The Devotional – 1105 – Foot Steps in Second Corinthians, On Going

The Devotional – 1105 – Foot Steps in Second Corinthians, On Going

In our weekly Bible class we have been talking about being honest in our conversations to others and the response of those others when they find out we are “children of God”. One of those responses can be a day of reckoning when they say “Oh! Really!!!” Unfortunately, we are all guilty at times of lacing our truth with the Babylonian harlot of Revelation 18. Sounding completely awful to compare one who lies with Babylon, yet I do not apologize because I would not know this, unless I myself were not there a time or two. In our work place, even standing in line at the bank or waiting for the inn keeper to call your name for a sit down meal on the restaurant side, our testimony for the LORD Jesus is always in view and woe, to us if we say we are God’s children, just after openly complaining about the wait. 

CHALLENGES & COMMENTS – 2 Corinthians 11:22-33

Suffering for the LORD Jesus Christ these days is not the top priority of the average Believer these days. The truth, and in your heart of heart you know this… Christendom these days cannot be identified among those of the rest of the world around us. We have blended in like a chameleon, even to the very heart of being worldly about every subject under the sun.

The apostle in 2 Cor 11:22 but in a different light. “Are they (speaking of his relationship as a Hebrew) and he says I also am a Hebrew. If we look at our testimony in time can we say confidently, in the face of the public eye; “I am a child or saint of God” or if someone says to you that they are a child of God, can you openly agree with him or her in public by saying “so am I”.

I think that if we were to provide a “resume” for our qualification as a child of God, would it be as that of the apostle Paul, beaten for identifying with the death and resurrection of Christ, imprisoned for preaching the gospel, shipwrecked in Malta, confrontations with false teachers and concerns for churches all around us today who just play church.

Don’t say or think; “well that was then and this is now” we don’t do this sort of thing these days. if you believe this then “a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest; Proverbs 24:30-34 is where you are and the resume you write stinketh like Babylon, Revelation 18:8. Today as we read, thousands in our so called third world will be persecuted for their faith and confession of being a child of God, some (many actually) will be martyred.

The power of the inner man is strong, as Romans 7:13-25 reveals that even the apostle Paul struggled at time for purity. There is a day on the horizon when we in the United States of America will be forced to give testimony to the world about our Father/child relationship to God through our faith in Jesus Christ. I do not want to hear the world say: “OH REALLY?” I thought you were one of us!

Let us all be of the character of the apostle Paul and say… “The God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, know that I am not lying” and if need be; let those who are our friends lower us out the window in a basket to escape from the hand of persecution.

The Devotional – 1105 – Foot Steps in Second Corinthians, On Going

The Devotional – 1105 – Foot Steps in Second Corinthians, On Going

One of the things that bother believers in Jesus Christ (I speak for myself and hope I am not alone) is the feeling that folks around us (the unbelieving folks) think that we are a fool for believing in Jesus Christ. In the early days of life as a believer this mattered little to me, but in these latter days I am challenged by the thought of being thought of as foolish. In many situations I play along with this and this even carries into the life of my church family, in fact; I could easily fit in anywhere as the court jester. No brag on that, I just enjoy making people laugh and sometimes I go a bit overboard. Actually all of the jesting may just be to cover up a lot of pain and suffering of past things that if were let loose would be much like those video games children play with these days.

CHALLENGES & COMMENTS – 2 Corinthians 11:16-21

How did the apostle Paul handle his outward expressions around the believing and unbelieving? We are challenged by scripture to imitate various persons, the apostle, our church leaders and Jesus is the other. We often look at being like someone as a bit out of step with reality, or academically applied by the study of the Holy Scripture.

So I would and do like to think that all of us handle life in ways that are real and not phony, honestly I believe that if I apply myself to study and application only, then the result is sort of a carbon copy and not at all the real me who strives to live by grace. And again we do not want to test the LORD or abuse His wonderful grace, so there is another thought… accountability!

The apostle Paul in our section this morning says, “I say again, let no one think me a fool”. This by the way is a direct and commanding statement. He is not a fool period, nor is anyone who claims “Justification by Faith in Jesus Christ” through the resurrection of Jesus Christ we who are justified are now dead to sin and alive to God - Romans 6:1-14. Therefore if we are fools, we are fools for Christ and I say Amen! In other words, in Christ and by grace I, like the apostle will boast in this.

Boasting is a way of life for many, even those who say they do not boast, if you listen to their talk they boast in the thought that they are too wise to boast. Again I like Ecclesiastes (the whole of the book) identifies all the problems of life of mankind under the sun. People put up with things that bring them into bondages or devour their livelihood or steal from them. We hear of these events daily and sometimes it is done in jesting and boasting.

Complaining can also be a form of boasting, if one strikes you with his or her fist, or walks over your position at work and advances him or her, self over us, with one side of the mouth we complain and with the other we boast! So I am thankful for the LORD Jesus who died and rose again for all of the sin that we daily involve ourselves in. It is and always will be as the apostle says. “It is to our shame I say that we are too weak (spiritually). Since we are found to be bold when we ought to be humble.

The Devotional – 1104 – Foot Steps in Second Corinthians, On Going

The Devotional – 1104 – Foot Steps in Second Corinthians, On Going

Some years ago (Is it not funny?) how we who are above seventy years old say; “some years ago” like it was only a few! How about fifty, this may be much closer! The ship I was on harbored near a little village outside of Rome. At the time I was not a believer in Jesus Christ so a bunch of us winebibbers thought it would be good to go and see the Pope. There was a very large crowd and our best shot at seeing him was from that balcony window we see a lot in the news. There was also an opportunity to see this eminent person as he passed by. You see this a lot in the news also, people reaching out to touch him. The group I was with were very close to the front, but with all of the pushing and shoving, I decided to help this woman who was very short in height, so I picked her up and leaning forward she was able to touch the man. For her it was a miracle, for me, I nearly fell because her weight was pulling forward and the embarrassment of falling was all I could think about. So much for male chauvinism when it is applied for all the wrong reasons. 

CHALLENGES & COMMENTS – 2 Corinthians 11:5-15

Knowing one’s position and how to direct it is important. Businesses do not flourish if the person in charge lacks the skills to lead and manage even the smallest of businesses. When it comes to the gospel of Jesus Christ we are mostly unlearned, men and women. We are everyday people and not at all like the apostle Paul. Again, most all of the LORD’s appointed disciples were and are worldly ignorant, see Acts 4:13 and 1 Corinthians 1:20-31.

Paul the apostle, before he was saved was a Pharisee (Philippians 3:5), he was a “learned religious man” and he makes it clear that while he had all of this training in Jewish faith in God, he had neglected training in speech, 2 Cor 11:6. This is a stumbling block even today for many, in fact we see these, or similar words on personnel evaluations all the time, which are: “(he or she) has a good command of the English language.

It is strange to me of the critical nature of people who look at every opportunity to find fault in others. Then when they believe they have found something they stand on it like they have found a pearl of great value, when in fact it is nothing but the shadow of the one who is standing there on the pearl of no value.

The problem is that these folks seem to get a following. I remember a radio program that goes further back in time than fifty years called “The shadow knows” I remember that mystery can always be solved if you find someone who follows the shadow. The shadow knows that when one puts them self-down, it is because they are seeking to cover up truth, again 2 Cor 11:7. Or he is scamming funds from another place since he never asks us for money; 2 Cor 11:8-9.

The heart of this section is found with these words of the apostle: “As the truth of Christ is in me” do you no like that statement? I do, if one looks at the outer man or woman they simply do not see Christ, they see the obvious, the human standing in front of them who is blemished in every human way. They do not see the inner person who is Christ the unblemished Son of the Living God.

So in this truth… no one is able to stop us from this boasting of the “hope” we have in Him. Why is that?

“Why is that”, is critical! Notice 1 John 4:7-11 since it is the love of God that keeps us proclaiming the truth as it cuts off the ability of the anti-christ and false teachers to be regarded as in the same camp with truth. False teaching flourishes in churches throughout the United States of America in our current day. Satan is very cleaver to transform his falseness into light and in doing so he transforms his teachers into self-righteous workers of iniquity. Therefore many churches today fail the test of knowing God through love and seeing God through love; 1 John 4:12-16.

Well we should read the whole of 1 John 4, go ahead, I double-dog dare you! Now I wonder where that statement originated? I seem to remember it from grammar school and where does “double-dog” come from? Certainly not from the “Double Dog chocolate pies” as these were not around in my day as a child. What is the difference except for quantity if you dare the dog out of someone twice, isn’t once enough? Well don’t waste time thinking about it as it is a double waste of time!