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timewithgod.blog-city.com — June 2007
1 Peter 5 -- Humility -- It's GOOD for us
It leads us to spiritual growth
Peter displays a humility here that is a far cry from the Catholic Church's claim that he was supreme pontiff. He says that he was simply a fellow elder, and in verse 5 humility is his instruction to us as well. It beats down the sin of pride. He reminds us that in Proverbs we are assured that God has a wonderful reward for those who follow this instruction -- He gives His grace.
There was a wonderful illustration in my commentary:
"If I were to pick out two phrases necessary for spiritual growth, I would pick out these: 'I don't know' and 'I am sorry.' And both phrases are the evidences of deep humility. Imagine a congregation where all the members have this humble spirit; where they esteem each other better than themselves; where they outdo each other in performing the menial tasks."
Along with reminding us not to worry that God won't protect us or perhaps doesn't know what's upcoming for us, Peter talks about resisting the devil. "One of Satan's devices is to discourage us with the thought that our suffering is unique. Peter reminds us that the same sufferings are experienced by our Christian brotherhood throughout the world," my commentary said. What a relief to know there are many other Christians who struggle in the areas I struggle in! And though Satan wants to beat me down with it, God uses the humility it produces in me to help me grow spiritually.
Father, help me to readily say, "I don't know" and "I'm sorry." Though to the world they might seem to indicate failure, help me to see them as points of spiritual growth in my life.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
2 Corinthians 1 What treasure we get from sufferings
God's comfort
Paul seems to feel that he's taking a lot of heat from some people in Corinth. We'd say "for no good reason," but Paul found good reasons for the suffering he was enduring.
He understood that through suffering God teaches us not to trust in ourselves, but in Him for our strength. Paul seemed ever-conscious of God's comforting presence, and he seemed to convey to them the idea that his suffering perhaps occurred so that they could learn to be strengthened by God through their suffering. And we should pay this forward, not avoiding hospital rooms or funeral homes, for God uses us to touch and comfort those He loves.
In verse 5, Paul tells us that if our suffering is due to persecution, we can be encouraged because Jesus still endures His sufferings when the members of His body experience them. In all our afflictions, He is afflicted (Isa. 63:9)
Having endurance in trials is a mark of a believer, and my commentary gave a fitting attitude for us to have: "When Samuel Rutherford found himself in 'the cellar of adversity,' as he often did, he began to look around for some of the Lord's best wines."
Because of our visits to that cellar of adversity, we can come out with refreshing insights from God that He will use to help others. I don't know how many times God has used my suffering and waiting to get Josh to help other families to now that it is worth it, and to stick with it and bring home their kids!
The end result of this is that God is glorified. "When it dawns on human souls that He has spoken good concerning them, beyond their utmost imaginings.....God is glorified." And I do truly feel that, through my two sons, God has blessed me incredibly and unimaginably above all that I could ever ask or imagine. Those sufferings have faded, but not the glory I give to Him.
Father, thank You for carrying me through so much, helping me to get where You always knew I needed to be. Thank You that I can look upon all the sufferings and praise You for strengthening me and sustaining me. I couldn't imagine going it alone!
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
2 Corinthians 2 Faithful are the wounds of a friend
godly discipline is called for, and so is forgiveness and restoration
Paul calls on the congregation to now forgive and restore a person whom they'd disciplined at his urging. They'd allowed "tolerated sin" to hurt their witness as a church, and now there was a danger that Satan would again triumph if the person repented yet wasn't restored.
My commentary says that church discipline is very important and scriptural but is often not exercised today, and just as here, it amounts to disobedience to scripture.
I wondered about all of this and thought about Donny's sermon last Sunday. He'd mentioned unconfessed sin and the embarrassment that one might feel were it to be found out. It therefore needed to be stopped.
I wonder if as a church we tend to take the "let him who is without sin cast the first stone" approach. Maybe also there's a fear that if we involve ourselves in calling someone else out for sin, someone might "defend" them by doing the same for us. It's easy to see how Satan can use the effects of unconfessed sins to stifle a church.
On the other side of the fence, the person who hasn't confessed his sin probably worries about what Paul brought up here -- that the congregation won't forgive and restore. And that hinders him from confessing.
My sidebar summed it up for both sides: "God eagerly forgives a repentant sinner. God puts forgiven sins out of His view." It should be such a lesson for the one needing forgiveness and those who must forgive.
Father, please give us the heart of Christ in matters such as this. As Paul said, help us to be motivated by love to confront and then to forgive and restore, for if You have forgiven, who are we to hold grudges!
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
2 Corinthians 3 To Fade or Not To Fade?
The new covenant doesn't
As a Pharisee called Saul, Paul was evidently a very proud man. The constant humility he now displays is such a contrast! As he spends half a chapter trying to be sure that God is given all the glory and that none goes to himself, I noticed some common threads between what he said and how he finishes up the chapter.
In verse 3, he's talking about letters of commendation which Christians would get from churches much as Baptists do today when transferring membership. He notes that these letters were written in ink on paper, which could fade or be destroyed or erased, whereas what God had done through his ministry was written by the Holy Spirit on hearts and could never fade or be diminished.
He then mentioned tablets of stone versus tablets that are hearts of flesh, indicating the vast difference between following the Law of Moses and following the gospel of Christ. The first set of tablets were broken by Moses in his disgust and had to be replaced, and now we have no idea where they reside or even if they still exist. But God's work in our hearts continues to be evident to this day.
The Old Covenant could never work because it depended on man. It could never produce righteousness. In contrast, everything under the New Covenant depended on God and not on man. It's therefore able to accomplish what the old could not.
He goes on to explain that Moses' face was reflecting the glory of God that he'd witnessed in God's presence. That glory actually scared the Israelites. Moses veiled his face, not to prevent them from being scared, but because he knew it was fading and that his face would soon return to normal. My commentary says that the spiritual meaning of this was that the glory of the Old Covenant was temporary. It was given to reveal sin until the time of Christ. "It was a shadow....He is the substance..... The law which God had given to Moses had a transient glory. It was fading even then, and Moses did not want them to see the end of it."
That same veil also represents the hiding of the meaning of the gospel from the Israelites. They could not discover the secret of Christ because of it. Today, "the difficulty in understanding the O.T. vanishes when a person comes to Christ." Whereas the veil was over the face of Moses, it is still lying on the hearts of the Jewish people.
"In the Old Covenant, Moses alone was allowed to see the glory of the Lord. Under the New Covenant, we all have that privilege."
Very importantly, "we can keep our faces unveiled by confessing and forsaking sin, by being completely hones with God and ourselves .... Here, in a word, is the secret of Christian holiness -- occupation (being occupied) with Christ. Not by occupation with self; that brings only defeat. Not by occupation with others; that brings only disappointment. But by occupation with the glory of the lord, we become more and more like Him .... Instead of merely reflecting the glory of God in our faces (as Moses did) ... our faces radiate glory from inside" as we are transformed by the Spirit.
Father, thank You that we have a hope that never fades. Thank You for radiating Your glory out to the world through us. Help us to be a living letter, written in red by Your Son's death, to Your world.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
In verse 3, he's talking about letters of commendation which Christians would get from churches much as Baptists do today when transferring membership. He notes that these letters were written in ink on paper, which could fade or be destroyed or erased, whereas what God had done through his ministry was written by the Holy Spirit on hearts and could never fade or be diminished.
He then mentioned tablets of stone versus tablets that are hearts of flesh, indicating the vast difference between following the Law of Moses and following the gospel of Christ. The first set of tablets were broken by Moses in his disgust and had to be replaced, and now we have no idea where they reside or even if they still exist. But God's work in our hearts continues to be evident to this day.
The Old Covenant could never work because it depended on man. It could never produce righteousness. In contrast, everything under the New Covenant depended on God and not on man. It's therefore able to accomplish what the old could not.
He goes on to explain that Moses' face was reflecting the glory of God that he'd witnessed in God's presence. That glory actually scared the Israelites. Moses veiled his face, not to prevent them from being scared, but because he knew it was fading and that his face would soon return to normal. My commentary says that the spiritual meaning of this was that the glory of the Old Covenant was temporary. It was given to reveal sin until the time of Christ. "It was a shadow....He is the substance..... The law which God had given to Moses had a transient glory. It was fading even then, and Moses did not want them to see the end of it."
That same veil also represents the hiding of the meaning of the gospel from the Israelites. They could not discover the secret of Christ because of it. Today, "the difficulty in understanding the O.T. vanishes when a person comes to Christ." Whereas the veil was over the face of Moses, it is still lying on the hearts of the Jewish people.
"In the Old Covenant, Moses alone was allowed to see the glory of the Lord. Under the New Covenant, we all have that privilege."
Very importantly, "we can keep our faces unveiled by confessing and forsaking sin, by being completely hones with God and ourselves .... Here, in a word, is the secret of Christian holiness -- occupation (being occupied) with Christ. Not by occupation with self; that brings only defeat. Not by occupation with others; that brings only disappointment. But by occupation with the glory of the lord, we become more and more like Him .... Instead of merely reflecting the glory of God in our faces (as Moses did) ... our faces radiate glory from inside" as we are transformed by the Spirit.
Father, thank You that we have a hope that never fades. Thank You for radiating Your glory out to the world through us. Help us to be a living letter, written in red by Your Son's death, to Your world.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
2 Corinthians 4 -- Don't patch the cracks!
Let God's light shine out of your brokenness
My commentary expanded upon something Paul mentioned in verse 6 -- how Paul could see the process of salvation being illustrated in the way God began creating the earth.
"Originally, God commanded light to shine out of darkness ... But in the new creation, God Himself shines into our hearts.... God originally created man as an innocent being. But sin came in, and with it gross darkness. As the gospel is preached, the Spirit of God moves on the heart of a person, just as He moved on the face of the deep after the original creation. Then God shines in to the heart of this person, showing him that he is a guilty sinner and needs a Savior. The material creation in Genesis began with light, and so also does the spiritual creation."
Regarding one of my favorite passages about treasures in jars of clay (verse 7), it says Paul had to be thinking about the story of Gideon where he and his 300 men sneak up on a much larger army. Inside their jars of clay they've hidden their lamps, and once they've surrounded the enemy, they smash the clay pots and the enemy army, ringed with light, thinks itself surrounded by a much larger force. "The light only shone forth when the pitchers were broken. With the Gospel, only when human instruments are broken and yielded to the Lord can the gospel shine forth."
If we try to avoid brokenness in our own lives, we are preventing others from being able to see the light of God working in and through us.
Father, naturally men want to fix things, and brokenness often is seen by us as a flaw when it shouldn't be. We therefore hesitate to let others see it in ourselves. Help me to allow my brokenness to show, so that other guys may see and do the same. Help me not to want to hide the light within.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
2 Corinthians 5:1-10 Camping and coming home
As good as it is, it's never as good as home
This morning I opened the windows in my study to let in a "football weather" breeze. It felt like Ruidoso, and I thought of what a wonderful night it would have been to go camping! There's something about a cool breeze caressing a tent that makes me struggle between curling up tighter in the sleeping bag or getting up to enjoy coffee as I watch dawn break!
But once the heat of day intrudes, or rain sets in, or high winds hit, the spell is broken. A tent is no place to be, and I long for home.
In a similar way, a four-star hotel room may be nice, but it's so sterile that it never makes me feel "at home".
As Christians, we each have a God-given "homesickness". As wonderful as this life might be, we're not "at home" with Him. We're in a tent or a hotel room, and we long for home. We're missing something.
Verse 4 says that it's not until we die that we will be fully covered with LIFE. And verse 5 says this is what God made us for, this life is just practice. It's then that we get into the game! (But it's practice where we get picked for the team.)
Right now, we live by what we believe. How much better it will be when we will live by what we see.
But our minds are conflicted. Those cool camping mornings feel good. They make us long for more. How quickly they swamp the memories of the past on those "days after" when we had to take down, clean, pack up, and ready for the next trip -- all the things we don't have to do when we're home.
Father, I understand what Paul is talking about. Although I haven't been there, I long for Home. I long to see You. I long to no longer have to struggle with the sin that disappoints You so regularly. But I also know what verse 9 says -- that my only goal is to please You, whether I live here or there. It's a good kind of homesickness, Father, because it means I know where I am going.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
2 Corinthians 5:11-21 It's AMAZING!
He calls ME friend
Last night, my boys both wanted to sleep over at other homes -- Josh at a friend's and Joseph at his grandparents. I took Josh a backpack of clothes for the next day. He was in the backyard at the friend's house playing and saw me pull up, yelling to tell me where he was. I reached over the fence that separated us and handed him the backpack and told him I'd see him tomorrow. As I turned to go, I heard a plaintive "Wait, Dad!" The gate opened and he came running and said, "I need a hug!" Needless to say, I scooped him up in my arms, not wanting to let him go.
Likewise, I took Joseph to my parents' house, and he headed to "his room" to watch TV while I visited. I finally went to find him and said, "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow!" He said, "Okay!" and appeared to be absorbed in his television show. I backed around the corner and just waited. It finally hit him what I'd said, and he came running. "WAIT!" I playfully clothes-lined him as he sailed around the corner, and he said, "Oh man, I thought you were gone!" and proceeded to hug and kiss me.
Many marveled this weekend at my boys, having not seen them in awhile, or at all, since it was Hamlin's Centennial and Homecoming. But to a person they said, "You can sure see how taken they are with you!"
I thought about that as I read these verses. What must it have been like to be a Ukrainian orphan with no real hope and have a man come from out of nowhere, having never known you before, and ask you to come be his son and live life with him. There was no merit that either of them had within himself that had led to their selection. It had been my choice (directed entirely by God, I know). They could not have left their orphanages and stormed the doors of the National Adoption Center, demanding to meet me or anyone else, even if they'd known I'd be there. It instead is a picture of grace. They realize that, even now, and it cements the bond between us.
Having been shown their pictures by God, I could no more have not selected them than I could cut off my legs. They are mine -- my treasures given to me by God.
This section in my Bible is titled "Becoming Friends With God". The thing is, we can never initiate that process -- anymore than my sons could. It is all on Him. We cannot presume to say with any pride that we are His friends. Instead, as the song "Friend of God" says, "Who am I that You are mindful of me?" Probably exactly what my boys wondered in Russian. Our only reaction can be, "It's amazing! He calls ME 'friend' ??!!"
Paul was talking about his ministry in the middle of this, and in the middle of what he said, were two phrases, separated by a period, that God drew my eyes to this morning: ".....the truth about us. God knows what we really are....."
Yet He loves us anyway and decided to make us His friends how? By sacrificing His only Son for US!
Oh, it would have been more than enough had He simply uttered the words, but He wanted to prove it!
I find myself in my boys' shoes this morning. "Why ME? Why ME, O Sovereign God of the Universe? Who am I that You should call ME 'friend' ?" I could never thank You enough, but I will strive every day to live worthy of being called Your friend.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
2 Corinthians 6:1-7:1 Strength in Adversity
God promises it if we will just accept it
How do people know for sure that we are servants of God? It's not just by the fact that we're at certain places at certain times. It's also not in seeing that our lives always are happy. Paul mentioned a few that I kind of hated to hear, but I know are true: "In accepting many hard things, in troubles, in difficulties, and in great problems." In other words, they don't watch us "break" when we "bend". Our sufferings cause us to hold tighter to Christ instead of breaking away from Him.
Even in these times, He gives us the power to exhibit understanding, patience, and kindness through the Holy Spirit. That's probably the toughest thing for me, though. When I begin to feel overwhelmed by a situation, I begin to see those three traits often diminish rather than strengthen. That's a sign to me that, in the heat of the battle, prayer for my attitude is needed and shouldn't be forgotten.
In the last part of this chapter, Paul says that there's a separation which believers should practice that echoes what Jewish people have always strived for -- avoiding close relationships with non-Christians. In modern terms, he'd be saying, "Should Jesus and the devil be hanging out together? NO!" Many times we wake up to find that we're already in such a relationship, and it's affecting our walk with Christ. I've been there, and the idea of ending the friendship was painful. But look what God promises us to make up for that loss: "I will live with them and walk with them. And I will be their God, and they will be My people .... Leave those people... and I will accept you. I will be Your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters..." Not a bad tradeoff at all.
One other thing caught my eye in verse 16: "The temple of God cannot have an agreement with idols, and we ARE the temple of the living God." We know how God would feel if someone brought an idol into His temple. Yet how often do we find ourselves doing just that in our lives? I think of lust as a prime example. Anything or anyone we lust after has effectively become an idol. Bringing it into our lives, whether physically, or in our thoughts only, relegates God to second place, even if only for a short time.
Father, help me to do better in adversity in showing through understanding, patience, and kindness that I am Yours. It sure gets tough at times! And help me to realize immediately when I'm about to bring an idol into this temple, whether in thought or action. Don't let me worship it.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
2 Corinthians 7 -- Godly Sorrow
It's good to feel it and know what it means
Paul tells them that he's not sorry that his last letter had made them sad. But he also mentioned that he'd felt "fighting on the outside and fear on the inside." He knew God was pressing him to relay a message, and he could see that it needed to be delivered, but he also worried about the effect it would have on his relationship with them. Would they take it the right way? Had he read the situation correctly? He knew that his message was from God, but he was still just a man who was anxious about how he would be accepted by them after delivering the message. He agonized over causing them grief, but he also knew it was necessary.
When a surgeon sees that an infected part of the body must be removed to insure health, he knows that the pain is a necessary part of the healing, for if he doesn't cut, the body doesn't heal.
Paul describes what they went through as grief, sorrow, and mourning. Those are great descriptions of what we should feel when we realize that our fellowship with our Creator and Savior has been broken by our sin. As we discussed in the Downpour Bible study, it's not sorrow at getting caught that he's talking about here. Instead, it was a sorrow that caused them to want to make a lifestyle change. They didn't want to ever have to feel that way again!
And this kind of sorrow drives us toward God. It makes us very serious, rather than flippant about our sin. It causes us to change, either by correcting our lifestyle to remove sinful opportunities, or by changing whatever is causing a perception that sin exists when it might not. It causes us to be angry with ourselves for our stupidity and afraid about what we've done to our relationship with God. It makes us long for Him, for the calming assurance of hearing His voice again, which we muted by our sin. It makes us want the right thing to be done. But perhaps most importantly, it makes us care. We get the "want to" needed to effect a change. "I don't care" comes straight from the devil, because it indicates a total lack of love, which encompasses all that God is. Anytime we find ourselves saying, "I don't care" in regard to something we are doing, saying or thinking, it should be a red flag to us -- God striving to get our attention to make a change.
Father, I've found that a lack of sadness on my part in regard to what I know is sin in my life indicates an unrepentant heart and a coldness toward You. Thank You for bringing the sorrow for what I've thought, said, or done so that Your Holy Spirit can open my soul and perform the vital surgery I need. Help me never to despise a friend who helps me reach that point, for I know that he is sent by You for my good.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
2 Corinthians 8 Generously giving
It's better to act than to say we will
When I went to Russia in 2001, my main luggage bag finally caught up with me the day we were leaving the orphanage to head back to the States. I'd only had my carryon bag, which had one change of clothing in it, plus the clothes on my back. I had resorted to washing the clothes I'd worn that day as I showered each night, and they took 2 days to dry. So, like the orphans, I found myself wearing the same clothes 2 days in a row. They did save me a shirt from those one church had brought to hand out to orphans, which helped. After 9 days of no luggage, I felt like I'd been delivered an amazing treasure when it arrived!
During that time, I'd made such good friends with many of the high school guys in the orphanage that I wanted to leave them with something, so I gave them my best shirts -- the ones I almost hated to part with. The smiles on their faces said it all. (I was really the only one their size) I determined what I'd need to get home (one shirt for each remaining day plus one extra), and handed the others out.
But on the plane home, I was kicking myself for not doing more, because I could have kept up the existence I'd handled well and given 3 or 4 more shirts away. It would have almost doubled my gift. Those boys had nothing to their names. Those shirts were everything to them, and I could easily have replaced them when I returned home.
Verse 11 reminded me of that: "So now finish the work you started. Then your 'doing' will be equal to your 'wanting to do'. Give from what you have." In other words, see that good intentions are translated into action.
It's God's timing at its best that I read this right now. I'm preparing for our Ukraine trip where my boys will get to revisit their orphanages. I almost decided not to plan the trip because of the expense of adding on to our house, and doing both in a 9-month period was a big undertaking. I am taking a donation to Josh's orphanage, because I know that I can trust the director there to spend it wisely.
But for Joseph's orphanage, I need to give through a charity who sponsors that orphanage. I'd almost decided to wait until after the trip to do it, but instead I'll get the money to them quickly and maybe we can see the fruits of it while we are there.
Also, I couldn't participate in the mission trip our youth group is taking, due to the Ukraine trip, yet I haven't given to support it yet.
Good intentions may be noble, but they can't be considered generous until put into action. I just needed some prodding today from You, Father.
I've got an excellent role model for this, revealed in verse 9. Jesus gave up the riches of the universe to come live a pauper's life on earth. Then He gave up what little He had here, along with His life, for me. There are still many kids over there who have nothing, and I've certainly seen what an impact giving of myself and my possessions can have. So help me, Father, to be generous to the fatherless, that they may know You.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
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