A Devotional - Looking at the Book #558

A Devotional - Looking at the Book #558

by Jesse Abel

A Thought for today by Papa “J”

Psalm 119:14 The joy of my day is the Word of God; His testimonies do not fail; even when all around me the way of life is suffering and dying… His Word is everlasting peace!

Good Morning

There is room for most anything to happen in life; don’t cha know? I remember when I had owned a business shortly after retiring from the military. The work caused me to be up during the night because we cleaned banks and schools. One early morning on the way to our last job, I was listening to a radio station in Wheeling, West Virginia. The disk jockey as a normal routine would play a few songs; then share a piece of news from what he referred to as the news that comes from the bottom of the news room barrel. Seems that one early morning there was heavy fog in a small town called Guetersloh in West Germany; two vehicles were heading down the road at opposite directions and “they” collided; head-on. The fog was so thick that the two men driving had rolled down the driver side window and both had their head outside the window following the line in the middle of the road. The head on collision was not the vehicles but both heads of the drivers. The autos suffered no damage, not even the side mirrors; the drivers were hospitalized with serious head trauma. Seems that many believers these days are moving about in a spiritual fog that is as dense as that in Guetersloh; could these be like the slothful of Proverbs 24:30-34?

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 6:8-10 – The earthen vessel of the minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ is unique among all other earthen vessels. As we noticed earlier we saw that the redeemed vessel has experience the excellent power of God and that this vessel now contains a treasury of good attributes. Attributes that only God has, but because of His love; He has given to us exceeding great and precious promises to utilize this treasury which fails not.

When we are IN the thick of it as the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:1-5 shares; he goes on to say that we have victory already, by purity, knowledge, longsuffering, kindness, the indwelling Holy Spirit, sincere (un-hypocritical) love, the word of truth, the power of God and righteousness. Then he changes his focus a bit by saying that in verses eight through ten that our armor of Christ’s Righteousness (the treasury in our earthen vessel) surrounds us on the right and left; even when we are honored or dishonored, even when it is reported that our actions are evil when not; even as deceivers, but yet we are true.

Known or unknown the message of righteousness is known; therefore we are in the eyes of the world as a dying breed… God is dead the world would say; but yet we LIVE; we are also chastened by the world for our testimony of truth; yet we live on and are not killed. We are sorrowful; yet we are always found rejoicing; we even seem poor while we encourage others to be rich; in that we seem to have nothing and yet; in Christ’s Righteousness we have all things. 2 Corinthians 4:7 is the key to understanding this whole epistle. I truly enjoy this epistle of Paul’s and I hope you do too.