The Devotional – 1096 – Foot Steps in Second Corinthians, On Going

The Devotional – 1096 – Foot Steps in Second Corinthians, On Going

Today and for the next few days we will continue discussing the demanding subject of “money!” There are so many avenues to take regarding money that the secular world (good and evil) around us has little understanding of the dangers associated with the “love of money”. At one time I was stationed at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. The Navy had at that time a cargo terminal at Hickam and this was my duty station for one year. During that year the Navy shipped $40,000.00 in cash to Guam, it was unguarded and in a plain wooden crate. Our Officer in Charge was aware of the context but no one else in our group knew. There had been several thefts of valuable items and this was an attempt to find out how and where these thieves operated. The cash made it to Guam okay, but other items of value disappeared. The rub! The love of money is not naïve, yet evil did not prevail and good proved once again that crime does not pay. The thieves were caught because of the money was being monitored and was mixed in with the other items of value.

CHALLENGES & COMMENTS – 2 Corinthians 8:4-16

Pastors need men like Titus, men who by faith are committed to serving God out of faith. Ephesians 2:10 which is often overlooked points to how faith, by the grace of God serves the church through the gift of God and not the works of man. The appointment of men to lead the church of Jesus Christ must come from God while the administration of that appointment must be ordained by men in leadership and witnessed by the church family.

Therefore the church of Jesus Christ does not operate on principles of secular humanism (good and evil). The church of Jesus Christ lives and grows by FAITH. The apostle Paul states that he thanks God for Titus, notice in 1 Cor 8:16 that it is not Titus (just like you or me) who has a heart to have the same concern as the leadership, but it is God who has placed this concern in the heart of Titus to be like-minded. This means that Titus was a willing vessel of faith (in God), not in Paul or the church.

The enthusiasm of doing the will of God by faith has all but left the church of Jesus Christ these days. It seems that many are not diligent to present to God a faithful heart in order that the church as a body can present itself as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God. We (the church universal) are being irrational by trading off the study of the Word of God for messages that tickle the ears; just what is the tickle? Emotional worship, songs that fire up the emotions about love end up leaving the one who participates in emotional worship empty, not only in the soul but also in the pocket book. 2 Timothy 4:1-5.

This little challenge is not complete, I am simply alarmed at what is readily observable to anyone who will seek to see what is going on in many churches. Most glorify God with their lips, their heart is far from doing anything with the light of faith that should be there. Earlier in 2 Cor 6:11-18 the apostle appeals to the Corinthians to be holy. Holiness is not a function or the result of singing songs like “You are God” and repeating it seven times. GOD KNOWS HE IS GOD!

But like the apostle; “Thanks be to God” that not all churches have fallen into the trap of “seven/eleven worship” some still teach and encourage the saints to walk by faith and not by sight; 2 Cor 5:7.