Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

I remember time Randy and I were doing some quick grocery shopping when we looked up to see a younger couple we had known before but had lost touch with for a while.  We hardly recognized them at first.  They had attended church with relatives that Randy pastored at the time.  When they came, they looked down not wanting to engage in conversation.  But now, they came over to us, looked into our eyes with joy on their faces!  Their first words were, “We’re different now!  Jesus has changed our lives and set us free!”  We could tell—it showed from head to toe!  We celebrated with them!

This couple had fought drug addiction over the years that made them look older than they were. They had been battled and scarred from the effects of the drugs.  They were ashamed over the loss of control.  Disheveled they tried coming to church because of relatives who wanted to help them find Jesus.  But then, they disappeared. They needed counseling to face why they needed the drugs to numb their emotions and they found they right place and the right Person to lead them out and save them—Jesus!  Everything changed.  Randy and I praised God for their redemption and transformtion! 

We thanked them for telling us and showing us how Jesus changed their lives.  They came to church the next Sunday with smiling faces as the beauty of Jesus was seen by all who knew them before and now after.  “The old has gone and the new has come” are not just words in our Bibles.  These powerful words describe life transformation—all because of Jesus!

When we totally give our hearts, minds, and souls to Jesus, everything about us changes!  It shows on our faces!  Our demeanor is different when we relate to others. Redemption brough about by the mercy and grace of God, delivered by Jesus, and powered by His Holy Spirit living in us transforms us from dead living to coming alive in Christ!  We become physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually healthier with each day given to Jesus. 

2 Corinthians 13, The Message

He’s Alive Now!

^1-4 Well, this is my third visit coming up. Remember the Scripture that says, “A matter becomes clear after two or three witnesses give evidence”? On my second visit I warned that bunch that keeps sinning over and over in the same old ways that when I came back I wouldn’t go easy on them. Now, preparing for the third, I’m saying it again from a distance. If you haven’t changed your ways by the time I get there, look out. You who have been demanding proof that Christ speaks through me will get more than you bargained for. You’ll get the full force of Christ, don’t think you won’t. He was sheer weakness and humiliation when he was killed on the cross, but oh, he’s alive now—in the mighty power of God! We weren’t much to look at, either, when we were humiliated among you, but when we deal with you this next time, we’ll be alive in Christ, strengthened by God.

^5-9 Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it. I hope the test won’t show that we have failed. But if it comes to that, we’d rather the test showed our failure than yours. We’re rooting for the truth to win out in you. We couldn’t possibly do otherwise.

We don’t just put up with our limitations; we celebrate them, and then go on to celebrate every strength, every triumph of the truth in you. We pray hard that it will all come together in your lives.

¹⁰ I’m writing this to you now so that when I come I won’t have to say another word on the subject. The authority the Master gave me is for putting people together, not taking them apart. I want to get on with it, and not have to spend time on reprimands.

* * *

^11-13 And that’s about it, friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure. Greet one another with a holy embrace. All the brothers and sisters here say hello.

¹⁴ The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“Examine and test yourselves,” writes Paul to the church.  “If the test fails, then do something about it!”  Seek God first.  Seek all who know Jesus and will help us find our way back to Him. 

If we test negative to all that God wants to be and do in our lives; then stop, drop to our knees and pray.  Offer all we are to all God is and wants to be and do in our lives.  He will answer and transform us from the inside out.  Then the beauty of our alive Christ will be seen in us!

Help each other!  Celebrate God’s strength in our weaknesses and limitations.  Think “in harmony” as we work together to point the way to being alive in Christ!

Lord,

I give you my life again this morning.  I look up instead of down to see your glory at work in my life.  I rejoice because of your love and compassion that saved my soul.  I ask for wisdom and invite you into all the details of this day that lies before me.  Show me the right path to take and I will follow.

In Jesus Name, Amen

I’m remembering a favorite song written by Amy Grant written decades ago that describes the look on our faces when transformed by His grace—  “Her Father’s Eyes”

I may not be every mother’s dream for her little girl,
And my face may not grace the mind of everyone in the world.
But that’s all right, as long as I can have one wish I pray:
When people look inside my life, I want to hear them say,

She’s got her Father’s eyes,
Her father’s eyes;
Eyes that find the good in things,
When good is not around;
Eyes that find the source of help,
When help just can’t be found;
Eyes full of compassion,
Seeing every pain;
Knowing what you’re going through
And feeling it the same.
Just like my father’s eyes,
My father’s eyes,
My father’s eyes,
Just like my father’s eyes.

And on that day when we will pay for all the deeds we have done,
Good and bad they’ll all be had to see by everyone.
And when you’re called to stand and tell just what you saw in me,
More than anything I know, I want your words to be,

She had her father’s eyes,
Her Father’s eyes…

“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” 1 Corinthians 13:11

As a parent and a former public school first grade teacher, we make allowances for young children who are still learning how to relate to each other and work alongside each other.  We invest ourselves in the their growing up because it is worth our time and energy to do so.  We call on God when we don’t know what to say or do and He provides help and wisdom. We discover later in life that those we invested in the most we will always remember with great love. 

We also know and remember all the Christ filled people who invested their time in us—and still do!

Paul was called by God to invest his time in Corinth, a city of unimaginable horrid sins of idol worship, sexual promiscuities, even offering their babies as sacrifices to various gods, among other acts of violence and hostility.  He writes honestly and opening of how it distresses him to know they are not only turning to their old ways of life but now turning on him who taught them about Jesus’ way of life anew. 

Paul speaks openly and honestly about his own weaknesses so they will realize that his confidence, which they interpret as conceited boldness, comes only from Christ who gives him strength to overcome His weakness!  Jesus is his strength in weakness!  And Jesus is our strength and confidence, too!

2 Corinthians 12, The Message

Strength from Weakness

^1-5 You’ve forced me to talk this way, and I do it against my better judgment. But now that we’re at it, I may as well bring up the matter of visions and revelations that God gave me. For instance, I know a man who, fourteen years ago, was seized by Christ and swept in ecstasy to the heights of heaven. I really don’t know if this took place in the body or out of it; only God knows. I also know that this man was hijacked into paradise—again, whether in or out of the body, I don’t know; God knows. There he heard the unspeakable spoken, but was forbidden to tell what he heard. This is the man I want to talk about. But about myself, I’m not saying another word apart from the humiliations.

⁶ If I had a mind to brag a little, I could probably do it without looking ridiculous, and I’d still be speaking plain truth all the way. But I’ll spare you. I don’t want anyone imagining me as anything other than the fool you’d encounter if you saw me on the street or heard me talk.

^7-10 Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,

My grace is enough; it’s all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

* * *

^11-13 Well, now I’ve done it! I’ve made a complete fool of myself by going on like this. But it’s not all my fault; you put me up to it. You should have been doing this for me, sticking up for me and commending me instead of making me do it for myself. You know from personal experience that even if I’m a nobody, a nothing, I wasn’t second-rate compared to those big-shot apostles you’re so taken with. All the signs that mark a true apostle were in evidence while I was with you through both good times and bad: signs of portent, signs of wonder, signs of power. Did you get less of me or of God than any of the other churches? The only thing you got less of was less responsibility for my upkeep. Well, I’m sorry. Forgive me for depriving you.

^14-15 Everything is in readiness now for this, my third visit to you. But don’t worry about it; you won’t have to put yourselves out. I’ll be no more of a bother to you this time than on the other visits. I have no interest in what you have—only in you. Children shouldn’t have to look out for their parents; parents look out for the children. I’d be most happy to empty my pockets, even mortgage my life, for your good. So how does it happen that the more I love you, the less I’m loved?

^16-18 And why is it that I keep coming across these whiffs of gossip about how my self-support was a front behind which I worked an elaborate scam? Where’s the evidence? Did I cheat or trick you through anyone I sent? I asked Titus to visit, and sent some brothers along. Did they swindle you out of anything? And haven’t we always been just as aboveboard, just as honest?

¹⁹ I hope you don’t think that all along we’ve been making our defense before you, the jury. You’re not the jury; God is the jury—God revealed in Christ—and we make our case before him. And we’ve gone to all the trouble of supporting ourselves so that we won’t be in the way or get in the way of your growing up.

^20-21 I do admit that I have fears that when I come you’ll disappoint me and I’ll disappoint you, and in frustration with each other everything will fall to pieces—quarrels, jealousy, flaring tempers, taking sides, angry words, vicious rumors, swelled heads, and general bedlam. I don’t look forward to a second humiliation by God among you, compounded by hot tears over that crowd that keeps sinning over and over in the same old ways, who refuse to turn away from the pigsty of evil, sexual disorder, and indecency in which they wallow.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Pray for strength and wisdom more that the removal of our weaknesses.  Our weaknesses drives us to depend on God.  We are not supermen and superwomen of perfection!  We all have something that we must carry.  But that does not compare to what Jesus carried for us—all the sins of the world on his shoulders! 

I pray our weaknesses will drive us to the wonders God has instore for us.  I pray our weaknesses keep us humble before God who is God alone.  Without our weaknesses showing up daily, we would probably be tempted to think we are God.  Worship of ourselves would follow, leaving the protection and provision of God.  God does not spare us trials, but he helps us overcome them. God works in our weakness, because when we are weak his strength accomplishes the task. 

Only our Lord knows how to balance our lives. If we have only blessings, we may become proud; so He permits us to have burdens as well. Paul’s great experience in heaven could have ruined his ministry on earth; so, God, in His goodness, permitted Satan to buffet Paul in order to keep him from becoming proud.

We must not take advantage or underappreciate those who invest their very lives into our growing spiritual maturity in Christ!  Paul admonished the Corinthians for their lack of appreciation. One of the dangers of the Christian life is that of getting accustomed to our blessings. A godly pastor or Sunday school teacher can do so much for us that we begin to take the ministry for granted. Paul had taken no support from the church, but rather had given sacrificially for the church; yet they were unwilling to show their appreciation by sharing with others. It seemed that the more Paul loved them, the less they loved Paul!

Think of all the people who have mentored us.  Let us stop and thank God for sending them into our lives at just the right time to help us.  Thank God for His Holy Spirit living in us as the supreme Helper in our growing process to be more and more like Jesus! 

And finally, let us thank God for our weakness instead of being bitter about this thing that causes pain.  Give it all to God, weaknesses, warts and all, and watch how God turns weakness in wonderful blessings of His glory.  Thank God for turning pain into power as He pours on His strength in and through it all!

Lord,

We learn much about ourselves as we read about Paul’s life and ministry. Thank you for your Word that give wisdom and your power that gives strength beyond our own abilities.

In Jesus Name, Amen

 

When we first believe in Jesus, repent of all our sins to Jesus, we are grateful and even giddy.  Our burdens of anxiety, self-loathing, distrust, overthinking, and fear are lifted from our shoulders.  We walk more easily and talk more freely.  God’s Love overwhelms us and lifts us to higher thinking.  God’s Holy Spirit comes and takes up residence in our being.  We have a New Counselor who guides us.  Our new life has a new perspective that is super positive and full of hope.  We have and hold the hope of eternal life!  What more could we ask for in this life and the bonus promise of what comes next?

The new cry of a new believers’ hearts boldly declare, “I want to be like Jesus.”  But the new believer does not yet realize what that means until life turns from rosy to really hard.  Troubles still come that exasperate us.  People you thought were your friends for life betray you.  You excitedly tell people who Jesus is with how He worked in your life to save you and people not only laugh at you they work hard to tear down your reputation for being this new person living and working among them. 

Maybe that’s why the command from God through Jesus, telling us to “go and make disciples, baptizing them” also includes “teaching them”.  We must tell the whole story of what it means to be like Jesus.  “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”—Jesus, John 16:33

To be like Jesus includes suffering in this world—like Jesus did to save us.  But we are overcomers with Jesus!

Paul is weary.  His prose is full of pain.  But we also feel the love of Christ in Paul as he writes openly to those he cares for deeply.  He cares us so much, in fact, that he is compelled to passionately warn them about falling for “pseudo-servants” who are not trying to be like Jesus but instead doing things for their own self-serving interests.  They are fakes.  Paul is honest before God and with His people. 

2 Corinthians 11, The Message

Pseudo-Servants of God

^1-3 Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a moment. The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so much—this is the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in marriage to Christ, presented you as a pure virgin to her husband. And now I’m afraid that exactly as the Snake seduced Eve with his smooth tongue, you are being lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ.

^4-6 It seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached—different spirit, different message—you put up with him quite nicely. But if you put up with these big-shot “apostles,” why can’t you put up with simple me? I’m as good as they are. It’s true that I don’t have their voice, haven’t mastered that smooth eloquence that impresses you so much. But when I do open my mouth, I at least know what I’m talking about. We haven’t kept anything back. We let you in on everything.

^7-12 I wonder, did I make a bad mistake in proclaiming God’s Message to you without asking for something in return, serving you free of charge so that you wouldn’t be inconvenienced by me? It turns out that the other churches paid my way so that you could have a free ride. Not once during the time I lived among you did anyone have to lift a finger to help me out. My needs were always supplied by the believers from Macedonia province. I was careful never to be a burden to you, and I never will be, you can count on it. With Christ as my witness, it’s a point of honor with me, and I’m not going to keep it quiet just to protect you from what the neighbors will think. It’s not that I don’t love you; God knows I do. I’m just trying to keep things open and honest between us.

^12-15 And I’m not changing my position on this. I’d die before taking your money. I’m giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing “preachers,” vaunting themselves as something special. They’re a sorry bunch—pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers—posing as Christ’s agents but sham to the core. And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn’t surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they’re not getting by with anything. They’ll pay for it in the end.

Many a Long and Lonely Night

^16-21 Let me come back to where I started—and don’t hold it against me if I continue to sound a little foolish. Or if you’d rather, just accept that I am a fool and let me rant on a little. I didn’t learn this kind of talk from Christ. Oh, no, it’s a bad habit I picked up from the three-ring preachers that are so popular these days. Since you sit there in the judgment seat observing all these shenanigans, you can afford to humor an occasional fool who happens along. You have such admirable tolerance for impostors who rob your freedom, rip you off, steal you blind, put you down—even slap your face! I shouldn’t admit it to you, but our stomachs aren’t strong enough to tolerate that kind of stuff.

^21-23 Since you admire the egomaniacs of the pulpit so much (remember, this is your old friend, the fool, talking), let me try my hand at it. Do they brag of being Hebrews, Israelites, the pure race of Abraham? I’m their match. Are they servants of Christ? I can go them one better. (I can’t believe I’m saying these things. It’s crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I’m going to finish.)

^23-27 I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s door time after time. I’ve been flogged five times with the Jews’ thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I’ve been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I’ve had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I’ve been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I’ve known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.

^28-29 And that’s not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches. When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut.

^30-33 If I have to “brag” about myself, I’ll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus. The eternal and blessed God and Father of our Master Jesus knows I’m not lying. Remember the time I was in Damascus and the governor of King Aretas posted guards at the city gates to arrest me? I crawled through a window in the wall, was let down in a basket, and had to run for my life.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

When we are “at the end of our rope”, bone weary and desperate, angry when the devil takes those we love away from knowing and following Jesus, reach out for the hand of God who knows our every pain and cares for us.  He knows the heartache when our beloved fall for the fakes for they are HIS beloved as well. 

Don’t get hung up on the honesty of Paul.  We all suffer in different ways on this earth. The crazy Corinthians needed to hear what Paul had to say.  Stuff was happening that would chill our bones! 

Today, there are many who are still persecuted on this earth for believing and following Jesus.  In our part of the country, we might be mocked and betrayed but we are rarely beaten and jailed for knowing and following Jesus.  That being said, we must realize that suffering, tests, and trials are a part of life for all people.  Like Paul, I would rather know Jesus, strive to be like Jesus, and grow in my love for Jesus through the sufferings of earth even if that means I am humiliated for following Him.  He is my hope of eternal life!  I know it will be worth it all when I see Christ!

We must read to the very end of Paul’s message to get to the good stuff what he truly believes.  “If I have to “brag” about myself, I’ll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus. 

Paul will also teach the Philippians the Truth of what it means to follow Jesus AND share in His sufferings to be more and more like Jesus:

“I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:10-11

Paul knows he is consistently growing to be more and more like Jesus but he has not “arrived” at perfection—only Jesus is perfection. Even though bone weary, he will not give up telling people what he does know so others will not fall away from Christ.  “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 3:12-14

Be honest, press on, in Jesus Name.  I have discovered in my own life, that when I am bone weary from suffering loss or watching others I love be duped and fall away from believing in Jesus; coming before God with honest humility becomes the right posture for God to do His best work in me!

Lord,

Thank you for saving our souls and making us whole be sending people into our lives at various seasons and stages of our growth, at just the right time, to “teach” us the right way to go in the ways that please you and give you glory. Thank you for hearing our cries for help in suffering and shouts of praise in good times and bad.  I will trust in you for life because you are Life!

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

Friendly Fire defined:  During a war, being wounded or killed by those from your own side—not from the enemy. 

The church who love Jesus attracts other imperfect people seeking a love that is real. As in Paul’s time and in ours, the world around us is unprincipled with dark manipulating ways of living life that cause pain, hurting more than it helping people.  The church is and was called out of this world to be different. 

The church was built on Jesus Christ, who died for the sins of the world—all of them.  Acknowledging our sins and repenting them to Jesus is the only way to begin a relationship with God.  Jesus also defeated death by rising from death to not only demonstrate the power of God but to provide all who believe the Hope of eternal life with God.  These gatherings of people, called church with Jesus as the Head, the One we believe in and trust, were formed to make disciples of Jesus.  It all began with the authoritative command given by God through Jesus His Son to His followers before Jesus returned to heaven:

“…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” 

The battles that exist while living in this imperfect world begin with the Enemy of God.  The enemy works diligently to take back who Jesus saved and reconciled to God.  He is in our churches stirring hearts, distracting minds, while clutching at our very souls with his fingers of deception, division, envy, and pride while thinking the worst not the best in all people as we compare and compete with others. 

Paul is called, like all of us, to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of God, Jesus and His Holy Spirit and he spends a great deal of time TEACHING all to obey God and His ways of living life to the full.  This is yet another time to teach how to build each other up as we strive to “a life shaped by Christ.”

2 Corinthians 10, The Message

Tearing Down Barriers

^1-2 And now a personal but most urgent matter; I write in the gentle but firm spirit of Christ. I hear that I’m being painted as cringing and wishy-washy when I’m with you, but harsh and demanding when at a safe distance writing letters. Please don’t force me to take a hard line when I’m present with you. Don’t think that I’ll hesitate a single minute to stand up to those who say I’m an unprincipled opportunist. Then they’ll have to eat their words.

^3-6 The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.

^7-8 You stare and stare at the obvious, but you can’t see the forest for the trees. If you’re looking for a clear example of someone on Christ’s side, why do you so quickly cut me out? Believe me, I am quite sure of my standing with Christ. You may think I overstate the authority he gave me, but I’m not backing off. Every bit of my commitment is for the purpose of building you up, after all, not tearing you down.

^9-11 And what’s this talk about me bullying you with my letters? “His letters are brawny and potent, but in person he’s a weakling and mumbles when he talks.” Such talk won’t survive scrutiny. What we write when away, we do when present. We’re the exact same people, absent or present, in letter or in person.

¹² We’re not, understand, putting ourselves in a league with those who boast that they’re our superiors. We wouldn’t dare do that. But in all this comparing and grading and competing, they quite miss the point.

^13-14 We aren’t making outrageous claims here. We’re sticking to the limits of what God has set for us. But there can be no question that those limits reach to and include you. We’re not moving into someone else’s “territory.” We were already there with you, weren’t we? We were the first ones to get there with the Message of Christ, right? So how can there be any question of overstepping our bounds by writing or visiting you?

^15-18 We’re not barging in on the rightful work of others, interfering with their ministries, demanding a place in the sun with them. What we’re hoping for is that as your lives grow in faith, you’ll play a part within our expanding work. And we’ll all still be within the limits God sets as we proclaim the Message in countries beyond Corinth. But we have no intention of moving in on what others have done and taking credit for it. “If you want to claim credit, claim it for God.” What you say about yourself means nothing in God’s work. It’s what God says about you that makes the difference.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Paul talks about those who manipulate versus those who speak the truth with the love of God.  There is a difference between manipulation and persuasion.  It all depends with what is in the heart.  Those who use words to change minds to suit their needs and advance personal agendas—manipulate. They are looking for people who will support them.

Those who are called to speak Truth in the Name of Jesus without thought of themselves or what how it will benefit them personally—persuade.  They are looking for people that need a Savior like they did, and eagerly seek to point The Way to God through Jesus. 

Led by God’s Holy Spirit, Paul points out this difference in his teaching.  He is warning people to avoid manipulators looking for personal gain who attack others in the faith.  He adds that this way of life is what we today call spiritual “bullying” of people. Their words and accusations are meant to tear people down.  Truth is, this behavior does not belong in the “family” Jesus is building with people who are not perfect but are perfectly forgiven and who strive to live a life shaped daily by Christ!

Manipulators miss the point!

Those who are self-serving are sarcastic, negative, tell people only what they want to hear, make promises that cannot or have no intention to keep, and do things for people expecting more in return.  Paul nailed it when he described manipulators as those who rank people with caddy comparisons while tireless competition (even in “doing good”) becomes the theme of a manipulator’s life.  All have sinned and “fall short” of the glory of God in this so we must ask, where is the love of Jesus in all this way of thinking? 

Dear friends, why do we “shoot our own” in the battle for lost souls?  Oh, how it grieves the heart of God!

Jesus reiterated God’s original command to “Love God with all your hearts, minds, and souls. And to love your neighbor as yourself.”  Love God.  Love Others.  Jesus showed us this love with a compassion never before seen by the world.  Jesus loved the world to whom He was sent.  He moved into the neighborhood of humanity and loved each one without criticism or condemnation, only caring compassion. 

God demonstrated His Love personally through His Son.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17

To imitate Jesus, we must first receive God’s gift of Love by truly believing Jesus and what He did to save us.  To know God is to know Love,” John teaches. The more we know God, the more deeply we love like God. (1 John 4-7-8) God loves us—completely and unconditionally.  God so love the world—all people of all nations.  We are called to do the same—love with the Love of God in us.  When there is a need to confront each other so our dear brother of sister can avoid a dangerous pitfall, we are commanded to speak privately to them, in a spirit of Truth because we love them so dearly.  Our words, led by God’s Holy Spirit, and delivered with the love of God in us, are meant to help, not to hinder a growing soul.  

Paul learned that certain rival preachers had succeeded in their attempt to discredit him before a few Corinthian Christians. God gives spiritual leaders to provide order and direction. We need to uphold and respect these leaders until there is evidence they are no longer speaking Truth and begin to manipulate to satisfy their own self interests.  However, as Paul writes, God is still in control.  “…God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” –Paul, Romans 8:28 

The reassuring lesson is clear. God used (and uses!) all kinds of people to change the world. People! Not saints or superhumans or geniuses, but people. Crooks, creeps, lovers, and liars—he uses them all. And what they may lack in perfection, God makes up for in love.  There is no one who God does not love.

Our response?  Participate in conversations that encourage and build up each other rather than criticize or demean them. And if we have a legitimate concern, go directly to the leader before you complain to others.  Lead with the Love of God is us.

Lord,

There is great wisdom in how Paul responded to criticism of his leadership along with condemnation of his personal ministry to others.  We remember well that Jesus also received complaints and harassment from the religious who were blind to who He was and deaf to what He said—Truth.  We seek to remain in Truth.

When we tear people down with gossip, accusations, comparing one to another while competing with other leaders for attention—we must repent.  I repent.  Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls with your mercies that are new each day and restore the joy and peace of you in us and us in you.

In Jesus Name, Amen

A need arises right in front of us, what do we do?  What is our first thought? Do we lend a hand to help them up or do we first look around and see if others can help?  Is giving aid to those in need a group effort or a personal response?  Do we give from obedience to rules or because of our intimate relationship with God/Jesus/Holy Spirit who gives because He loves us—and we want to be like Him?

Do we give because the speaker was gifted in story telling which led us to help or did God guide us to give from what He has given to us?  What prompts our enthusiasm to live a life that helps, serves, loves, and gives as a first response?  Paul is helpful as he counsels the Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 9, The Message

^1-2 If I wrote any more on this relief offering for the poor Christians, I’d be repeating myself. I know you’re on board and ready to go. I’ve been bragging about you all through Macedonia province, telling them, “Achaia province has been ready to go on this since last year.” Your enthusiasm by now has spread to most of them.

^3-5 Now I’m sending the brothers to make sure you’re ready, as I said you would be, so my bragging won’t turn out to be just so much hot air. If some Macedonians and I happened to drop in on you and found you weren’t prepared, we’d all be pretty red-faced—you and us—for acting so sure of ourselves. So to make sure there will be no slipup, I’ve recruited these brothers as an advance team to get you and your promised offering all ready before I get there. I want you to have all the time you need to make this offering in your own way. I don’t want anything forced or hurried at the last minute.

^6-7 Remember: A stingy planter gets a stingy crop; a lavish planter gets a lavish crop. I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and arm-twisting. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.

^8-11 God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it,

He throws caution to the winds,
    giving to the needy in reckless abandon.
His right-living, right-giving ways
    never run out, never wear out.

This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.

^12-15 Carrying out this social relief work involves far more than helping meet the bare needs of poor Christians. It also produces abundant and bountiful thanksgivings to God. This relief offering is a prod to live at your very best, showing your gratitude to God by being openly obedient to the plain meaning of the Message of Christ. You show your gratitude through your generous offerings to your needy brothers and sisters, and really toward everyone. Meanwhile, moved by the extravagance of God in your lives, they’ll respond by praying for you in passionate intercession for whatever you need. Thank God for this gift, his gift. No language can praise it enough!

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

While believers in Jesus must not compete with each other in their service for Christ, we are taught to “stir the pot” of the enthusiastic service to God so to speak.  Hebrews 10:23-24 is often used to remind people to go the church but it is more about our growing an infectious enthusiasm for glorifying God by helping each other!  “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Many people serve Jesus by helping others find Jesus weekly in today’s churches.  Authentic servants of Jesus enthusiastically work to establish an environment of loving acceptance with caring compassion that is seen, heard, and felt by all who come to worship and learn more about God—all for God who saves and redeems us through His Son, Jesus! 

Henry Blackaby, Pastor, Author of “Experiencing God,” encourages believers to seek God first, see where He is already at work.  Ask God what He wants from us.  Then listen for the invitation from God.  Our response is to JOIN HIM in His work.  All we are and all we do is orchestrated by God.  Our lives will need never be the same as we realign our desires and lifestyle to match God’s desires for His best in and through us.

Our first response to God when He asks to help or give to others should be an enthusiastic but humbled YES just for being invited to HIS work!  “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” –Paul writes to the Colossians.  (Colossians 3:23-24, NIV)

Paul is a cheerleader of enthusiasm!  “Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people,” he writes to the church at Ephesus!  (Ephesians 6:7, NLT)

When we see what God is doing in and through the lives of others, we ought to strive to serve Him better ourselves. This comes with a warning label:  There is a fine line between fleshly imitation and spiritual emulation. We must be careful to serve God with grateful hearts, not wanting to be like someone else but to be like Christ who gave His all to us! 

An enthusiastic believer in Jesus can be a positive influencer in stirring up a church to listen to God’s invitation while motivating people to pray more, work with enthusiasm, witness with integrity, and give from what God has given us.  Where God guides, He provides.  He always has and always will.  Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

Lord,

We are learning much from Paul’s giving of himself to You first and then to those who are believing and growing in your love and service.  Cleanse our hearts and pour into us all you created us to be.  Renew our minds and transform our behavioral responses.  I’m listening!  I’m yours!  Yes!

In Jesus Name, Amen

A joyful heart + A cheerful giver = A demonstration of God’s love.  Do the math. If we promise an offering then we must follow through as God directs.  Even when pushed to the limits, the outpouring of generosity from the Macedonian churches for the relief of the poor in Jerusalem came from hearts of pure love for God and others. 

Love God.  Love Others.  These two greatest commands of God, according to Jesus, are the foundation for all other commands of God.  It is God’s love that breeds our generosity from gratitude for all that God did to save us through His Son, Jesus.  God’s love is unlike any other love the world can muster.  His love in us compels us to love Him back once we realize all He has done for us.  God designed us with a longing for His love so we are not fully satisfied until we know God who is love. (See 1 John 4)

God’s love drives us back to Him, the One and Only God, who created all, owns all, and is in all.  God then gave His One and Only Son to save all!  It is no wonder that when believers truly realize all that God has done; we beg for ways to give back what God has given to us to help others know God and His love.

2 Corinthians 8, The Message

The Offering

^1-4 Now, friends, I want to report on the surprising and generous ways in which God is working in the churches in Macedonia province. Fierce troubles came down on the people of those churches, pushing them to the very limit. The trial exposed their true colors: They were incredibly happy, though desperately poor. The pressure triggered something totally unexpected: an outpouring of pure and generous gifts. I was there and saw it for myself. They gave offerings of whatever they could—far more than they could afford!—pleading for the privilege of helping out in the relief of poor Christians.

^5-7 This was totally spontaneous, entirely their own idea, and caught us completely off guard. What explains it was that they had first given themselves unreservedly to God and to us. The other giving simply flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives. That’s what prompted us to ask Titus to bring the relief offering to your attention, so that what was so well begun could be finished up. You do so well in so many things—you trust God, you’re articulate, you’re insightful, you’re passionate, you love us—now, do your best in this, too.

^8-9 I’m not trying to order you around against your will. But by bringing in the Macedonians’ enthusiasm as a stimulus to your love, I am hoping to bring the best out of you. You are familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us—in one stroke he became poor and we became rich.

^10-20 So here’s what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart’s been in the right place all along. You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can’t. The heart regulates the hands. This isn’t so others can take it easy while you sweat it out. No, you’re shoulder to shoulder with them all the way, your surplus matching their deficit, their surplus matching your deficit. In the end you come out even. As it is written,

Nothing left over to the one with the most,
Nothing lacking to the one with the least.

I thank God for giving Titus the same devoted concern for you that I have. He was most considerate of how we felt, but his eagerness to go to you and help out with this relief offering is his own idea. We’re sending a companion along with him, someone very popular in the churches for his preaching of the Message. But there’s far more to him than popularity. He’s rock-solid trustworthy. The churches handpicked him to go with us as we travel about doing this work of sharing God’s gifts to honor God as well as we can, taking every precaution against scandal.

^20-22 We don’t want anyone suspecting us of taking one penny of this money for ourselves. We’re being as careful in our reputation with the public as in our reputation with God. That’s why we’re sending another trusted friend along. He’s proved his dependability many times over, and carries on as energetically as the day he started. He’s heard much about you, and liked what he’s heard—so much so that he can’t wait to get there.

^23-24 I don’t need to say anything further about Titus. We’ve been close associates in this work of serving you for a long time. The brothers who travel with him are delegates from churches, a real credit to Christ. Show them what you’re made of, the love I’ve been talking up in the churches. Let them see it for themselves!

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Paul expressed confidence in the Corinthian church. He asked them to complete their collection for the Jerusalem church, which they had promised a year before.  “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver,” –with an attitude of gratitude.  (2 Corinthians 9:7) 

Paul gave the Corinthians two examples of generous giving: the Macedonian churches and Christ. We should give according to our abilities, voluntarily and generously. God gives to us so that we can share with others. Paul encourages the believers that the power they have in God is stronger than Satan’s power.

We will have many tests and financial trials that will cause us to think twice about our giving.  So, always ask for God’s wisdom and guidance in giving.  We step out in faith by God’s wisdom to give out of what God has given to us to manage.  Paul gives good advice to the people as they decide how and what to give: ^“Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have.” 2 Corinthians 8:12.

We need to avoid making a show of our giving at all costs!  I am reminded of Jesus’ observation of the poor widow who “two mites” quietly while others gave coins that crashed into the vessel to draw attention to themselves.  “Look at me” offerings are not acceptable to God according to Jesus.  “’Truly I tell you,’ He said, ‘this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.’”—Jesus, Luke 21-3-4, NIV

Giving shows unity of God’s purposes.  Paul had other blessings in mind besides the material assisting of the poor. He wanted this offering to strengthen the unity of the church as the Gentile churches shared with the Jewish congregations across the sea.

Giving because of the grace of God.  The Macedonians gave enthusiastically. Their giving was voluntary and spontaneous. It was because of grace, not pressure. They gave because they wanted to give and because they had experienced the grace of God. Grace not only frees us from our sins, but it frees us from ourselves. The grace of God  opens our hearts and our hands. Our giving is not the result of cold calculation, but of warmhearted jubilation!

Do the math once more:  A joyful heart + A cheerful giver = A demonstration of God’s love. 

Lord,

Thank you for the gift of giving instilled into our being as growing believers who are redeemed.  Help us to live joyfully as the redeemed, grateful for your generous gift of salvation.  Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, change our behaviors, refresh our souls, and restore the joy and peace of you in us and us in you—loving you back and loving others like you love us.

In Jesus Name, Amen

When all goes well in life, sometimes we are lulled into thinking we are in control of life. Pride will seep into our being as we rely on this false sense of security based on our own abilities alone.  But then something unexpected happens to challenge every part of our being.  Immediately we become dismayed, discouraged, distrustful and ultimately distressed.  We live in an imperfect world full of people with different ways of thinking and doing.  We are bound to be challenged by each other when we get in the way of the lives of others. 

Sometimes life takes a turn when you or a are loved one becomes gravely ill.  Not knowing what to do and having little to no control over it causes panic which leads to distress.  It shows on our faces while causing our hearts to beat quicker and our bodies to be on full alert.  We tremble as thoughts of the worst that could happen invade our minds.

Sins causes distress in all kinds of ways.  Our sin affects not only us, but brings distress to all those who live life alongside us.  Sin that is ignored unsettles our minds and hardens our hearts.  Sin left unattended and unrepented breeds like an out-of-control cancer causing more sins of pride, jealousy, envy, and arrogance to rise to defeat us.

So, what is “good distress”?  Paul explains—

2 Corinthians 7, The Message

With promises like this to pull us on, dear friends, let’s make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without. Let’s make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God.

More Passionate, More Responsible

^2-4 Trust us. We’ve never hurt a soul, never exploited or taken advantage of anyone. Don’t think I’m finding fault with you. I told you earlier that I’m with you all the way, no matter what. I have, in fact, the greatest confidence in you. If only you knew how proud I am of you! I am overwhelmed with joy despite all our troubles.

^5-7 When we arrived in Macedonia province, we couldn’t settle down. The fights in the church and the fears in our hearts kept us on pins and needles. We couldn’t relax because we didn’t know how it would turn out. Then the God who lifts up the downcast lifted our heads and our hearts with the arrival of Titus. We were glad just to see him, but the true reassurance came in what he told us about you: how much you cared, how much you grieved, how concerned you were for me. I went from worry to tranquility in no time!

^8-9 I know I distressed you greatly with my letter. Although I felt awful at the time, I don’t feel at all bad now that I see how it turned out. The letter upset you, but only for a while. Now I’m glad—not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss.

¹⁰ Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets.

^11-13 And now, isn’t it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You’re more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you’ve come out of this with purity of heart. And that is what I was hoping for in the first place when I wrote the letter. My primary concern was not for the one who did the wrong or even the one wronged, but for you—that you would realize and act upon the deep, deep ties between us before God. That’s what happened—and we felt just great.

^13-16 And then, when we saw how Titus felt—his exuberance over your response—our joy doubled. It was wonderful to see how revived and refreshed he was by everything you did. If I went out on a limb in telling Titus how great I thought you were, you didn’t cut off that limb. As it turned out, I hadn’t exaggerated one bit. Titus saw for himself that everything I had said about you was true. He can’t quit talking about it, going over again and again the story of your prompt obedience, and the dignity and sensitivity of your hospitality. He was quite overwhelmed by it all! And I couldn’t be more pleased—I’m so confident and proud of you.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Distress that leads us immediately back to God is good!  Life on earth will bring distress as we work together with other uniquely designed by God people.  We are created differently but there is no need to be divisive. 

Division in the Body of Christ called “church” immensely grieved and distressed Paul.  The church was distressed and hindered in her growth by the abrasive actions of others.  God is grieved when “His kids” do not get along.  Jesus, is Head of the church; but when the church loses sight of the sacrifice He made for us; He is grieved.  When we disobey God’s Holy Spirit by allowing ourselves to be distracted and deceived by evil’s schemes to divide us, we grieve the Holy Spirit. But God provides a way to turn it all around when our distress drives us back to Him!

“You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss,”Paul joyfully replies!  He reemphasizes his joy with, “Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets.

PAUSE TO PRAY—

Are we living our lives with no regrets?

Does our distress drive us to God or keep us farther away from Him?

When troubles and challenges of life come do we throw up our hands and quit, dig in and try to solve the issues by ourselves because of our pride, or do we humbly fall to our knees and call on the Name of Jesus? 

Do we fully and completely rely on and obey the One who knows all, created all, and is in all?

Sins, left unchecked, compound with interest daily.  This is a “savings” that must be depleted daily!  This saving of sins plan only leads to loss and regret. What are saving?  Does our distress lead us back in the way of salvation—which is all gain?

Lord,

I want to live with no regrets.  Cleanse my heart, renew my mind, refresh my soul with your new mercies, and continually restore the joy and peace of your salvation at work in me.  I’m yours.  I believe.  I’m listening.  May the distresses of this life always lead me to your saving grace, unlimited help, with compassions that fail not.

In Jesus Name, Amen

It is a natural tendency to go where the light is brightest so we can see better.  This trait is embedded into our being so much so that we catch ourselves looking for something we lost in places brighter and lighter as opposed to looking in the dark.  If something is lost in the dark, we adults will first acquire a tool of light to shed a beam on the dark places as we look for what is lost.

I giggle even now as I remember a time when my mom once told me to look for a needle that had dropped to the floor while she was sewing a garment on her machine.  I was a young child who was trying to obey, but I was looking in all the wrong places.  She had dropped it near her but I was looking where I could see better—in the light!  She asked why was I looking across the room.  I told her the light is better; it’s too dark under the machine—a child’s logic!

Sometime we go through life looking in all the wrong places for what is lost. Even as believers, we can get sloppy with our serving with attitudes and behaviors that are dark and worldly.  Lost people are looking for Light.  When we show late or not at all we cause frustration in God’s work of helping people find, believe, and follow Jesus.  Paul reminds his Corinthian friends to stay focused on Christ, God helping them.  Jesus is the reason we live and breathe.  Jesus is the why we worship.  It is Jesus we seek as we listen and learn from God’s Word. 

So, Paul takes a minute to remind all believers that we are God’s instruments of His Light in this dark world.  He does this often in his letters to the churches!  This passage is no exception.  God is in all the details of our lives—He even delights in them!  “Our work as God’s servants gets validated—or not—in the details.” 

Jesus is the Light of the world.  Follow the Light.  Stay in the Light.  This is the one time that looking for what you’ve lost makes perfect sense to look only in the Light—where you can see better!

2 Corinthians 6, The Message

Staying at Our Post

^1-10 Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don’t squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us. God reminds us,

I heard your call in the nick of time;
The day you needed me, I was there to help.

Well, now is the right time to listen, the day to be helped. Don’t put it off; don’t frustrate God’s work by showing up late, throwing a question mark over everything we’re doing. Our work as God’s servants gets validated—or not—in the details. People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly . . . in hard times, tough times, bad times; when we’re beaten up, jailed, and mobbed; working hard, working late, working without eating; with pure heart, clear head, steady hand; in gentleness, holiness, and honest love; when we’re telling the truth, and when God’s showing his power; when we’re doing our best setting things right; when we’re praised, and when we’re blamed; slandered, and honored; true to our word, though distrusted; ignored by the world, but recognized by God; terrifically alive, though rumored to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die; immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all.

^11-13 Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!

* * *

^14-18 Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands? Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God’s holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom God lives. God himself put it this way:

“I’ll live in them, move into them;
    I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people.
So leave the corruption and compromise;
    leave it for good,” says God.
“Don’t link up with those who will pollute you.
    I want you all for myself.
I’ll be a Father to you;
    you’ll be sons and daughters to me.”
The Word of the Master, God.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way.”

We can always count on Paul to give us not only a “should” but “how” to live in the Light of God’s love and behave in ways that please God.  As soon we believe Jesus, repent of our sins to Jesus, God’s Holy Spirit comes to live inside us—the “temple” in which God now resides.  God’s Holy Spirit then guides us to how to live this new life!

How to live that helps not hinders as we serve together in the Light:

• Show up on time together as we serve.  This alleviates frustration of last minute adjustments.
• Rely on God to help us in all the details of serving Him by serving others who need God.
• Listen and learn from each other who are dedicated to God as servants.
• Stay alert and faithful—no matter what is happening around us.
• Be at our best and do our best to honor and please God in all we think, say, and do.
• “Leave corruption and compromise for good” says God who validates us in the details. Through good times and bad, tears of joy and of pain—be honest, tell the Truth, seek to be holy, God helping us. 

“I want you all for myself. I’ll be a Father to you; you’ll be sons and daughters to me.” –God

Pause to prayerfully consider and evaluate;

Am I living too small? 

Do I put limits on my serving?  Do I limit God’s work in me?

Do I really believe what God says to be really real? 

What would living in the “wide, open spaciousness” of God look like for me?

Lord,

Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls with your new mercies for today, continually restore the joy and peace of you in us and us in you.  Guide all that we think, say, and do today.  Open our hearts to all you want us to see, hear, feel, touch, and experience.

In Jesus Name, Amen

When we are seeking help to locate a product in a store, we look for someone wearing a badge signifying they are an employee.  When seeking advice when purchasing a new appliance, we look for a representative who is wearing the polo shirt with the store’s colors.  It’s a bonus if we see someone with “manager” embroidered on their shirt, right?!  It’s a confidence builder to know they have been trained if they are a manager. 

Think about it, we want a representative to tell us the truth about what we need so we can make a wise decision.  We want someone who knows what they talking about.  It’s even better when representatives tell us they bought the product we are interested in and then relate to us their experience of owning it along with testimonials of how it meets their needs.  That settles it!  We buy in because of someone “in the know.”

Who knows better than God!  Who knows better than whom God sends? God offers a new way of life when we believe in Jesus, His Son.  God wants us to love Him back. It is God’s desire that no one perish.  God wants His best for us.  So, God sent His Son, His best, to save us.  This sacrificial act of love is the Way, the Truth that gives Life.  “God settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other,” proclaims Paul.  God now commands us to be Jesus’ representatives to show and tell of the offer of new life that comes as a gift to anyone and everyone who believes!  We’re God’s employees!

Pause to prayerfully take it all in…then read Paul’s encouragement to us.

2 Corinthians 5, The Message

 ^1-5 For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade—and we’ll never have to relocate our “tents” again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what’s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we’re tired of it! We’ve been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less.

^6-8 That’s why we live with such good cheer. You won’t see us drooping our heads or dragging our feet! Cramped conditions here don’t get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead. It’s what we trust in but don’t yet see that keeps us going. Do you suppose a few ruts in the road or rocks in the path are going to stop us? When the time comes, we’ll be plenty ready to exchange exile for homecoming.

^9-10 But neither exile nor homecoming is the main thing. Cheerfully pleasing God is the main thing, and that’s what we aim to do, regardless of our conditions. Sooner or later we’ll all have to face God, regardless of our conditions. We will appear before Christ and take what’s coming to us as a result of our actions, either good or bad.

^11-14 That keeps us vigilant, you can be sure. It’s no light thing to know that we’ll all one day stand in that place of Judgment. That’s why we work urgently with everyone we meet to get them ready to face God. God alone knows how well we do this, but I hope you realize how much and deeply we care. We’re not saying this to make ourselves look good to you. We just thought it would make you feel good, proud even, that we’re on your side and not just nice to your face as so many people are. If I acted crazy, I did it for God; if I acted overly serious, I did it for you. Christ’s love has moved me to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do.

A New Life

^14-15 Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.

^16-20 Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.

²¹ How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

When we say yes to Jesus, we are given a “new life” to live.  As begin to transform from our old ways to living a newly created life, we discover the pure, unconditional love for all people that Jesus demonstrated become a part of our being. God’s Holy Spirit is changing us from the inside out.  We begin to see life from God’s perspective.  The more we realize the depth of love God has for us, our love for others deepens.  As our intimacy with God grows, we are given a glimpse of what it will be like to live with Him forever in heaven! 

As believers, we represent Jesus Christ?!  Humbling and a bit sobering, right?  Say it out loud.  “I represent Jesus in all I think, say, and do.”  It could mean the difference of life or death for anyone I meet as a rep! In fact, God’s Holy Spirit helping us, it is our work as a representative of Christ to tell others of His saving grace, great mercy, that is a gift to us all because of God’s relentless love for everyone in the world!  We must tell the world that by repenting of our sins to Jesus, He totally forgive us and sets us free from death with a written guarantee of eternal life!  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 

We are His Light in a world of darkness.  Hide it under a bushel basket? No!  Paul gives us the words to say while God’s Holy Spirit guides us with power to say them;

“God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.” 2 Corinthians 5

Lord,

The Message is clear.  We are your ambassadors of your love, mercy, and grace.  You have miraculously saved us to tell others so they will know how to be saved by your grace and experience your great love and mercy.  Make us aware of those in need of a Savior then help us realize the opportunities you are providing to tell your story of redemption for your glory and their salvation.  Give us the right words at the right time that will be helpful to reconnecting others to you.  Thank you for saving my soul and making me whole.  I love to tell your story!  You settled it with me!

In Jesus Name, Amen

In everything give Him thanks, give Him thanks.
In everything give Him thanks.
In the good times praise His name;
In the bad times do the same;
In everything give the King of Kings all the thanks.

(Written by Donna Alley)

Praise God when people mock our faith in Him and our resolve to live in His ways?  How unlike the world this is!  But isn’t that the Message of Christ? Bad times are opportunities to tell people about God.  Bad times will happen in our lives which bring us closer to God as we depend less on our human selves and more on his supernatural power!  Jesus also prayed for us to be sent by God to reconcile (reconnect) people to God by telling His story of redemption to all people.  Paul is one of those called to passionately do just that—speak the Truth even while under trial and torture, like Jesus suffered, so that others will know Him and be saved by His grace.  Paul knows that the hard times serve as a way for God to work His good into this imperfect world in which we live.  (See also Romans 8:28)

2 Corinthians 4, The Message

Trial and Torture

^1-2 Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.

^3-4 If our Message is obscure to anyone, it’s not because we’re holding back in any way. No, it’s because these other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to give it serious attention. All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and that they won’t have to bother believing a Truth they can’t see. They’re stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we’ll ever get.

^5-6 Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.

^7-12 If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!

^13-15 We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, “I believed it, so I said it,” we say what we believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!

^16-18 So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“There’s far more here than meets the eye.” Paul knows that Jesus did not give up on him.  So, to become more like Jesus, we must not give up, become quiet or timid about who Jesus is, but keep moving by His direction even when we don’t fully see the “big picture” but trust that it will be revealed.  We know that it will be worth it all when we see Jesus face to face! 

We also know for certain that Jesus “sent us” on a mission in this world to tell His story for His glory and for our good.  It is by His “unfolding grace,” given to us daily—in all the details of our lives—that makes life worth it all!  Jesus is Life!  Jesus is not only Savior but He must be Lord of our lives.

Most of us have read and heard it preached that as believers we are “in the world” but not “of the world.”  But we must be careful how we think about this directive.  Jesus is not directing us to be a holy huddle but heaven sent to go and tell, teaching others about who He is and what He has done for all of us! 

David Mathis, editor of “Desiring God” writes;

“Jesus being “not of the world” isn’t the destination in these verses but the starting place. It’s not where things are moving toward, but what they’re moving from. He is not of the world, and he begins by saying that his followers are not of the world. But it’s going somewhere. Jesus is not huddling up the team for another round of kumbaya, but so that we can run the next play and advance the ball down the field.

Enter verse 18: “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” And don’t miss the surprising prayer of verse 15: “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.” Jesus is not asking his Father for his disciples to be taken out of the world, but he is praying for them as they are “sent into” the world. He begins with them being “not of the world” and prays for them as they are “sent into” the world.

So maybe it would serve us better — at least in light of John 17 — to revise the popular phrase “in, but not of” in this way: “not of, but sent into.” The beginning place is being “not of the world,” and the movement is toward being “sent into” the world. The accent falls on being sent, with a mission, to the world — not being mainly on a mission to disassociate from this world.

In Paul’s writings, he seems to have this same emphasis.  Paul is daily allowing himself to being molded and shaped by Jesus, the Master of his life, to be sent to tell even if it means trials and torture, going through good times and bad.  He emphasizes this perspective when he writes;

“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” Philippians 3:8-11, NLT

Press on…

“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” Philippians 3:12-14, NLT

Believe and be saved. 

Be still and know that He is God. 

Be encouraged. 

Press on…

Lord,

Life throws curve balls that distract us and disappoint us. But you are with us always, reminding us of Your Holy Presence that does not leave us.  We know that you know what lies ahead and that you will work good from the bad as we press on toward you.  Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls with your new mercies, and continually restore the joy and peace of us in you and you in us as we tell others about you.  I believe, in good times and bad, I give you thanks.

In Jesus Name, Amen