Month: November 2011

Re:Verse reading – 2 Corinthians 5:11-21, 6:1-2 (day four)  “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death” (Philippians 2:8)  “We are ambassadors for Christ. . .we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20)  Do we beg people to be saved?  Does Christ?  It is a shocking idea!  A glorious God who humbles himself to die on a cross and then humbles Himself even further by begging people to receive His offered gift.  It isn’t fair!  It isn’t right!  Where is His pride?  The rebels should beg for peace, not the Sovereign King!  Yet Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5 that God does not defend His dignity and neither should we.  He does not allow His wounded pride to keep Him from reaching out.  He considers our need rather than His own rights.  What can explain His attitude other than Divine Love?  Why would God beg people to be saved except for a heart of infinite mercy?  “What wondrous love is this, O my soul?”

“For we must ALL appear before the judgement seat of Christ. . .therefore knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men.” – 2 Corinthians 5:10-11 (day three)  The Bible has a sober outlook on the future– and not one that is confined to preachers.  Paul is careful to include “all” of us in his description of the end of time.  None of us will be exempt from this examination of the “deeds done in the body”.  This vision creates in him, and hopefully in us, a healthy and motivating fear.  Knowing this fear (experiencing it) Paul is pressed to persuade people toward Christ.  More than self-interest, Paul’s concern is to not disappoint the Lord through disobedience.  He is also concerned for others–that they not fall short of the grace of God through unbelief.  What Paul sees of the future makes him afraid.  Do you see a similarly motivating vision?  Is any other vision of a Holy God adequate?  “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. . .”

Re:Verse reading–2 Corinthians 5:11-21, 6:1-2. (day two)  Paul is talking about his motivation, how and why he continues to serve Christ in the face of such opposition.  One motivation is “the love of Christ”.  Not Paul’s love for Christ.  Christ’s love for Paul.  Proven on the cross and daily refreshed through reflection.  “It controls us” he says in verse 14. The greek word sunecho means “to hold together”.  Like a yoke holds the energy of a team of oxen together, focusing their strength in a productive direction, so the cross of Christ is to harness and focus us in the direction of missionary service.  Does the cross of Christ do this for you?  Are the thoughts of his death  so present in your mind that it has this influence?   “We love because He first loved us” is true only for those who accept the cross as their vision for life.  When we meditate on His love, it controls what we do.

Re:Verse reading–2 Corinthians 5:11-21, 2 Corinthians 6:1-2.  (Welcome to a new week!)  The Bible says that people in Christ are new creations.  What we were without Christ, we can never be again.  There may be lapses into old behaviors but “that shirt will never fit again.”  Even stubborn old habits will give way to new life!  We will have a new burden to persuade others (vs 11)  We will have a new attitude of service to God rather than self-centeredness. (vs 15).  We will see people as they are in Christ rather than as they are in the flesh. (vs 16)  If this newness is absent, we have “accepted the grace of God in vain”. (6:1) This a clear warning from God for any who would “claim Christ” but have no evidence of conviction or change.  Nor are we free to procrastinate!  “Now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation” (6:2)  If we are in Christ, we are to be new now!

Re:Verse passage–2 Corinthians 4:7-18, 5:1-10 (day seven).  Good morning!  I am looking forward to seeing you in a few hours.  Our subject this morning will be our dual assignment from God–living in time AND eternity, keeping our eyes on UNSEEN THINGS even while we are surrounded by VISIBLE THINGS that seem very pressing.  It is a question of priority.  It is a matter of heart and focus.  Like Peter walking on the water, when we focus on earthly things we are dragged down by them.  Doesn’t your experience prove this proposition?  Mine does.  In contrast, when we focus on eternal things, we find strength.  (Even for the visible things.)  What a paradox! What an unexpected path forward!  “Our inner nature is being renewed day by day. . .as we look not at what is seen, but at what is unseen.” (2 Corinthians 4:16,18)  I am praying for you this morning and for myself that the Lord will speak this lesson deeply into our lives.  For His fame alone!

Re:Verse passage–2 Corinthians 4:7-18, 5:1-10 (day six)    When God rescued the nation of Israel from Egyptian slavery, He immediately led them into the wilderness.  In the wilderness He taught them the lessons of spiritual life.  None of these lessons were more important than DAILY dependence.  Manna was provided every day.  Every day they had to go look for it.  This is a lesson that most of us have to learn or relearn.  In 2 Corinthians 4:16, the Bible speaks of being “renewed DAY BY DAY’.  Paul’s experience and expectation is that God will provide energy, courage, wisdom and resources, but only as we are faithful to seek His promised help.  “If my people will humble themselves and SEEK my face”  says the the Lord as a precondition of His healing power.  Not once, but once a day we are to seek and find Him!   What we need, and what is offered by God, is a DAILY miracle.  Are you too busy today to stop and find God’s help?

“So death works in us, but life in you. . .Therefore we do not lose heart. . .for we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”  (2 Corinthians 4:12, 16, 5:10)  Paul is being honest.  Honest about the hardships of serving Christ.  Honest also about the hope.  So many opponents.  So many disappointments.  At the same time so many indications of LIFE at work in those who are hearing the gospel.  Rather than judging life by its comfort (a modern and deadly mistake), he judges it by its eternal impact.  Knowing that we will all stand before Christ, to be evaluated and rewarded or punished, he refuses to lose heart or give up his godly mission.  Paul knows the bottom line of true success.  It gives him courage.  May it do so for all of us.

“But we have this treasure in clay jars”  (2 Corinthians 4:7)  “For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practise the very evil that I do not wish” (Romans 7:19)  The hard part of following Christ is that I am still two things.  “The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” said Jesus to Peter, and I know both sides of that equation all too well.  Reading Paul this week has been a reminder (both of the problem and of the solution).  I am a clay pot who also carries spiritual treasure.  I am wasting away AND being renewed! (vs 16) My part in the management of this duality is to keep my eyes on eternal things. ( Vs. 18)  I may not be able to change the fact that I am two things.  But I can have one focus, one heart, one goal.  When I do, being two things is not as hard as I once thought.

“The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore, the eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light” (Matthew 6:22) “While we LOOK not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are unseen” (2 Corinthians 4:18) Paul is intentional in his choice of words.  Rather than the normal word for sight, he uses one that means a “prolonged, intentional concentration”.  He intends for us to gaze, to contemplate, to study, to exercise our eyes and our mind.  What are you looking at this morning?  Where is your heart and your focus?  Sometimes our failures in service or fruitfulness can be traced to where we have our eyes.  Those who gaze at the glory of Christ, grasping  His beauty and faithfulness are shaped and strengthened by such an experience.  Those who focus on this life and its pain and pleasures find only darkness.  “Fixing our eyes on Jesus” writes the author of Hebrews.  Great wisdom and great power here!

My life is a puzzle and paradox.  Yours too probably.  Some moments I can be so high.  Other moments I can be so low and discouraged.  Sometimes I am both at the same time.  Paul seems to understand.  “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed” he says in 2 Corinthians 4:8.  “Pressed on every side” is the best translation.  Surrounded!  Trapped in our stress!  Even so, he continues, we are not crushed–“not pushed into a corner with no way out” is the literal translation.  In our worst moments, we still have opportunities for honoring the Lord.  We are never without options!  NOTHING can crush His unconquerable LIFE out of our hearts.  (Think of the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7)  Why would God make us so powerful and yet so vulnerable?  Is there a purpose served by making us strong and weak at same time?  Paul says yes!  I hope you are reading and thinking as he addresses this mystery of life.  Know of my prayers for you as you do.