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.
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