2 Corinthians 11 -- Proving His Love

Paul loved a church that wasn’t loving him.  They’d fallen – hook, line, and sinker – for the arguments of the false teachers and had accepted a substitute gospel, and now he was trying to get them to see exactly what they’d done.

 

These false teachers had given every reason in the world why the church should disavow Paul, trying to make him look weak and make themselves look like super-apostles.  My commentary said that the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to compare the two ministries to show the church how they’d been fooled.  The main point was that Paul was a giver while the false teachers were takers.  The false teachers boasted about their speaking skill and Paul’s lack of it.  Paul boasted only in what he’s suffered for being an apostle.  After all, why would anyone put up with everything he’d experienced unless he’d been give a holy commission?

 

Father, yesterday and this morning I’ve felt a little like Paul must have felt.  I believe that I have trusted and obeyed, and difficulties have still arisen.  I know that they amount to trust-builders.  Help me to remember that and to never doubt that You are 100% in control of everything in this world.  My job is to trust and know that Your will cannot be overridden.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Corinthians 10 -- 3 Questions

Okay, I’ve gotta admit that I didn’t like this chapter very much when I first started reading it, and my commentary seemed to know what to say:

 

“At first it sounds like Paul was bragging about himself.  But Paul was actually defending his ministry and his apostolic authority.”

 

What I discovered was a section about the true measurement of spiritual ministry:  “Paul suggests three questions we may ask ourselves as we seek to measure our ministries by the will of God:

 

1.       Am I where God wants me to be?

2.       Is God glorified by my ministry?

3.       Can the Lord commend my work?

 

The important thing is that we are where God wants us to be, doing what He wants us to do so that He might be glorified.  Motive is as much a part of God’s measurement of our work as is growth.  If we are seeking to glorify and please God alone, and if we are not afraid of His evaluation of our hearts and lives, then we need not fear the estimates of men or their criticisms.”

 

Father, I pray that all of my answers will always be “yes”.  I want to be at the center of Your will for my life.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Corinthians 9 -- More On Grace Giving

Loved these additional thoughts from my commentary today:

 

·         Your giving will provoke others to give.

·         In grace giving, our motive is not to get something, but receiving God’s blessing is one of the fringe benefits.

·         If we cannot give joyfully, then we must open our hearts to the Lord and ask Him to grant us grace.

·         Certainly God can bless a gift that is given out of a sense of duty, but God cannot bless the giver unless his heart is right.

·         The Christian who practices grace giving will always have what he needs when he needs it.

·         Everything we have – not just our income – belongs to God, is given to God, and is used by God to accomplish His work.

·         Grace never looks for a reason [to give]; it only looks for an opportunity.

·         No amount of evangelistic zeal or worship activity can compensate for lost opportunities in serving others and meeting their practical needs.  There must be a balance of sharing the gospel and meeting practical needs.

·         It is sad when our giving becomes a substitute for our living.  When a Christian practices grace giving, his money is not a substitute for either his concern or his service.  He first gives himself to the Lord and then he gives what he has.  His gift is a symbol, as it were, of the surrender of his heart.

 

Father, our desire to hang on to material blessings and not trust You to provide is something that every Christian struggles to overcome, I think.  Help me not to struggle, but to trust.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Corinthians 7 & 8 -- Grace Giving

WOW!  My commentary did an incredible job discussing chapter 8, calling it all about grace giving.  Some of the highlights:

 

·         When a church is not spiritual, it is not generous.

·         The motivation for giving must be from the grace of God in the heart.

·         When you have experienced the grace of God in your life, you will not use difficult circumstances as an excuse for not giving.

·         Grace giving means giving in spite of circumstances.

·         It is possible to give generously but not give enthusiastically.

·         Their giving was voluntary and spontaneous.  It was of grace, not pressure.

·         Grace not only frees us from our sins, but it frees us from ourselves.  The grace of God will open your heart and your hand.

·         God sees the “heart gift” and not the “hand gift”.  If the heart wanted to give more, but was unable to do so, God sees it and records it accordingly.  But if the hand gives more than the heart wants to give, God records what is in the heart, no matter how big the offering in the hand might be.

·         God sees, not the portion, but the proportion.  If we could have given more, and did not, God notes it.  If we wanted to give more, and could not, God also notes that.

 

Father, help me to remember how freely Jesus gave His blood for me on the cross, and help me to use the remembrance of that grace when You give me opportunities to give to others.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Corinthians 6 -- Contact Without Contamination

Paul had a warning about separation from unbelievers in this chapter.  It’s almost a two-edged sword.  We as Christians are to be “in the world, but not of the world.”  Paul’s way of putting it was, “Do not join yourselves to them.”  My commentary said, “Like a skillful physician, we must practice contact without contamination.  Otherwise, we will isolate ourselves from the people who need our ministry the most.”

 

We’re to be out in the world, being the hands and feet of Christ to a lost world, but we’ve shaken off the world and surely don’t want to take back upon ourselves what we worked so hard to rid from our lives.

 

And about that risk of recontamination, my commentary noted:  “Too often Christians deal with symptoms and not causes.  We keep confessing the same sins because we have not gotten to the root of the trouble and cleansed ourselves.  Perhaps there is filthiness of the flesh, some pet sin that feeds the old nature.  Or it may be filthiness of the spirit, an attitude that is sinful … But cleansing ourselves is only half of the responsibility; we must also be perfecting holiness in the fear of God.  This is a constant process as we grow in grace and knowledge … But it is foolish to try to perfect holiness if there is known sin in our lives.”

 

Father, I want to be where I’m needed – where You can use me to bring others to You.  But also I do not want to take up the sin that I used to struggle with so much.  So please guard my mind and my heart as I minister in the world.  Also help me to always be mindful that I deal with causes of sin in my life, not just symptoms, as I continue to work toward holiness.  Help me to do nothing that misrepresents You in this world.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Corinthians 5 -- Declaring PEACE, Not War

“All this is from God.  Through Christ, God made peace between us and Himself … God won in Christ, making peace between the world and Himself.  In Christ, God did not hold the world guilty of its sins… Christ had no sin, but God made Him become sin so that in Christ we could become right with God.”

 

God created all that we know, and selfishly we chose to sin and messed it all up.  But here’s the remarkable thing:  “God has not declared WAR on the world!  At the cross He declared peace,” my commentary said.  And He did that how?  By the very death of His Son!  He gave instead of taking.  That’s something the world cannot understand.  You don’t win by giving in!  He declared peace by giving His Son, yet most of the world has not laid down their arms against Him and accepted that peace.  Therefore, “one day He will declare war; and then it will be too late for those who have rejected the Savior.”

 

We as Christians are ambassadors going out to get people to accept those terms of peace.  We aren’t declaring war against them.  We therefore should not go out in an attitude of feeling as though we’re intruding and unwelcome.  We’re talking about a benefit, not a burden for them.  I sure need to see it more that way!

 

Father, who but You would declare peace by sacrificing Your own Son for Your enemies!  It’s amazing how Satan has blinded the world to that supreme act of love!  Open eyes and help them to see that, Father, and expose Satan for the liar he is.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Corinthians 4 -- Being The Pot

We are like jars of clay – worth nothing by themselves.  “But it is the treasure within the vessel that gives the vessel its value,” my commentary said.  “No Christian should ever complain to God because of his lack of gifts or abilities … Psalm 139:13-16 indicates that our very genetic structure is in the hands of God.  Each of us must accept himself and be himself.  The important thing about a vessel is that it be clean, empty, and available for service … We are vessels so that God might use us.  We are earthen vessels so that we might depend on God’s power and not our own … Paul was not afraid of suffering or trial, because he knew that God would guard the vessel so long as Paul was guarding the treasure.”

 

As weak vessels, we must be careful not to think that we can live any way we please, and that God will guard us even in sin.  “God can and does turn suffering into glory, but he cannot turn sin into glory.  Sin must be judged, because there is no glory in sin.

 

Father, I’ve got an old clay pot that should remind me of myself.  It’s fragile and easily damaged.  But I love the thought that what makes the clay vessel valuable is not itself but the treasure inside.  Thank you for filling me with that treasure and giving me worth as a result – not of myself but of Christ.  Where I was unworthy, You have giving value and meaning to my life.  Help me to help others to discover that as well!

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford