving each other as He has loved us. It's the basis for all of the Law and the Prophets.
And it's why God created. He made this whole Universe to put the Earth here, and He made the Earth to be the ideal environment for Mankind, putting in it everything we could ever need in living here. And to use it as an institute of learning for us, with His Word as our central textbook. Every other book we would add to our curriculum must concur with this divine tome.
And when we've finished our schooling, learned every lesson, passed every test; then we will "graduate" into being His adult children, with His authority to run His family business. This is the Kingdom of God.
This was God's plan from the beginning. He wanted a large family (Romans 8:29), an enormous family, because His Kingdom will never stop growing! (Isaiah 9:7.)
So it's up to us, brothers and sisters, to share with as many others as we can what God has done for us, as His witnesses (Acts 1:8). And to pray the Lord of the Harvest that He send more workers into His fields (Luke 10:2), His missionary fields, that are full of ripe hearts (Luke 4:35), ready to receive and respond to the Good News.
Because when every living being has heard and understood the Gospel well enough to make an informed decision whether to accept or reject His gracious offer, then the end will come (Matthew 24:14). The last trumpet shall sound (Revelation 11:15-18), and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (I Corinthians 15:52, see September 12, 2019.
O my Father, You are our good, good Father! You made us to be Your own children, and You have done everything possible and impossible to make us fit to live with You and reign over Your Kingdom! You have done it all, Father!
You have made us, You have saved us, You have sacrificed Your very best, most precious, for us; and you ask us to also give our best back to You. You made us to be like You, in Your image and likeness, and Your plan will be completed, without fail.
You, my Father, are the maker of promises and keeper of promises. You have told us the whole story, and how we are to respond to it, and to You. And You have given us the power and authority to do Your work, both now and forevermore.
Please continue to work in each one of us, Father; to wake us up, to enable us to accomplish Your will each day of our lives, submitting to You and to one another.
And You take pleasure in our progress, for You do all things according to Your will; and we receive the benefit. Father, smile down on us as we toil in Your service; help us to focus on what You have planned for each of us, not getting distracted by what draws us away from Your plan.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Lord God Almighty, our King of the Universe, to the credit and glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever, Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens.
We know that our physical bodies are only temporary, and will not last very many years. Even if we live to be a hundred years old, it's just a drop in the bucket of Time. And when this body wears out, we already have a spiritual body that God made, waiting for us in Heaven.
For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from Heaven,
While we live here in our mortal bodies, we are vulnerable to sicknesses and injuries and malfunctions of our systems. We wear out and wear down. We're looking forward to having that spiritual body that is not subject to any of these weaknesses.
inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked.
We don't want to be without our bodies, we need them to express our thoughts and emotions and to do actions, to live our lives. We need bodies to live in.
For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by Life.
We have to have some kind of body, in order to live a life; but we want for these frail, temporary bodies to be superseded by the strong, invulnerable, eternal, spiritual bodies we will be getting.
Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God,
God is the One who planned for us to be His own children, before He made anything, with the perfect, spiritual bodies He's built for us already. That's why He created us. That's His purpose for each one of us. That's why He's working in us to grow us in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, into His very image, His character and perfection, which is the same as God the Father.
who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.
A pledge is a down payment of what is to come. God's Holy Spirit gives us God's Life, to make our dead human spirits alive while we live here now in this World.
This divine Life in us gives us the power and authority to do God's work here now, and to overcome temptation and the enemy in the authority of His Name.
We are already, right now, children in the divine family of God (I John 3:2). We are not to consider ourselves gods now, because we are still little children in school; but when we "graduate" and receive the spiritual bodies He has for us, then we will be His kings and queens, sitting with King Jesus on His throne, as He sits with His Father on His throne. That means we will have His authority to rule. But we will always be under His authority over us, as God the Father is over the Son.
Understanding this order of authority is the kernel of faith; the central, most important part of what our faith is. It's putting ourselves into submission to our Lord, and in extension, to one another. It's loving God and loving each other as He has loved us. It's the basis for all of the Law and the Prophets.
And it's why God created. He made this whole Universe to put the Earth here, and He made the Earth to be the ideal environment for Mankind, putting in it everything we could ever need in living here. And to use it as an institute of learning for us, with His Word as our central textbook. Every other book we would add to our curriculum must concur with this divine tome.
And when we've finished our schooling, learned every lesson, passed every test; then we will "graduate" into being His adult children, with His authority to run His family business. This is the Kingdom of God.
This was God's plan from the beginning. He wanted a large family (Romans 8:29), an enormous family, because His Kingdom will never stop growing! (Isaiah 9:7.)
So it's up to us, brothers and sisters, to share with as many others as we can what God has done for us, as His witnesses (Acts 1:8). And to pray the Lord of the Harvest that He send more workers into His fields (Luke 10:2), His missionary fields, that are full of ripe hearts (Luke 4:35), ready to receive and respond to the Good News.
Because when every living being has heard and understood the Gospel well enough to make an informed decision whether to accept or reject His gracious offer, then the end will come (Matthew 24:14). The last trumpet shall sound (Revelation 11:15-18), and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (I Corinthians 15:52, see September 12, 2019.
O my Father, You are our good, good Father! You made us to be Your own children, and You have done everything possible and impossible to make us fit to live with You and reign over Your Kingdom! You have done it all, Father!
You have made us, You have saved us, You have sacrificed Your very best, most precious, for us; and you ask us to also give our best back to You. You made us to be like You, in Your image and likeness, and Your plan will be completed, without fail.
You, my Father, are the maker of promises and keeper of promises. You have told us the whole story, and how we are to respond to it, and to You. And You have given us the power and authority to do Your work, both now and forevermore.
Please continue to work in each one of us, Father; to wake us up, to enable us to accomplish Your will each day of our lives, submitting to You and to one another.
And You take pleasure in our progress, for You do all things according to Your will; and we receive the benefit. Father, smile down on us as we toil in Your service; help us to focus on what You have planned for each of us, not getting distracted by what draws us away from Your plan.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Lord God Almighty, our King of the Universe, to the credit and glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever, Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, September 27, 2019
The Long View
II Corinthians 4: 13-18
But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written,
When you really know what is true reality, you will be confident in expressing it.
knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.
Paul told them all about this already in his first Epistle to them, which we discussed on September 10, 2019.
For all things are for your sakes,
Everything we do is to bring people to Christ, who you are in Corinth. And who we are today, who believe and trust Jesus.
so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.
As we talk about these things, more and more people will hear and learn about God and Christ and come to faith also, which brings glory to God. The more people come to accept His gracious gift, the more glory God receives.
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
That's why we keep on, even though we may be sustaining serious injuries, and illnesses, and growing older; we are more encouraged and renewed each day, every morning we have another opportunity to worship our Lord.
For momentary, light affliction
All Paul's beatings, stonings, shipwrecks, and so on, he considers light afflictions, and momentary because they all come to pass so quickly.
is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,
What God has prepared for us so far surpasses everything we could possibly have to endure here, there's just no comparison!
while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
What we can see with our physical eyes is all the physical things here. What God has for us is spiritual, which we won't be able to see until our physical bodies are changed into spiritual bodies, and we have spiritual eyes to see the spiritual things.
All physical things are tied to the Time-line of this Earth and the Universe. When Time runs out, and comes to the end of the line, then all these things will end, too.
So Paul was taking the long view, and considering all that Jesus was preparing for him to enjoy for all eternity, forever and ever; so whatever he had to go through here really didn't bother him. Sure, it still hurt, but it was only temporary, and would be over soon.
When we know it will be over soon, we can endure anything. So people can do to us whatever they can, but they can never deter us from our long view. We will thereby get the victory, we win.
I've read the last chapter, so I recognize that Jesus Christ is our Champion, our Victorious Warrior, and He has won for us the victory! Victory over all our enemies, and our supreme enemy who is behind all the others. And the last enemy He will destroy will be death itself (I Corinthians 15:26--See September 10, 2019).
We see Him doing this and what follows in Revelation 20-22. These are the final chapters in the Story of Mankind, and Jesus is the Star of the Show!
O my Father, You are great! You are Magnificent! You have planned out this entire Time-line, from beginning to end, and how You plotted out all the plot twists and dramatic moments totally outshines every effort every member of Mankind has endeavored.
You have made us in Your image, and even those who reject You, still bear enough of Your likeness to be creative and inventive and clever and wise in a Worldly way. But we all still fall short of Your glory, so far short!
But You have sent Your own Son, our Lord, to make up the shortfall, and to do all the work necessary for us to be able to live with You in Your presence.
Now we can look to You, and see what we don't see, by faith. And one Day our faith will be sight, as we witness and take part in the culmination and consummation of this creation of Yours. Everything is from You and will go back to You. Jesus will cleanse and renew this whole creation and then present it back to You to enjoy forever.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written,
I believed, therefore I spoke (Psalm 116:10),we also believe, therefore we also speak,
When you really know what is true reality, you will be confident in expressing it.
knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.
Paul told them all about this already in his first Epistle to them, which we discussed on September 10, 2019.
For all things are for your sakes,
Everything we do is to bring people to Christ, who you are in Corinth. And who we are today, who believe and trust Jesus.
so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.
As we talk about these things, more and more people will hear and learn about God and Christ and come to faith also, which brings glory to God. The more people come to accept His gracious gift, the more glory God receives.
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
That's why we keep on, even though we may be sustaining serious injuries, and illnesses, and growing older; we are more encouraged and renewed each day, every morning we have another opportunity to worship our Lord.
For momentary, light affliction
All Paul's beatings, stonings, shipwrecks, and so on, he considers light afflictions, and momentary because they all come to pass so quickly.
is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,
What God has prepared for us so far surpasses everything we could possibly have to endure here, there's just no comparison!
while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
What we can see with our physical eyes is all the physical things here. What God has for us is spiritual, which we won't be able to see until our physical bodies are changed into spiritual bodies, and we have spiritual eyes to see the spiritual things.
All physical things are tied to the Time-line of this Earth and the Universe. When Time runs out, and comes to the end of the line, then all these things will end, too.
So Paul was taking the long view, and considering all that Jesus was preparing for him to enjoy for all eternity, forever and ever; so whatever he had to go through here really didn't bother him. Sure, it still hurt, but it was only temporary, and would be over soon.
When we know it will be over soon, we can endure anything. So people can do to us whatever they can, but they can never deter us from our long view. We will thereby get the victory, we win.
I've read the last chapter, so I recognize that Jesus Christ is our Champion, our Victorious Warrior, and He has won for us the victory! Victory over all our enemies, and our supreme enemy who is behind all the others. And the last enemy He will destroy will be death itself (I Corinthians 15:26--See September 10, 2019).
We see Him doing this and what follows in Revelation 20-22. These are the final chapters in the Story of Mankind, and Jesus is the Star of the Show!
O my Father, You are great! You are Magnificent! You have planned out this entire Time-line, from beginning to end, and how You plotted out all the plot twists and dramatic moments totally outshines every effort every member of Mankind has endeavored.
You have made us in Your image, and even those who reject You, still bear enough of Your likeness to be creative and inventive and clever and wise in a Worldly way. But we all still fall short of Your glory, so far short!
But You have sent Your own Son, our Lord, to make up the shortfall, and to do all the work necessary for us to be able to live with You in Your presence.
Now we can look to You, and see what we don't see, by faith. And one Day our faith will be sight, as we witness and take part in the culmination and consummation of this creation of Yours. Everything is from You and will go back to You. Jesus will cleanse and renew this whole creation and then present it back to You to enjoy forever.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Paradoxes
II Corinthians 4: 6-12
For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness" (Genesis 1:3), is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Continuing from yesterday;
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing power will be of God and not from ourselves;
Our "earthen vessels," or "clay pots" are our bodies that God made of the dust of the Earth. And this "treasure" is the glorious Light that God shines into our spirit in the person of His Holy Spirit; who teaches us and guides and leads us, and strengthens us, and works in us to mold and make us into the very image of God the Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord.
I have discussed some of the implications and ramifications of having this treasure in earthen vessels in my blog entries of September 26, 2017 and June 8, 2018.
Because we have this treasure:
we are afflicted in every way but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;
persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
We are abused and slandered and beaten up and imprisoned for our faith, but with God the Spirit in us, He sustains us and keeps us from being destroyed.
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the Life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
Our suffering physically and mentally and psychologically under the onslaughts of the enemy and his minions, is the dying of Jesus; but it all just causes the glory of the Lord to shine out, even brighter in the deepening darkness around us.
For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the Life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
So our constant persecution is bringing out how strong and powerful is the Life that lives in us in the Spirit of Jesus.
So death works in us, but Life in you.
Paul is saying that all his suffering is bringing the benefits to these, his congregants. That because he is willing to go through all these perils, these believers can enjoy the Life of Christ.
And God will receive the glory, the credit for accomplishing it all in him and them.
O my Father, thank You for this magnificent Plan that You have plotted out before You ever made anything. Thank You for considering us so valuable that, although we are frail and fragile, and despicable rebels, the criminals who deserve execution; You sent Your Son to take our death to pay our debt in full! That's how much You determine our worth to be!
So You take these opaque clay jars that are common vessels, and You are transforming them into diamond crystal vases, through which Your Light can shine out.
During this process, You are strengthening us to undergo all the rigors of the schooling we need to learn Your ways, to love You by loving one another, and to spread Your seed of the Gospel to every living person.
This is what You originally planned for us. To make us Your family, living with You in Your very presence, sitting with You in Your authority over all You make, enjoying You forever!
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord God Almighty, to the glory of Almighty God the Father!
For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness" (Genesis 1:3), is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Continuing from yesterday;
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing power will be of God and not from ourselves;
Our "earthen vessels," or "clay pots" are our bodies that God made of the dust of the Earth. And this "treasure" is the glorious Light that God shines into our spirit in the person of His Holy Spirit; who teaches us and guides and leads us, and strengthens us, and works in us to mold and make us into the very image of God the Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord.
I have discussed some of the implications and ramifications of having this treasure in earthen vessels in my blog entries of September 26, 2017 and June 8, 2018.
Because we have this treasure:
we are afflicted in every way but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;
persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
We are abused and slandered and beaten up and imprisoned for our faith, but with God the Spirit in us, He sustains us and keeps us from being destroyed.
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the Life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
Our suffering physically and mentally and psychologically under the onslaughts of the enemy and his minions, is the dying of Jesus; but it all just causes the glory of the Lord to shine out, even brighter in the deepening darkness around us.
For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the Life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
So our constant persecution is bringing out how strong and powerful is the Life that lives in us in the Spirit of Jesus.
So death works in us, but Life in you.
Paul is saying that all his suffering is bringing the benefits to these, his congregants. That because he is willing to go through all these perils, these believers can enjoy the Life of Christ.
And God will receive the glory, the credit for accomplishing it all in him and them.
O my Father, thank You for this magnificent Plan that You have plotted out before You ever made anything. Thank You for considering us so valuable that, although we are frail and fragile, and despicable rebels, the criminals who deserve execution; You sent Your Son to take our death to pay our debt in full! That's how much You determine our worth to be!
So You take these opaque clay jars that are common vessels, and You are transforming them into diamond crystal vases, through which Your Light can shine out.
During this process, You are strengthening us to undergo all the rigors of the schooling we need to learn Your ways, to love You by loving one another, and to spread Your seed of the Gospel to every living person.
This is what You originally planned for us. To make us Your family, living with You in Your very presence, sitting with You in Your authority over all You make, enjoying You forever!
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord God Almighty, to the glory of Almighty God the Father!
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Veiled Or Blinded Or Enlightened?
II Corinthians 4: 1-6
Therefore since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart,
Since God has given His mercy, we do not get discouraged in our work for the Lord.
but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame,
Anything in my life that I would be ashamed for others to know about, I've gotten rid of.
not walking in craftiness or adulterating the Word of God,
Not trying to trick anyone or debase or add anything to dilute the Word of God.
but by the manifestation of Truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
By bringing out the pure Truth, we appeal to everyone's conscience, being accountable to God.
And even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
If someone doesn't comprehend what we are teaching, it's because they are on their way away from Salvation.
in whose case the god of this World (that's Satan, the devil) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving (who have refused to believe) so that they might not see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Our enemy will do all he can to keep people from coming to God, so if anyone chooses to not seek God, then he will prevent their understanding from being able to perceive what Jesus has accomplished for them. They just won't get it.
For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake.
We don't promote ourselves, we're just slaves to serve you, because Jesus is the Master.
For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," (Genesis 1:3) is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
God has shined His Light into our hearts so we could know and recognize the Truth, the enlightenment of the glory of God that shines in Christ's face (Revelation 1:16).
The Creator of the Universe is the God of Light, pure, unadulterated Light, with no shadows at all. He has put a portion of His Light into our Sun (the Hebrew word means "a light-holder") to sustain the life He placed on the Earth, and we can't even look at that without going blind. These bodies are so frail.
But He has shone just enough of His Light into our hearts to see His Truth.
O my Father, You are so precise, to shine Your unapproachable Light into our minds and hearts to teach us, but protecting us from the searing and burning power of Your brightness.
Father, Your care for us is astounding. You are our gentle, tender, compassionate Abba Daddy, who takes Your children into Your arms.
And You are the mighty Avenger who will take vengeance on our enemies, pouring out Your wrath upon them that they have earned.
Your Light is Your Love and Life and Order, the perfection of being that only You possess. And You have chosen to give Your Light and Love and Life to the weak and frail people You have drawn to Yourself, causing us to become members of Your own Family, Your children and the Bride for Your Son.
So You are teaching and training us to be Your princes and princesses who will assist You in ruling Your Kingdom as Your kings and queens, sitting on Christ's Throne of power, as He sits on the Father's Throne.
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord God Almighty, to the glory of Almighty God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Therefore since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart,
Since God has given His mercy, we do not get discouraged in our work for the Lord.
but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame,
Anything in my life that I would be ashamed for others to know about, I've gotten rid of.
not walking in craftiness or adulterating the Word of God,
Not trying to trick anyone or debase or add anything to dilute the Word of God.
but by the manifestation of Truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
By bringing out the pure Truth, we appeal to everyone's conscience, being accountable to God.
And even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
If someone doesn't comprehend what we are teaching, it's because they are on their way away from Salvation.
in whose case the god of this World (that's Satan, the devil) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving (who have refused to believe) so that they might not see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Our enemy will do all he can to keep people from coming to God, so if anyone chooses to not seek God, then he will prevent their understanding from being able to perceive what Jesus has accomplished for them. They just won't get it.
For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake.
We don't promote ourselves, we're just slaves to serve you, because Jesus is the Master.
For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," (Genesis 1:3) is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
God has shined His Light into our hearts so we could know and recognize the Truth, the enlightenment of the glory of God that shines in Christ's face (Revelation 1:16).
The Creator of the Universe is the God of Light, pure, unadulterated Light, with no shadows at all. He has put a portion of His Light into our Sun (the Hebrew word means "a light-holder") to sustain the life He placed on the Earth, and we can't even look at that without going blind. These bodies are so frail.
But He has shone just enough of His Light into our hearts to see His Truth.
O my Father, You are so precise, to shine Your unapproachable Light into our minds and hearts to teach us, but protecting us from the searing and burning power of Your brightness.
Father, Your care for us is astounding. You are our gentle, tender, compassionate Abba Daddy, who takes Your children into Your arms.
And You are the mighty Avenger who will take vengeance on our enemies, pouring out Your wrath upon them that they have earned.
Your Light is Your Love and Life and Order, the perfection of being that only You possess. And You have chosen to give Your Light and Love and Life to the weak and frail people You have drawn to Yourself, causing us to become members of Your own Family, Your children and the Bride for Your Son.
So You are teaching and training us to be Your princes and princesses who will assist You in ruling Your Kingdom as Your kings and queens, sitting on Christ's Throne of power, as He sits on the Father's Throne.
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord God Almighty, to the glory of Almighty God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Our Glory In Christ
II Corinthians 3: 7-18
But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was,
When Moses came down Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments on the two tables of stone, his face glowed from being in the presence of the Lord God.
This alarmed the people, and they made him put a veil over his face so that their eyes would not be temporarily blinded by the glare. (Read about it in Exodus 34:29-35.)
how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory?
If the Law was glorious, how much more glorious is Grace!
For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory.
If what brings death and condemnation is glorious, how much more glorious is life and righteousness.
For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it.
So what seemed glorious before is nothing compared with the overpowering glory of Grace and Salvation and Eternal Life!
For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.
So if what was temporary was glorious, how much more glorious is what lasts forever!
Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech,
Since we have this wonderful Good News to share, we just come right out and say it, we tell it straight out boldly and confidently.
and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face
Moses had to hide the glow to not offend or injure the people.
so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away.
So the people couldn't look directly at him, like looking into the Sun, even though it faded through time.
But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the Old Covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ.
Even today, in our time, not many Israelis or Jews come to the realization that Jesus is their Messiah. The veil is still over their minds.
But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart;
Even when they read and listen to the Old Testament, they don't recognize that Jesus fulfilled all those writings, they don't make the connection. The veil remains over their hearts.
but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
The few Jews who do turn to the Lord today find that their understanding has been opened supernaturally to see how Jesus has saved them, and will return to be their King. It's glorious!
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
With the Spirit having taken up residence in our spirits, we now are free to do what is right, and we are no longer under the old compulsions to fall into our addictions; but we now have the power and authority to say "No!" to sin, and turn away from the temptation, toward doing what is good and pure and beneficial. This is His supernatural presence inside us!
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,
We still don't see Him directly, but as a reflection of who He is, as in a mirror, distorted with imperfections in the glass.
are being transformed into the same image
As we gaze into His Word, we see Him, and fixing our gaze on His character will build into our minds and attitudes His thoughts, changing our actions into righteous acts, and building His character into ours. God is making us into the very image of His Son. Each one of us, with all of our differences, are all becoming one in Him, as His body and He is the Head.
from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
From His glory into glory in us. As our Lord, in His Spirit in us, gives us and grows us.
God is glorious beyond anything we can conceive now in our puny brains. But He is growing us up as His children, and when He pronounces us Adult Children in His household, He will change our carnal, mortal bodies into glorious, spiritual bodies, capable of much more than we know now. This is God's end-game for us.
We have discussed what God gave Paul to tell us about these new bodies in I Corinthians 15, in my recent blogs of September 10, 2019 and September 12, 2019.
This declaration of our Adulthood in God's family, receiving the authority to help Him run His "Family Business," is a ceremony we have no word for in English, so we use "adoption." This is the Roman custom of declaring either a natural-born child or an adopted child to be mature and responsible and given responsibilities and benefits in that particular Roman family and in Roman society.
I discussed Adoption in my blog of May 22, 2019.
Knowing that all this future for us is certain, we also, like Paul, should have boldness in our witnessing to others of what God has done for us. Sharing with other people how much God loves them, too. And fearlessly facing the opposition our enemy brings against us. Always remembering to do it all in the Love God has for us, in compassion and gentleness and patience toward them.
To destroy an enemy, make him your friend! Let's love all the multitudes into the Kingdom of God, filling His House, and every seat at His great Banquet Table!
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and King over all, to the glory of God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was,
When Moses came down Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments on the two tables of stone, his face glowed from being in the presence of the Lord God.
This alarmed the people, and they made him put a veil over his face so that their eyes would not be temporarily blinded by the glare. (Read about it in Exodus 34:29-35.)
how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory?
If the Law was glorious, how much more glorious is Grace!
For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory.
If what brings death and condemnation is glorious, how much more glorious is life and righteousness.
For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it.
So what seemed glorious before is nothing compared with the overpowering glory of Grace and Salvation and Eternal Life!
For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.
So if what was temporary was glorious, how much more glorious is what lasts forever!
Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech,
Since we have this wonderful Good News to share, we just come right out and say it, we tell it straight out boldly and confidently.
and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face
Moses had to hide the glow to not offend or injure the people.
so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away.
So the people couldn't look directly at him, like looking into the Sun, even though it faded through time.
But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the Old Covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ.
Even today, in our time, not many Israelis or Jews come to the realization that Jesus is their Messiah. The veil is still over their minds.
But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart;
Even when they read and listen to the Old Testament, they don't recognize that Jesus fulfilled all those writings, they don't make the connection. The veil remains over their hearts.
but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
The few Jews who do turn to the Lord today find that their understanding has been opened supernaturally to see how Jesus has saved them, and will return to be their King. It's glorious!
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
With the Spirit having taken up residence in our spirits, we now are free to do what is right, and we are no longer under the old compulsions to fall into our addictions; but we now have the power and authority to say "No!" to sin, and turn away from the temptation, toward doing what is good and pure and beneficial. This is His supernatural presence inside us!
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,
We still don't see Him directly, but as a reflection of who He is, as in a mirror, distorted with imperfections in the glass.
are being transformed into the same image
As we gaze into His Word, we see Him, and fixing our gaze on His character will build into our minds and attitudes His thoughts, changing our actions into righteous acts, and building His character into ours. God is making us into the very image of His Son. Each one of us, with all of our differences, are all becoming one in Him, as His body and He is the Head.
from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
From His glory into glory in us. As our Lord, in His Spirit in us, gives us and grows us.
God is glorious beyond anything we can conceive now in our puny brains. But He is growing us up as His children, and when He pronounces us Adult Children in His household, He will change our carnal, mortal bodies into glorious, spiritual bodies, capable of much more than we know now. This is God's end-game for us.
We have discussed what God gave Paul to tell us about these new bodies in I Corinthians 15, in my recent blogs of September 10, 2019 and September 12, 2019.
This declaration of our Adulthood in God's family, receiving the authority to help Him run His "Family Business," is a ceremony we have no word for in English, so we use "adoption." This is the Roman custom of declaring either a natural-born child or an adopted child to be mature and responsible and given responsibilities and benefits in that particular Roman family and in Roman society.
I discussed Adoption in my blog of May 22, 2019.
Knowing that all this future for us is certain, we also, like Paul, should have boldness in our witnessing to others of what God has done for us. Sharing with other people how much God loves them, too. And fearlessly facing the opposition our enemy brings against us. Always remembering to do it all in the Love God has for us, in compassion and gentleness and patience toward them.
To destroy an enemy, make him your friend! Let's love all the multitudes into the Kingdom of God, filling His House, and every seat at His great Banquet Table!
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and King over all, to the glory of God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, September 23, 2019
The Letter Or The Spirit?
II Corinthians 3: 1-6
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again?
Is Paul boasting to say that he preaches the Word of God sincerely, not corrupting it or dealing deceitfully with it? (2:17, the previous verse.)
Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you?
Aquila and Priscilla had heard Apollos preaching in Ephesus and mentored him in the Faith, and when he went to Achaia the brethren wrote him a commendation so that he would be accepted there, and he had a powerful ministry there (Acts 19:24-28).
Paul is asking if he also needs this documentation.
You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men;
He's saying that his validation as a true teacher of God's Word is these believers who live in Corinth, who are living lives so different from how they used to live, that it's obvious they've been changed.
being manifested that you are a letter of Christ,
Everyone can see that it is the power of Jesus Christ in them that has done this.
cared for by us,
And Paul and company took care of them as a mother cares for her infant.
written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
This letter of commendation is not written outwardly on paper or parchment, or carved into stone as the Ten Commandments were, but engraved inwardly on our hearts.
Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.
This is why we have confidence in you, in what Christ has done in you, that God has made known through you.
Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves,
We don't teach anything that is only our human idea, or our own reasoning.
but our adequacy is from God,
God has given us His ideas, and enabled us to teach His Word accurately. To be divinely commissioned is to be divinely equipped.
who also made us adequate as servants of a New Covenant,
This equipping extends to establishing a New Covenant, that supersedes the Old Covenant given to Moses.
not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives Life.
The Old Covenant embodied in the Law was written in characters in stone and papyrus or parchment. This New Covenant is written in the characters of the people who are changed by being born again of God's Spirit.
The Law brought death to whoever couldn't live up to it, which is all of us. The Spirit of God gives Life, eternal life, to all who believe. This is the New Covenant, written on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-33).
Now we make every judgment according to love: if it is the best for the person regardless of the cost. All the Law is based on Love: Jesus said so, see Matthew 22:36-40; Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law? And He said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and Prophets.
Now God has fulfilled the Jeremiah prophesy, and has written His Law on our hearts, now to determine each action and thought according to if it is loving, rather than if it is according to some written code.
So this goes way beyond the bounds of the letter of the Law. And applies to every situation possible, without limit.
O my Father, You are so wise, and so generous, and so Loving! You want us to be like Yourself, so You have saved us, given us Your Spirit to live in our spirits, and now He is guiding us into every path of righteousness.
Now You are showing us the way of Love in every circumstance, whether it is responsive, proactive, or even interventional.
Father, open our eyes to see Your ways; open our ears to hear Your quiet voice behind us, telling us, "This is the way, walk in it." Lead and guide us straight, not turning to the left or to the right, not running ahead or lagging behind, not wandering off or pulling away. Keep the thorny bushes lining the path to keep us straight, and the occasional bough of fruit to give us joy.
Send us out, Father, into Your fields that are ripe and ready to harvest. Lead us to every lost lamb, to bring them into the safety of the One Fold with One Shepherd.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord of all and King over the Universe, to the glory of Almighty God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again?
Is Paul boasting to say that he preaches the Word of God sincerely, not corrupting it or dealing deceitfully with it? (2:17, the previous verse.)
Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you?
Aquila and Priscilla had heard Apollos preaching in Ephesus and mentored him in the Faith, and when he went to Achaia the brethren wrote him a commendation so that he would be accepted there, and he had a powerful ministry there (Acts 19:24-28).
Paul is asking if he also needs this documentation.
You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men;
He's saying that his validation as a true teacher of God's Word is these believers who live in Corinth, who are living lives so different from how they used to live, that it's obvious they've been changed.
being manifested that you are a letter of Christ,
Everyone can see that it is the power of Jesus Christ in them that has done this.
cared for by us,
And Paul and company took care of them as a mother cares for her infant.
written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
This letter of commendation is not written outwardly on paper or parchment, or carved into stone as the Ten Commandments were, but engraved inwardly on our hearts.
Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.
This is why we have confidence in you, in what Christ has done in you, that God has made known through you.
Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves,
We don't teach anything that is only our human idea, or our own reasoning.
but our adequacy is from God,
God has given us His ideas, and enabled us to teach His Word accurately. To be divinely commissioned is to be divinely equipped.
who also made us adequate as servants of a New Covenant,
This equipping extends to establishing a New Covenant, that supersedes the Old Covenant given to Moses.
not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives Life.
The Old Covenant embodied in the Law was written in characters in stone and papyrus or parchment. This New Covenant is written in the characters of the people who are changed by being born again of God's Spirit.
The Law brought death to whoever couldn't live up to it, which is all of us. The Spirit of God gives Life, eternal life, to all who believe. This is the New Covenant, written on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-33).
Now we make every judgment according to love: if it is the best for the person regardless of the cost. All the Law is based on Love: Jesus said so, see Matthew 22:36-40; Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law? And He said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and Prophets.
Now God has fulfilled the Jeremiah prophesy, and has written His Law on our hearts, now to determine each action and thought according to if it is loving, rather than if it is according to some written code.
So this goes way beyond the bounds of the letter of the Law. And applies to every situation possible, without limit.
O my Father, You are so wise, and so generous, and so Loving! You want us to be like Yourself, so You have saved us, given us Your Spirit to live in our spirits, and now He is guiding us into every path of righteousness.
Now You are showing us the way of Love in every circumstance, whether it is responsive, proactive, or even interventional.
Father, open our eyes to see Your ways; open our ears to hear Your quiet voice behind us, telling us, "This is the way, walk in it." Lead and guide us straight, not turning to the left or to the right, not running ahead or lagging behind, not wandering off or pulling away. Keep the thorny bushes lining the path to keep us straight, and the occasional bough of fruit to give us joy.
Send us out, Father, into Your fields that are ripe and ready to harvest. Lead us to every lost lamb, to bring them into the safety of the One Fold with One Shepherd.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord of all and King over the Universe, to the glory of Almighty God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Speak Sincerely From God
II Corinthians 2: 12-17
Now when I came to Troas for the Gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord,
Troas was on the way to Macedonia. It's where Luke joined Paul, and where they got a ship to sail a good part of the way.
I had no rest for my spirit, not finding Titus my brother;
He had expected for Titus to also be there in Troas, but he wasn't.
but taking leave of them, I went on to Macedonia.
But he did take Timothy and Luke with him.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.
I love this, that we produce the sweet aroma of Christ.
For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;
to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?
This is the stench of death to those who will never come to Christ, but is the sweet savor of Life from the Savior to those who know Him! Amazing that the same fragrance would be perceived so differently by different people.
I spoke about this in my blog of September 15, 2018, and again on January 9, 2019.
For we are not like many, peddling [corrupting, dealing deceitfully with] the Word of God, but from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.
Paul genuinely loved the people he encountered, that's why he traveled so far and so often; he wanted them all to know the joy of the Lord in knowing His grace and mercy. And he wanted them to grow up in the Lord, so he wrote letters to them, which we know now as the Epistles.
And he knew he would be accountable to God for everything he taught, whether by his words, his manner, his life, or his letters. He was very careful to only teach what he had learned from Jesus Christ Himself.
So we also need to be careful to study the Scriptures to learn what God is saying to us (exegesis), not to look for validation of what we want to find there (eisegesis).
God always says what He means, and He means what He says. We need to understand His words as He means them.
O my Father, help me to always and only proclaim what Your Word is actually telling us, to understand Your heart in what You mean. And to teach others rightly, loving them and wanting them also to get to know You better, to experience Your tender embrace; and to be strong and faithful in living their lives according to Your righteousness in full view of the World around us.
Father, You have Loved us more than we can imagine! Help us to love one another as You have Loved us, so that we will then support each other, and help each other, and lift up each other to You. That we will submit to one another in the humility of putting their interests before our own, regardless of the cost.
And to hear from the Master, "Well done, good and faithful servant"!
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and King, to the glory of God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Now when I came to Troas for the Gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord,
Troas was on the way to Macedonia. It's where Luke joined Paul, and where they got a ship to sail a good part of the way.
I had no rest for my spirit, not finding Titus my brother;
He had expected for Titus to also be there in Troas, but he wasn't.
but taking leave of them, I went on to Macedonia.
But he did take Timothy and Luke with him.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.
I love this, that we produce the sweet aroma of Christ.
For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;
to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?
This is the stench of death to those who will never come to Christ, but is the sweet savor of Life from the Savior to those who know Him! Amazing that the same fragrance would be perceived so differently by different people.
I spoke about this in my blog of September 15, 2018, and again on January 9, 2019.
For we are not like many, peddling [corrupting, dealing deceitfully with] the Word of God, but from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.
Paul genuinely loved the people he encountered, that's why he traveled so far and so often; he wanted them all to know the joy of the Lord in knowing His grace and mercy. And he wanted them to grow up in the Lord, so he wrote letters to them, which we know now as the Epistles.
And he knew he would be accountable to God for everything he taught, whether by his words, his manner, his life, or his letters. He was very careful to only teach what he had learned from Jesus Christ Himself.
So we also need to be careful to study the Scriptures to learn what God is saying to us (exegesis), not to look for validation of what we want to find there (eisegesis).
God always says what He means, and He means what He says. We need to understand His words as He means them.
O my Father, help me to always and only proclaim what Your Word is actually telling us, to understand Your heart in what You mean. And to teach others rightly, loving them and wanting them also to get to know You better, to experience Your tender embrace; and to be strong and faithful in living their lives according to Your righteousness in full view of the World around us.
Father, You have Loved us more than we can imagine! Help us to love one another as You have Loved us, so that we will then support each other, and help each other, and lift up each other to You. That we will submit to one another in the humility of putting their interests before our own, regardless of the cost.
And to hear from the Master, "Well done, good and faithful servant"!
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and King, to the glory of God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Tough Love
II Corinthians 2: 1-11
But I determined this for my own sake, that I would not come to you in sorrow again.
For if I cause you sorrow, who then makes me glad but the one whom I made sorrowful?
This is the very thing I wrote you, so that when I came, I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice; having confidence in you all that my joy would be the joy of you all.
Paul is still talking about why he didn't come by Corinth on his way to Macedonia, but went directly there, and came to Corinth on his way back. He didn't want to have a confrontational meeting with them, and upset everyone's sensibilities. So he wrote them another letter, instead, and gave them time to resolve this glaring problem themselves.
For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears;
This is the "sorrowful letter" that has been lost to antiquity, that he wrote to them so that they would take care of the situation with the overtly incestuous man (see I Corinthians 5:1-6).
not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you.
He didn't write this one to upset them, but to show them how important this issue is, and how broken-hearted he is to see it going on, to their detriment.
But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but in some degree--in order not to say too much--to all of you.
Only part of the grief was on Paul, so that he would not go too far in that "sorrowful letter" in accusing them of tolerating this egregious sin in their midst, and what to do about it to resolve it.
And they did resolve it, they kicked him out of their group, depriving him of the fellowship and whatever other benefits, to encourage him to forsake this relationship and return to the Lord.
Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority,
And it worked! This man repented and wanted to come back to church.
so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him,
So they should welcome him back into the congregation.
otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
We certainly don't want to destroy this man unnecessarily, especially since he did forsake his sin and return to the Lord.
Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.
Stop blaming him and forgive him and see him with Christ's eyes; and realize that you still do love him, and let him know.
For to this end also I wrote, so that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things.
Paul also wrote to see if they were mature enough to obey a hard commandment. And they passed the test. So they were growing in the Lord.
But one who you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ.
Because Christ forgives when we come to godly repentance, Paul also forgives, and will not harbor any hard feelings toward someone who turns from his sins back to godly living.
so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
When we refuse to forgive, we are opening the door to bitterness, which puts us right into Satan's territory. Since we know this, we don't have to fall into the devil's lap.
This is a very thorny situation Paul is trying to steer these Corinthian believers through. He loves these brothers and sisters, and he wants them to do right, even when it's hard to do.
But it's when it's hard to do, and we do it anyway, is when we can grow the most. Because then we see how beneficial it is for us to do things God's way. Satan wants to convince us that God is hard and vengeful, but we know Him as gentle and gracious and generous with us.
Whenever we think that the person doesn't deserve forgiveness because they've hurt us, we're right. None of us deserves forgiveness, because we've deliberately rebelled against what we know is right. We deserve God's wrath.
But God has put the punishment we deserve on Jesus on the Cross, who didn't deserve it. That's His mercy toward us. And we should have mercy on others, the ones who have injured us, as God has for us.
Then God can be gracious and give us all the good that we don't deserve. So we can be gracious and forgive those, and grant them our good will that they don't deserve, either.
Paul told them to take that man back into their fellowship, and to show him the love they felt for him, because they really did love him. They hadn't wanted to call him on his immorality because of their familial feelings toward him, so it was a hard thing for them to kick him out.
But they did, and he repented and cleaned up his life. That's what it took.
This has been called "tough love," because it's so hard to do. But sometimes this is what it takes to shake someone out of their denial and face the reality of what they're doing to themselves and those they love. It's what's behind interventions, and has been very successful in rescuing people from destroying themselves.
When we love people with just our human love, it can take distorted shapes, to allow all kinds of destructive activities. But God's Love is pure and deep and genuine, and looks for the long-term good of the one loved. When we love others with His Love for us, then we will not be deceived into doing what won't be the best, by considering what it would cost us.
But God didn't let what it would cost Him keep Him from rescuing us. He sent His very Best, His only-begotten Son to pay the ultimate price for each of us.
How it must have broken the Father's heart to have to turn His back on His Son, with whom He had never been separated! And it took such a steep emotional toll on Jesus that He sweated drops of Blood in the Garden of Gethsemane the night of His arrest! I just really have a problem wrapping my mind around these stupendous ... what this means ... every word I come up with just falls so woefully short!
O my Father, Your Love for us, for me, is so much more than I could ever comprehend with my puny brain! You have already done so much more for me, that it will take me all of eternity future to fully understand; and even then, I will still be coming to more and more and deeper and deeper and broader and wider and more comprehensive knowledge of You and Your ways, Father!
I don't think I will ever come to the end of You, my Almighty God and Father. All of eternity, forever and ever, will only bring more joy, more rejoicing, more fun and merriment and feasting; more purpose and accomplishment and adventure!
You. Are. God! You alone are our Source and End. Only You are what we need, for You have made us for Your enjoyment and pleasure, and our purpose is in You alone!
O Father, send us out to cast abroad Your good seed of the Gospel, to every corner and every cave and every hiding place where Your lost sheep have wandered. Let Your seed find every fertile plot of ground in every prepared heart, to draw all Your precious lambs into the safety and comfort of Your One Fold with One Shepherd.
Let all the World know how much You have Loved us! Until every living soul has come to enough understanding to accept or reject Your gracious gift of Salvation. So that no one will have any excuse.
And every eye shall see, and every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth is our Lord God Almighty, our sovereign King of the Universe, to the credit and glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
But I determined this for my own sake, that I would not come to you in sorrow again.
For if I cause you sorrow, who then makes me glad but the one whom I made sorrowful?
This is the very thing I wrote you, so that when I came, I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice; having confidence in you all that my joy would be the joy of you all.
Paul is still talking about why he didn't come by Corinth on his way to Macedonia, but went directly there, and came to Corinth on his way back. He didn't want to have a confrontational meeting with them, and upset everyone's sensibilities. So he wrote them another letter, instead, and gave them time to resolve this glaring problem themselves.
For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears;
This is the "sorrowful letter" that has been lost to antiquity, that he wrote to them so that they would take care of the situation with the overtly incestuous man (see I Corinthians 5:1-6).
not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you.
He didn't write this one to upset them, but to show them how important this issue is, and how broken-hearted he is to see it going on, to their detriment.
But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but in some degree--in order not to say too much--to all of you.
Only part of the grief was on Paul, so that he would not go too far in that "sorrowful letter" in accusing them of tolerating this egregious sin in their midst, and what to do about it to resolve it.
And they did resolve it, they kicked him out of their group, depriving him of the fellowship and whatever other benefits, to encourage him to forsake this relationship and return to the Lord.
Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority,
And it worked! This man repented and wanted to come back to church.
so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him,
So they should welcome him back into the congregation.
otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
We certainly don't want to destroy this man unnecessarily, especially since he did forsake his sin and return to the Lord.
Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.
Stop blaming him and forgive him and see him with Christ's eyes; and realize that you still do love him, and let him know.
For to this end also I wrote, so that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things.
Paul also wrote to see if they were mature enough to obey a hard commandment. And they passed the test. So they were growing in the Lord.
But one who you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ.
Because Christ forgives when we come to godly repentance, Paul also forgives, and will not harbor any hard feelings toward someone who turns from his sins back to godly living.
so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
When we refuse to forgive, we are opening the door to bitterness, which puts us right into Satan's territory. Since we know this, we don't have to fall into the devil's lap.
This is a very thorny situation Paul is trying to steer these Corinthian believers through. He loves these brothers and sisters, and he wants them to do right, even when it's hard to do.
But it's when it's hard to do, and we do it anyway, is when we can grow the most. Because then we see how beneficial it is for us to do things God's way. Satan wants to convince us that God is hard and vengeful, but we know Him as gentle and gracious and generous with us.
Whenever we think that the person doesn't deserve forgiveness because they've hurt us, we're right. None of us deserves forgiveness, because we've deliberately rebelled against what we know is right. We deserve God's wrath.
But God has put the punishment we deserve on Jesus on the Cross, who didn't deserve it. That's His mercy toward us. And we should have mercy on others, the ones who have injured us, as God has for us.
Then God can be gracious and give us all the good that we don't deserve. So we can be gracious and forgive those, and grant them our good will that they don't deserve, either.
Paul told them to take that man back into their fellowship, and to show him the love they felt for him, because they really did love him. They hadn't wanted to call him on his immorality because of their familial feelings toward him, so it was a hard thing for them to kick him out.
But they did, and he repented and cleaned up his life. That's what it took.
This has been called "tough love," because it's so hard to do. But sometimes this is what it takes to shake someone out of their denial and face the reality of what they're doing to themselves and those they love. It's what's behind interventions, and has been very successful in rescuing people from destroying themselves.
When we love people with just our human love, it can take distorted shapes, to allow all kinds of destructive activities. But God's Love is pure and deep and genuine, and looks for the long-term good of the one loved. When we love others with His Love for us, then we will not be deceived into doing what won't be the best, by considering what it would cost us.
But God didn't let what it would cost Him keep Him from rescuing us. He sent His very Best, His only-begotten Son to pay the ultimate price for each of us.
How it must have broken the Father's heart to have to turn His back on His Son, with whom He had never been separated! And it took such a steep emotional toll on Jesus that He sweated drops of Blood in the Garden of Gethsemane the night of His arrest! I just really have a problem wrapping my mind around these stupendous ... what this means ... every word I come up with just falls so woefully short!
O my Father, Your Love for us, for me, is so much more than I could ever comprehend with my puny brain! You have already done so much more for me, that it will take me all of eternity future to fully understand; and even then, I will still be coming to more and more and deeper and deeper and broader and wider and more comprehensive knowledge of You and Your ways, Father!
I don't think I will ever come to the end of You, my Almighty God and Father. All of eternity, forever and ever, will only bring more joy, more rejoicing, more fun and merriment and feasting; more purpose and accomplishment and adventure!
You. Are. God! You alone are our Source and End. Only You are what we need, for You have made us for Your enjoyment and pleasure, and our purpose is in You alone!
O Father, send us out to cast abroad Your good seed of the Gospel, to every corner and every cave and every hiding place where Your lost sheep have wandered. Let Your seed find every fertile plot of ground in every prepared heart, to draw all Your precious lambs into the safety and comfort of Your One Fold with One Shepherd.
Let all the World know how much You have Loved us! Until every living soul has come to enough understanding to accept or reject Your gracious gift of Salvation. So that no one will have any excuse.
And every eye shall see, and every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth is our Lord God Almighty, our sovereign King of the Universe, to the credit and glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, September 20, 2019
Give Them Some Space
II Corinthians 1: 15-24
In this confidence I intended at first to come to you, so that you might twice receive a blessing;
that is, to pass your way into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to you, and by you to be helped on my journey to Judea.
This was Paul's original plan. He loved these people, and wanted to see them as much as he could.
Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or what I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, so that with me there will be yes, yes and no, no at the same time?
He didn't want them to think he was wavering, or hesitating, to come to them, as if he was indecisive, not making up his mind as to what he would do.
But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no.
If Paul was only planning what he would to do according to what he humanly wanted to do, he could have changed his mind after making a decision and having second thoughts. But he was depending on the Lord's leading, and the Lord already knows what His plans are, and always follows through.
For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us--by me and Silvanus and Timothy--was not yes and no, but is yes in Him.
When Paul and company were teaching Christ to the people in Corinth, they were firm and grounded in the Truth of God; so they were confident in everything they preached, not wavering in anything, as it would have been if it was only human.
For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.
Whatever God says, it will stand. So however He leads, we can be confident.
Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,
Paul says that God anointed him to preach, and has established the believers in their faith, along with the teachers, in Christ.
who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.
God has sealed us, giving His Spirit to us to live in our hearts now as the down payment for the Redemption Jesus won for us on the Cross. Because we have His Spirit, nothing can break that seal, because nothing is stronger that God. No matter what happens, we will some day live with Him in Heaven.
But I call God as witness to my soul, that to spare you I did not come again to Corinth.
Paul only went to Corinth once, after he went to Macedonia, because he didn't want to have a confrontational meeting with them. He waited for them to have time to work out the issues that were so problematic on their own.
Not that we lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm.
He was confident that they were believing the Truth, and he didn't want to be didactically commanding them as though he was someone who forced his authority over them. Paul considered himself just another worker along with all the believers, without being on any special pedestal over them, and wanted to rejoice with them in the Lord.
O my Father, please help us all! Let us learn from Paul to be gentle and gracious with weaker brothers and sisters who may be new believers, or have not been soundly grounded in the Truth. May we be mindful of how You see each of us through Your Loving eyes, as already grown up in Your family.
Father, we sometimes have a difficult time working with others who don't see situations as we do, and have different ideas on how to deal with the problems that come up.
Like Paul, show us how to give space to others who need some time to work out their own issues. Show us how much guidance they need from us, but keep us from overshadowing them in our eagerness to fix things.
Teach us how to work together, Father, in promoting Your Kingdom, spreading the seed of the Gospel of Peace. Grant us peace with one another.
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
In this confidence I intended at first to come to you, so that you might twice receive a blessing;
that is, to pass your way into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to you, and by you to be helped on my journey to Judea.
This was Paul's original plan. He loved these people, and wanted to see them as much as he could.
Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or what I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, so that with me there will be yes, yes and no, no at the same time?
He didn't want them to think he was wavering, or hesitating, to come to them, as if he was indecisive, not making up his mind as to what he would do.
But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no.
If Paul was only planning what he would to do according to what he humanly wanted to do, he could have changed his mind after making a decision and having second thoughts. But he was depending on the Lord's leading, and the Lord already knows what His plans are, and always follows through.
For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us--by me and Silvanus and Timothy--was not yes and no, but is yes in Him.
When Paul and company were teaching Christ to the people in Corinth, they were firm and grounded in the Truth of God; so they were confident in everything they preached, not wavering in anything, as it would have been if it was only human.
For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.
Whatever God says, it will stand. So however He leads, we can be confident.
Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,
Paul says that God anointed him to preach, and has established the believers in their faith, along with the teachers, in Christ.
who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.
God has sealed us, giving His Spirit to us to live in our hearts now as the down payment for the Redemption Jesus won for us on the Cross. Because we have His Spirit, nothing can break that seal, because nothing is stronger that God. No matter what happens, we will some day live with Him in Heaven.
But I call God as witness to my soul, that to spare you I did not come again to Corinth.
Paul only went to Corinth once, after he went to Macedonia, because he didn't want to have a confrontational meeting with them. He waited for them to have time to work out the issues that were so problematic on their own.
Not that we lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm.
He was confident that they were believing the Truth, and he didn't want to be didactically commanding them as though he was someone who forced his authority over them. Paul considered himself just another worker along with all the believers, without being on any special pedestal over them, and wanted to rejoice with them in the Lord.
O my Father, please help us all! Let us learn from Paul to be gentle and gracious with weaker brothers and sisters who may be new believers, or have not been soundly grounded in the Truth. May we be mindful of how You see each of us through Your Loving eyes, as already grown up in Your family.
Father, we sometimes have a difficult time working with others who don't see situations as we do, and have different ideas on how to deal with the problems that come up.
Like Paul, show us how to give space to others who need some time to work out their own issues. Show us how much guidance they need from us, but keep us from overshadowing them in our eagerness to fix things.
Teach us how to work together, Father, in promoting Your Kingdom, spreading the seed of the Gospel of Peace. Grant us peace with one another.
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Transparency
II Corinthians 1: 12-14
For our proud confidence is this:
Not the sin of pride, but the feeling of pleasure and satisfaction over what is honorable.
the testimony of our conscience,
His conscience is clear.
that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the World, and especially among you.
Paul is saying that he has presented himself honestly and transparently to the Corinthians, both in the church and in secular situations.
For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand,
And what he writes is to be understood as just what it says, in the regular, ordinary sense of the words, not any "reading between the lines" needed at all.
and I hope you will understand until the end;
He wants them to continue to take his words honestly, and not be persuaded to think he has any hidden meanings.
just as you also partially did understand us,
They had begun to understand what he was telling them, and he is continuing to fill them in on the rest of God's plan for them to live their lives in a godly way.
that we are your reason to be proud as you also are ours, in the Day of our Lord Jesus.
He wanted to be considered a builder-up of the Corinthian church, that they could look to him with admiration for how he had treated them, just as he was proud of their growth and godliness in their growing up in the Lord, and that Paul and the Corinthian Christians would be lifting up each other to the Lord when He comes to set up His Kingdom here.
O my Father, help me to live my life as transparently as Paul lived his. Teach me how to display Your character as I live in my "glass house" in full view of the World.
Let me be a source of honest pride for those around me, and that they also would have my admiration in their spiritual growth, as we encourage one another; as Paul and the Corinthian church had this reciprocal relationship.
Not that I would be the teacher, as Paul was, but that I would be an encourager, and that I would receive encouragement from my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Help us all, Father, to share with the World around us how much You Love them. Show us what we need to discern in speaking Your words to them, to draw them toward You, not necessarily push them away from ourselves.
Send us out to scatter the seed of Your Word throughout this whole World, Father, so that every living person of every nation and people group and language would understand Your Gospel well enough to make an educated decision whether to accept or reject Your gracious gift of Redemption. It's up to us, Father, send us all out.
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ and Lord God, our sovereign King, to the glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
For our proud confidence is this:
Not the sin of pride, but the feeling of pleasure and satisfaction over what is honorable.
the testimony of our conscience,
His conscience is clear.
that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the World, and especially among you.
Paul is saying that he has presented himself honestly and transparently to the Corinthians, both in the church and in secular situations.
For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand,
And what he writes is to be understood as just what it says, in the regular, ordinary sense of the words, not any "reading between the lines" needed at all.
and I hope you will understand until the end;
He wants them to continue to take his words honestly, and not be persuaded to think he has any hidden meanings.
just as you also partially did understand us,
They had begun to understand what he was telling them, and he is continuing to fill them in on the rest of God's plan for them to live their lives in a godly way.
that we are your reason to be proud as you also are ours, in the Day of our Lord Jesus.
He wanted to be considered a builder-up of the Corinthian church, that they could look to him with admiration for how he had treated them, just as he was proud of their growth and godliness in their growing up in the Lord, and that Paul and the Corinthian Christians would be lifting up each other to the Lord when He comes to set up His Kingdom here.
O my Father, help me to live my life as transparently as Paul lived his. Teach me how to display Your character as I live in my "glass house" in full view of the World.
Let me be a source of honest pride for those around me, and that they also would have my admiration in their spiritual growth, as we encourage one another; as Paul and the Corinthian church had this reciprocal relationship.
Not that I would be the teacher, as Paul was, but that I would be an encourager, and that I would receive encouragement from my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Help us all, Father, to share with the World around us how much You Love them. Show us what we need to discern in speaking Your words to them, to draw them toward You, not necessarily push them away from ourselves.
Send us out to scatter the seed of Your Word throughout this whole World, Father, so that every living person of every nation and people group and language would understand Your Gospel well enough to make an educated decision whether to accept or reject Your gracious gift of Redemption. It's up to us, Father, send us all out.
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ and Lord God, our sovereign King, to the glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Prayer Unleashing God's Power To Rescue
II Corinthians 1: 8-11
For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life;
Evidently Paul found himself in dire circumstances "in Asia," probably outside any major populated area or city, since the first letter.
indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death,
He asserts that God allowed him to be beyond human help, so that he would trust only God, who rescued him from death.
and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us,
Because his hope and trust was in the God who raises the dead, He will continue to deliver him from fatal circumstances.
you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.
Paul contends that it was prayer that released God's power to work on his behalf to escape deadly situations; their prayers, and the prayers of many Christians.
Apparently, Paul faced some perilous situations in his travels, and very recently, considering the intensity of his tone in this letter here. He attributes his escape from death only to the prayers of the saints on his behalf.
This is how important it is to pray for one another. When we pray, God moves. God wants to do so much more than we imagine, but we limit His working when we don't pray.
Prayer for Peter sent an angel to release him from prison in Acts chapter 12.
God is looking for us to pray for all our brothers and sisters who are facing adverse circumstances orchestrated by our enemy, to work miracles on their behalf in comforting them and rescuing them and releasing them from the imprisonments and persecutions they are suffering. There are more martyrs today than in any other time in History.
O Father, I pray for my brothers and sisters who are right now in the enemy's clutches, having been thrown into prison, and who are under intense persecution right now. I pray, Father, that You would take them into Your lap, and let them feel Your tender arms around them, as You reassure them that You are taking care of their families, and that You will be releasing them soon to be reunited with their loved ones.
And I pray, Father, that You will prepare all of Your children for the persecution that will be coming before Jesus returns. Give us courage, and graciousness toward our persecutors; and use our testimonies and our compassion to win over our family members and neighbors who don't know You yet, and even our persecutors, to draw them to Yourself to save them, too.
Father, You are not willing for any to perish, but that all would come to repentance, realizing that we are the criminals who deserve execution, and let Jesus take their place in death to rescue them.
That Your house will be full, and that every seat at Your great Banquet Table will be filled, at Your great celebration.
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life;
Evidently Paul found himself in dire circumstances "in Asia," probably outside any major populated area or city, since the first letter.
indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death,
He asserts that God allowed him to be beyond human help, so that he would trust only God, who rescued him from death.
and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us,
Because his hope and trust was in the God who raises the dead, He will continue to deliver him from fatal circumstances.
you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.
Paul contends that it was prayer that released God's power to work on his behalf to escape deadly situations; their prayers, and the prayers of many Christians.
Apparently, Paul faced some perilous situations in his travels, and very recently, considering the intensity of his tone in this letter here. He attributes his escape from death only to the prayers of the saints on his behalf.
This is how important it is to pray for one another. When we pray, God moves. God wants to do so much more than we imagine, but we limit His working when we don't pray.
Prayer for Peter sent an angel to release him from prison in Acts chapter 12.
God is looking for us to pray for all our brothers and sisters who are facing adverse circumstances orchestrated by our enemy, to work miracles on their behalf in comforting them and rescuing them and releasing them from the imprisonments and persecutions they are suffering. There are more martyrs today than in any other time in History.
O Father, I pray for my brothers and sisters who are right now in the enemy's clutches, having been thrown into prison, and who are under intense persecution right now. I pray, Father, that You would take them into Your lap, and let them feel Your tender arms around them, as You reassure them that You are taking care of their families, and that You will be releasing them soon to be reunited with their loved ones.
And I pray, Father, that You will prepare all of Your children for the persecution that will be coming before Jesus returns. Give us courage, and graciousness toward our persecutors; and use our testimonies and our compassion to win over our family members and neighbors who don't know You yet, and even our persecutors, to draw them to Yourself to save them, too.
Father, You are not willing for any to perish, but that all would come to repentance, realizing that we are the criminals who deserve execution, and let Jesus take their place in death to rescue them.
That Your house will be full, and that every seat at Your great Banquet Table will be filled, at Your great celebration.
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
God's Comfort
II Corinthians 1: 1-7
Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
Paul was not one of the original twelve Apostles of Christ, but he considered himself equal to the other eleven having been taught personally by Jesus in the desert after his dramatic meeting with Him on the road to Damascus. And it was Paul who was planting God's church all over the known World.
and Timothy our brother,
Timothy is with Paul at this time, in Macedonia, where this letter was written.
To the church of God which is at Corinth
Paul is referring to God's church universal, the portion of which is in Corinth.
with all the saints who are throughout Achaia:
This letter was not to just the Corinthians, but also to all the believers in the whole area where Corinth was, including the cities of Cenchreae and Athens.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The traditional Greek and Hebrew greetings are elevated here: the "greetings," chairein, becomes charis, "grace," God's unmerited favor; and the Hebrew Shalom, "peace" is changed to eirene, the peace God gives us when we have peace with Him being justified by faith.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
"Blessed" is from eulogeo, "to speak well of (religiously)" rather than makarios, "fortunate, well-off, happy;" praising God for mercies (pity, not giving us the wrath we deserve) and comfort (solace, consolation).
who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
He comforts us so that we will know how to comfort one another. The comfort we receive, we are given so we can give it away to another who needs it. Our afflictions happen so we will learn these things.
For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.
When we have troubles and problems, we learn more of God's character, as He consoles us.
But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation;
So when we are afflicted, it is for the benefit of others.
or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort,
Whether we are afflicted or comforted, it is for our learning and giving away to others for their learning and benefit, also.
which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer;
Knowing how God will comfort and console us gives us perseverance through the trials of life, as an example to others so they also can persevere.
and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.
We are secure in our trust in God to have given you the same strength and enduring He has given us in all the same hardships as well as the same solace.
O my Father, You are such a good Father to us all! You invite each of us into Your warm lap, to be enfolded in Your gentle embrace, in the midst of all the persecutions and trials and troubles and sorrows we face in life in this World. Your comfort and solace strengthens us to patiently endure through whatever we are going through at any time.
Help me, Father, to be a good example to others of how You encourage and uphold us in our hardships and trials and problems.
Father, You have already given us everything we need. Open my eyes to see, open my mind to understand, what You have already provided for me as Your child. Teach me how to show others how You comfort and console through hard times, as well as provide abundance and prosperity in the good times.
Father, strengthen all Your children to be good witnesses for You in sharing with those in our little worlds how wonderful You are and how much You Love each of us.
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ and Lord, our sovereign King, to the credit and glory of God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
Paul was not one of the original twelve Apostles of Christ, but he considered himself equal to the other eleven having been taught personally by Jesus in the desert after his dramatic meeting with Him on the road to Damascus. And it was Paul who was planting God's church all over the known World.
and Timothy our brother,
Timothy is with Paul at this time, in Macedonia, where this letter was written.
To the church of God which is at Corinth
Paul is referring to God's church universal, the portion of which is in Corinth.
with all the saints who are throughout Achaia:
This letter was not to just the Corinthians, but also to all the believers in the whole area where Corinth was, including the cities of Cenchreae and Athens.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The traditional Greek and Hebrew greetings are elevated here: the "greetings," chairein, becomes charis, "grace," God's unmerited favor; and the Hebrew Shalom, "peace" is changed to eirene, the peace God gives us when we have peace with Him being justified by faith.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
"Blessed" is from eulogeo, "to speak well of (religiously)" rather than makarios, "fortunate, well-off, happy;" praising God for mercies (pity, not giving us the wrath we deserve) and comfort (solace, consolation).
who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
He comforts us so that we will know how to comfort one another. The comfort we receive, we are given so we can give it away to another who needs it. Our afflictions happen so we will learn these things.
For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.
When we have troubles and problems, we learn more of God's character, as He consoles us.
But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation;
So when we are afflicted, it is for the benefit of others.
or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort,
Whether we are afflicted or comforted, it is for our learning and giving away to others for their learning and benefit, also.
which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer;
Knowing how God will comfort and console us gives us perseverance through the trials of life, as an example to others so they also can persevere.
and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.
We are secure in our trust in God to have given you the same strength and enduring He has given us in all the same hardships as well as the same solace.
O my Father, You are such a good Father to us all! You invite each of us into Your warm lap, to be enfolded in Your gentle embrace, in the midst of all the persecutions and trials and troubles and sorrows we face in life in this World. Your comfort and solace strengthens us to patiently endure through whatever we are going through at any time.
Help me, Father, to be a good example to others of how You encourage and uphold us in our hardships and trials and problems.
Father, You have already given us everything we need. Open my eyes to see, open my mind to understand, what You have already provided for me as Your child. Teach me how to show others how You comfort and console through hard times, as well as provide abundance and prosperity in the good times.
Father, strengthen all Your children to be good witnesses for You in sharing with those in our little worlds how wonderful You are and how much You Love each of us.
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ and Lord, our sovereign King, to the credit and glory of God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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