The Devotional – 1086 – Foot Steps in Second Corinthians, On Going

The Devotional – 1086 – Foot Steps in Second Corinthians, On Going

Have you a little stash hidden away somewhere, a treasure? Yes the question is not worthy of an answer. I do not desire to know, but I do want you to think about this subject since a stash does not always mean money or hidden treasure of any value. A stash could be a can of peanuts, a bag of candy or some other collection of trinkets that you keep from others. Maybe your stash is a group of pictures of times past, or maybe it is a bit more private. Whatever the case; your stash is well protected from the public, we are all good at hiding our stash from public view or comment. 

CHALLENGES & COMMENTS – 2 Corinthians 4:7-15

Verse 7 – We (includes anyone) who believes by faith in the Son of God, we have the treasure (a gift) from God who has placed this gift inside our earthly body (our very being of flesh). Let me qualify the words (believes by faith). John 11:25 – Jesus speaking to Martha His friend says this to her.

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes LORD, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is come into the world.” ONE question by God and ONE answer by a human – this is all that is required to enter the kingdom of God.

There are only two answers to God’s question, you can answer YES or you can answer NO, the words “maybe later” or “I’m busy” is simply a NO with an excuse. If you say yes; God immediately gives you His treasure, Ephesians 1:3-14 explains at least 15 spiritual attributes of this treasure whom we know and understand to be the Spirit of the Living God in us. Also the apostle goes on in this chapter from verse 15 – 23 to pray for you and me to have the spiritual wisdom to live daily in this treasure. This brings us back to 2 Corinthians.

Renouncing our earthly treasure for the excellent treasure of God in us is one that is most difficult. Things of shame, or things of the crafty mind like to take preference over the things of God. In fact; we can be very good at including the fleshly mind in handling the Word of God deceitfully; this is called “carnality” by the apostle in 1 Corinthians 3:1-4. This carnality, believe it or not is described by Paul in verses 8-12 and it is “persecution” on all who are seeking to live in the excellence of the Power of God – spiritual people.

The apostle says – how can this be? We all have the same spirit of faith as it is written, “I believed therefore I spoke, the apostle is referring to Psalm 116, a song of the redeemed under persecution. We in churches today need to heed the warnings of the apostle’s epistles. Knowing that He who raised up the LORD Jesus will also raise us up as well and present all of us at the Bema Seat of Jesus Christ. The treasure (spiritual or earthly) in us will be evaluated.

2 Corinthians 5:9-11 coming up but prior to this we will look at our need to see the invisible. That is; to FOCUS on our treasure for it is a far exceeding weight of eternal glory. This will give you and me a better understanding of the coming resurrection. This assurance is so needed by all of us, since the body we live in is only a temporal tent that houses your soul which belongs to God.

The Devotional – 1085 – Foot Steps in Second Corinthians, On Going

The Devotional – 1085 – Foot Steps in Second Corinthians, On Going

When I was growing up in Kentucky, one of the happy things I remember was the peddlers who would come through our neighborhood selling fruits and vegetables. When I became old enough some of us got jobs selling from the trucks as the men made their way through various sections of German town selling their goods. These men were serious and to my understanding, hardworking and honest. If someone ordered two pounds of green beans, they always got two and a quarter pounds. Ten pounds of potatoes always ended up being ten and half pounds. Today things are much different, today we live among the ruins of truth. False religion has taken over the Holy Bible and we are somewhat like the people of Israel mentioned by Haggai in his book, Haggai 1:3-7. 

CHALLENGES & COMMENTS – 2 Corinthians 4:1-6

Haggai 1:3-7 – Then the Word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying. “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?” Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your ways!” You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes. Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your ways!”

Yes, we must consider our ways! My first thought is of our young people who have refill after refill of soda and leave their plate full of “pushed aside food”, many are obese with abundance and yet are unbalanced with malnutrition. Then we have the parents who are full of the drugs that keep themselves balanced with controlled emotions that would abnormally be off the chart were it not for the daily intake of those drugs.

The apostle Paul is speaking to the Corinthian church about church ministry. Not many ministry leaders would disagree this statement! “The message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is hidden today” Some may agree because they have willingly placed a veil over the eyes of those who are perishing. Others would say they agree because they feel the pressure of secular humanism that has blinded the eyes of our young to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

False religion and secular humanism is the result of the god of this age (Satan) gaining ground in religion and family all across this land. Everyone has an ism or a chasm; (a belief or a fault) that the god of this age feeds with spiritual blindness. What is spiritual blindness? It is the deceitful peddling of the Word of God (prosperity and love gospels) which do not convict of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8 read the context). Therefore believing in any of the light of the gospel of the glory of God is rejected.

God is on His Throne, He has not replaced Himself with “blind guides” God is the only ONE who commanded light to shine out of darkness, can you just imagine the power of that statement when God created the heavens and the earth. He said; “let there be light!”

Let me remind us that the very light we see today… “It is the same light He spoke into existence eight to ten thousand years ago”. He also through His mercy has given us another Light which reveals the knowledge of God to all who believe or disbelieve. It is the face of Jesus Christ and who is able to look into His eyes; Revelation 1:14 or Revelation 20:11.

Those who believe the true gospel of grace will see Him as in Revelation 1:14 and those who disbelieve; that is receive the wrong gospel will see Him in Revelation 20:11.

The Devotional – 1084 – Foot Steps in Second Corinthians, On Going

The Devotional – 1084 – Foot Steps in Second Corinthians, On Going

Our very brief overview of 1 and 2 Corinthians has and is for me, personally convicting. It is like looking into the soul of any church or into the congregational soul of people. The apostle reveals the condition of the souls of each person in that family of Christ. My cousin Robert sent me an email he receives that parallels some of the things we have looked at in these two epistles. All churches must express a personal intimate relationship with God. If this is not true and ongoing then Jesus is not in the church, but He is nearby. Jesus knows the condition of all churches with His Name. In that; even as He stands at the door of the church to come in and dine with those inside. As this may be enough to satisfy most of the membership, it falls short of being personal with Jesus. You see that Revelation 3:20 is not an invitation to receive the LORD Jesus Christ for the first time personally as some teach, But that through time reveals churches that have grown cold and indifferent to a personal intimate relationship with the LORD by placing His Spirit in the parking lot. 

CHALLENGES & COMMENTS – 2 Corinthians 3:7-18

I believe that one of our biggest problems is that we still try to hold tightly to the “ministry of death” I like how the apostle describes the attributes of the old covenant. Yes the stones of the Covenant Law were glorious, so glorious that Moses had to put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could look at him.

Moses was not glorious, but Moses had been with God on the mountain – that was glorious. This awesome connection with God revealed the Glory of God, this glory was revealed from generation to generation, even to this day people still get caught up with the glory of the Old Covenant Law, but what does the apostle call this covenant, let me remind us again; he calls it the “ministry of death”. Why?

Everything about the Law which cannot be obeyed by any human except “ONE” points to death. Even the One who had no sin perished because of sin, but praise God; this ONE rose again three days later “The soul who sins, shall die” Ezekiel 18:4b. Now all of this is just a brief overview of God’s Plan of Grace through Faith, His Glory is revealed in every church who expresses TRUE fellowship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. This mirror (faith) will express the fullness of Christ – 2 Corinthians 3:8. Why?

When the LORD Jesus is inside the church with the church family there is liberty, because Jesus is the SPIRIT. Notice 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, let’s read it together – Now the LORD is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is liberty. But we all, with and unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror (by the way this word “mirror” is the same word for FAITH that the apostle uses throughout his epistles PISTIS) the glory of the LORD, are being transformed into the same image, from the LORD the Spirit.

So I see that the New Covenant has a dual purpose, one is to reveal Jesus through the body of Christ, which is the church and two to conform each individual of the body through the Spirit to be intimately and personally transformed into the likeness of Christ.