Our God is Able

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

OUR GOD IS ABLE

2 Cor 11:30-33

30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. 32 In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. 33 But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.

NIV

Sometimes it is far easier to boast to brag about our own accomplishments then it is about God’s. Maybe we are actually boasting about God’s but in a sort of back-handed way. It would seem we do not spend much time boasting about our weakness, but rather we spend most of our time boasting about our strength. Some believers even boast about the fact they do not sin anymore or at least they cannot remember the last time they sinned. If that is not boasting about self, what is? In that testimony they was no mention of God at all, it was all about self and the word I. It seems seldom we here people boast about the fact they have absolutely no talent of their own, or no ability of they own, not formal training, no education, no degrees or any other form of skill in an area, but that God is using them in this area so that they cannot boast about themselves, but can only boast about God. We have to know we are nothing but sinners, weak, human, unable to not only save ourselves, but we cannot even serve the Kingdom of God in our human strength. All we are all we have and all we do for the Kingdom of God is because God gives us all we need. We need to boast about how weak we are. We need to boast about how we cannot do anything in and of ourselves, so that we can boast about God. But somehow that seems to be against our nature. Do we want to feel good about ourselves, have we signed on to the world’s view of self-esteem? Why do we think we are what we are? Is it because of our hard work? Is it because of our efforts to learn our trade, our skill, our talent, our profession? So who we are, what we have and what we do, is all because of our efforts, but despite all that we love the Lord and because we are so smart, we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. That sounds so ludicrous. We are nothing without Christ. We are lost in our sin without Jesus. We are fools hopeless without Jesus. We are human bent on sin and doomed to destruction without Jesus. But with Jesus we are simply saved from all that. We need Jesus period. We still are weak, unable to free ourselves from sin. We still are unable to be perfect. We need Jesus. When Jesus comes into our lives, God declares us innocent and he also empowers us to serve for the benefit of his kingdom. In our weakness He is made strong. Our God is able.    

Give Up Some Comfort

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

GIVE UP SOME COMFORT

2 Cor 11:21-29

What anyone else dares to boast about — I am speaking as a fool — I also dare to boast about. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.   25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

NIV

When we read this how can we ever imagine having any hard times at all, especially because of our sharing the gospel with someone? Have we ever encountered or experienced a fraction of what Paul has in our efforts to tell someone about Jesus? We live in such comfort, almost in the lap of luxury compared to how Paul lived. Of course we may not be as driven as he was to share the gospel no matter the cost. Oh sure we could justify our lack luster efforts by thinking Paul was called by God to do what he did, called to share the gospel, and we are not. Sure we know we are supposed to witness to people, but not like Paul did. After all we live in a far more civilized society. People would not flog us, or expose us to death. We certainly would not have to worry about being lashed thirty-nine times, or beaten with rods. Nor would we have to be concerned about being stoned, or for that matter shipwrecked. It would also be true that we should not have to have any concerns about being in danger from rivers, bandits or other Americans. It is true some Christians in other parts of the world might be in danger from Muslins, but not us, at least for now. We need not worry about being in danger in the city or the country or on the sea or even from those false teachers on television. It is unlikely we have ever gone hungry or been thirsty because we have gone without food in order to share the Gospel. It is also unlikely we have ever been cold and gone naked because of our desire to share Christ. No, we do in comparison live completely in the lap of luxury. Sure we might fear losing our job if we spend too much time talking about Jesus. People might think we are a little over the top, if we are always talking about Jesus. People might think we are arrogant if we know too much of the word of God and talk about it instead of the weather, or sports, or some other mundane topic, like other people, which is gossip and sin. Some people might think we are foolish for having the faith we do. But we should get real here, and see how easy we have it, and that should spur us on to do more. Even if we have some backlash from our sharing the gospel, then praise God. Maybe we should be more like Paul. Maybe we should be willing to give up some comfort.   

The Good The Bad and The Ugly

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

2 Cor 11:16-21

16 I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. 17 In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. 18 Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. 19 You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! 20 In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face. 21 To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that!

NIV

Once again we see there were people who came to Corinth with the expressed reason to take advantage of them, to exploit them and enslave them with some form of rules and regulations which these people added to the pure gospel message and most likely for their own personal gain. This has not stopped. There are still people who present themselves as preachers of the gospel with the expressed purpose of exploiting those who get sucked into following them. It is imperative we be on our guard against such people. Sure it seems easy enough to point fingers at many of the television so-called “Evangelist”, because they actually spend more effort in developing a following of givers then in spreading the truth of the message of Christ. But we also need to be cautious of those who claim to be revivalists or traveling evangelists. We need the Spirit to discern who is true and who is there to exploit us. We need to be aware of those who push themselves forward, who promote their own cause, rather the cause of Christ. There are many people who are true and have been called by God to bring the right message to the right people. There are many people who God is using in a mighty way and they are serving the kingdom of God. We should not reject all, but simply be on guard, listening to the Spirit, allowing him to show us those who would take us for fools and exploit us for their own gain. When these exploiters come, we dare not put up with them. Not only should we not listen to them, but we should reject them completely, refuse to support them in any way. When the Spirit reveals them, especially those who arrive at our church, do we dare simply get up and walk out. Would that be rude? Or would that be refusing to put up with them? In our world today there are many good, and some bad, who present themselves as preachers of the gospel. So there are the good, the bad and the ugly  Let us weed out the later, and build up the good. 

On Guard

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

ON GUARD

2 Cor 11:13-15

13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

NIV

Here is the main theme of what has been in the process of being laid out for us. There are indeed false apostles and deceitful workers both in those days and in our days. They bring just enough of the truth to sound right, but actually are filled with deceit and lies. Even though they teach and easier road to travel, they burden their listeners with untruth so they cannot walk the right path. If we know the truth we should be able to see their masquerade, their masks should be plain to us. But it appears way too many believers are taken in by these servants of Satan. It is clear their aim is to right at the church and they have infiltrated it posing as people of righteousness. They could care less about the masses who refuse to accept Christ, although, these posers would like for those who refuse Christ to accept their message, because it is a false one and thus would keep those unbelievers as unbelievers. But their real aim is to destroy the church, destroy the truth of the message. It is easy to see them, for many of them preach such a name it and claim it message, they preach we can have it all, they preach we should all be rich, that God wants us all to be so well off, but in reality they preach for their own personal gain. They may not admit or even know they are serving Satan, they may have been deceived as well, but nevertheless we must not allow their false teaching to infiltrate our faith in Christ. There is way too many untruths being spread among believers. We should not allow ourselves to be burdened down with the false teachings of those who say we can do it all, or those who say we cannot do anything. Some have no rules at all while others have so many we would never be able to be innocent. God has given us the gift of discernment so that by his Spirit we can discern these false teachers for who they are. But we need to be on guard, on watch, and sensitive to the Spirit so we will know and shut off all that noise, that deceitful teaching and untruth. If we accept any of their words, then we might well be in danger of experiencing the same end they will. Just as in the duel of fencing, we need to keep up our guard so as not to be pierced, but to use our sword, the Word of God, to win the battle. On Guard!

The Way it Is

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

THE WAY IT IS

2 Cor 11:7-12

7 Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge? 8 I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. 9 And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so. 10 As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. 11 Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! 12 And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about.

NIV

We are going to see what this is all about in the next verses but for now we need to see a truth in these words. Paul actually thought it was robbery for him to receive support from churches. Although he still took it, it appears he was not pleased about having to do so. Don’t missionaries deserve to be supported by the church? That is the way it has been as long as we can remember. We certainly would not expect missionaries to collect money from those they are trying to win for Christ. Yet Paul felt he lowered himself by taking support money from another church so as to not be a burden on those he was trying to win for Christ. It appear we have made this the way of things today. Missionaries do not have to feel as though they have lowered themselves at all, in fact, most denominations require those who are called to be missionaries to go around from church to church seeking support. It would be unheard of for them to actually find some kind of work to support themselves. Of course most of them are in some foreign land which would not allow them to work, so they have to get support from us. But then are they robbing us so as to live where they do and try to win people to Christ? That seems such a strange statement and it simply cannot be true, yet what are we to make of what is said here? Have we changed the truth to fit our concept of things? Our world, our times are surely much different than in the time of the Corinthians. Most countries have so many laws governing the way missionaries can function. We have to support them if they are going to be in those places winning souls for Christ. So we have changed the truth to fit our world’s way of doing things, at least from the point that missionaries surely do not feel they have lowered themselves by taking money from us, and we surely have been made to feel it is our duty to support them. But in another thought, are we not all supported to be, at least in some sense, a missionary to the world around us? But not in an official licensed, ordained, approved way, by the denominational headquarters. So we just have to accept the way it is, because that is the way it is. But should it be?   

One Gospel, One Jesus, One Message

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

ONE GOSPEL, ONE JESUS, ONE MESSAGE

2 Cor 11:1-6

11:1 I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already doing that. 2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. 5 But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those "super-apostles." 6 I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.

NIV’

This really says a lot here about what was going on in Corinth, but does it also speak to what is going on today in the here and now? Are we pure as virgins in regard to the gospel of Christ? Or have we been deceived by all sorts of different man made rules and regulations, denominational doctrines and dogmas? Every denomination is just a little different than all the others; otherwise we would all be one church, one pure church, on pure bride of Christ. Oh sure it would seem all the denominations preach Jesus, but he is really Jesus? Or is he their interpretation of who Jesus is? It certainly appears God was inspiring Paul to set the record straight here. We surely have some of those “super-apostles” around today, with their trained speaking, their silver tongues, their fine clothes, large mega churches filled with their followers, glued to every word which they even telecast for more to hear.  Is their message the true Jesus which Paul writes about here? Have we been deceived by them as well accepting them by not speaking out against them, not showing their message for what it is? Why so many different messages? Why so many divisions among churches? What is the purpose of that? Are they all preaching the pure message of Jesus? Yet they all have added to or taken away from the pure message of Jesus. They all are coming with a different spirit. Do we put up with this too easily? Why should we? Why do we align ourselves with certain churches taking on the argument with others? Sure some preachers are good with their words, persuasive and speak with such confidence and authority about their interpretation of the Gospel based on their indoctrination of their denomination. Maybe we do not have all those fine words, or ability to communicate them smoothly, but if we read the bible, we have the knowledge, we have the Word of God, we have the truth right they before us. There is but one gospel, one Jesus, one message.  

Boasting

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

BOASTING

2 Cor 10:12-18

12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. 13 We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the field God has assigned to us, a field that reaches even to you. 14 We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ. 15 Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our area of activity among you will greatly expand, 16 so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in another man's territory. 17 But, "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."   18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

NIV

We find a long comment here, yet all about one thing, which is boasting about ourselves. It even addresses the boasting about our own work, our own endeavors which do not include what we are doing in the service of God. If we compare ourselves to ourselves then we have a great person to measure ourselves against. That seems really dumb but that is what many people may be guilty of. When we think we are doing all we can do or that we are doing our best, is that not what we are doing? What we should be boasting about is what the Lord has gifted us with for the purpose of the furtherance of his kingdom. If we boast in any of our abilities, even those we say are our natural born, or God given natural abilities it may still be boasting in our own self. But if we serve the Lord in an area we have no talent of our own than we can only boast about God. We should confine our boasting to the field God has assigned us to. We need to be very careful not to commend ourselves for any effort we put forth in this world. Yet we often see people plaster their walls with commendations to give themselves credentials among other people or impress them with their achievements. We should confine our boasting to what God has called and empowered us to do for the benefit of his kingdom. In fact our boasting should be about the result God brings about by our obedience to his call on our life. We are but vessels for his service. That verse which declares we can do all things through Christ Jesus who gives us strength is not about what we do in the world for the world, or for ourselves, but is it all about what we are called to do for God, no matter what kind of worldly training we have, if fact, the more our work for God has nothing to do with our worldly training, the more we can boast in him. Our activity should be about the Kingdom of God, not about making ourselves better. We need not be concerned about working for the praise of people, but surely for the praise of God. If we cannot boast about God, we cannot boast. 

Building Words

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

BUILDING WORDS

2 Cor 10:7-11

7 You are looking only on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he. 8 For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it. 9 I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. 10 For some say, "His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing." 11 Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.

NIV

It would appear we are in the middle of another discussion by Paul defending his position in Christ. But this truth about building others up instead of pulling them down has a great of merit which is worth our examination. It is so easy to have a spirit of criticism. It is way too easy to accuse others of wrong doing, at least in our eyes, whether they actually did anything really wrong or not. If they offend us in any way, we tear them down, not build them up. Even as Paul wrote to the Corinthians about their errors, he was not tearing them down, but attempting to build them up, to strengthen them, to help them to grow in Christ. His intend was not to frighten them or tear them down, making them feel ashamed and guilty. We cannot stand in judgment of others, especially other believers. If we think we belong to Christ and therefore have it all together then we need to see they also belong to Christ and have it all together just as much as we do. Or should we say we all do not have it as together as we should. But the fact remains, we all belong to Christ and so we should be encouraging and building each other up not pulling each other done. When we pull another down, it is usually because that makes us feel better about ourselves and that we would not do that which the other did. When we pull another down it is most likely because we think more of ourselves then we should or we are being self-centered. Paul wanted to assure them that what he said in his letters, then way he came across in words, is the way he is in person. God gave him the words to say in letter form, and God directs his life in person. He is not one way sometimes and another way other times. Although it may be true if we write we have the opportunity to ponder on exactly the right chose of words, edit, rewrite and consider revising the way we express our thoughts, in person we cannot take back any words loosed. Once we have spoken it is done, no edits. So as with Paul we might be more careful to be the same person both in the written and in the spoken word. We are in Christ, they are in Christ, and we build each other up with our words. 

Speaking With Power

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

SPEAKING WITH POWER

2 Cor 10:1-6

10:1 By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you — I, Paul, who am "timid" when face to face with you, but "bold" when away! 2 I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

NIV

Way too much here to deal with it all but the one thought which strikes first is about people who think we live by the standards of this world. Of course Paul is talking about the way he argues the truth of the gospel message. He does not have to engage in the intellectual battle of wits as the those how do not know Christ feel it is necessary to in order to appear to have some form of wisdom. The weapon of his words has divine power to demolish strongholds so he can in fact demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. Here is where we need to take our lesson from. It may appear we may have taken on the standards of this world in thinking in order to be able to speak with authority about the gospel message, or any other truth of God, we must graduate from some institution of higher learning, especially one which has been established by some Christian denomination. If a person does not have the degree, no ordination is given. If we think this is not the world’s way then we are being fooled. Paul spoke with divine power although he had not attended our universities. Many who have attended our universities do not speak with divine power, but with intellectual prowess, with silver tongues, smooth words, and persuasive language, but it is weak and without power and without the authority of God. When we buy into the standards of the world we become weak as the world is without the power of God. But when God calls us into service, when God places the call on someone’s life, as he did with Paul, then our words have divine power and authority. Now it is true that some people who have been called by God feel it is necessary to go to one of these schools, because the church at large has bought into the worlds standards by selling a degree for profit and if this person every wants to be paid for his service to God, he needs that degree. True, there may be a few exceptions to this, but this is the norm. We need to see that each one of us can have this divine power, speak with authority from God to demolish strongholds. We do not have to engage in intellectual arguments about the truth of God, the Bible, and about salvation through Christ. We merely have to rely on the power of God. We do not need a degree, we need the Spirit. We do not need to be overbearing, loud and obnoxious in our defense of the gospel. We only need the Spirit for the power.

Indescribable

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

INDESCRIBABLE

2 Cor 9:12-15

12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

NIV

Well there it is the result of the expression of giving as we started to see before. All sorts of thanks given to God for the sharing of material blessings with those need is seen here. But something else shows up in this passage which bears our observation. If would seem that giving is a natural expression of those who confess faith in Christ. Giving to the needs of others looks like it is an expression of obedience in those who confess faith in Christ. If we confess Christ as our Lord and Savior it appears we have to be obedient, whenever the needs of those who have less than us are presented. Would this mean, as in the case of the Corinthians, only when a need is brought to our attention by some leader, such as Paul? Would this then be only in the setting of a church joint gift? Or are we personally responsible to see a need and give? It would be difficult to give anonymously personally, but very easy in a joint church effort. But we have to see that it still is a gift sent on its way to another group of people who are in need. They would know the gift came from a group of believers, but would not know any of the individual givers. They would praise God, and give thanks for us as a group of believers doing what God desired us to do. It does seem strange to be known as the gift givers. It is not exactly what would fit with not letting your right hand know what your left hand is doing. At least everyone would know that our church is a big gift giver to those in need. It would be difficult for the pastor not to boast about it, but that would have to be the case. The leader of the church should not boast at all about the church giving to the needs of others. It is one thing for those receiving to praise God for our giving and to tell others of our gift, but we all should not boast or even mention it to others. What good would that serve other than demonstrating our pride or self-righteousness? Whatever we do for others, whether personally or as a church we need to remain humble and silent about what we have done. God sees and that is what matters. If we give so men will see we will have already received our reward. Yes, the receivers will see, but they will only see a gift from a group, and they will praise God for that group. We as individuals will remain in the background, having given so only God can see. Let men praise God for the work of the whole group. Let men praise God for the group of believers who gave out of a sense of love and compassion because they confess faith in Christ. Let men praise God for the group because they gave generously sharing with them from their plenty. Let men’s hearts go out toward us in their prayers because of God grace to us. He has blessed us with an indescribable gift of giving. 

Cause for Thanksgiving

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

CAUSE FOR THANKSGVING

2 Cor 9:10-11

10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

NIV

We have to be careful here not to give to get, yet it surely seems as we give we will also get more back. That saying, “You cannot out give God” must certainly have come from someone reading this passage. Now once again we have to remember what was said before about giving from our hearts, not under compulsion but of a free will. We have to remember that we give before there is a need and we give according to what we have; sharing enough, but not so much that our own family suffers. Yet in what we give, we see that God will also supply. He is the supplier of all we have in the first place and so he knows how much we can give, and when we do give, he will increase our ability to give more. If we have an open heart to God, hearing his voice, being sensitive to the Spirit and give when we are called upon by the Spirit, God will see to it that we will always have enough, even more than enough, so that we can give more than we have ever given before. But we have to also remember that is not giving to the run our church for the church is not the needy. If we give in the church, it has to be for the expressed reason for a joint effect to meet the needs of the needy. All the funds collected have to be dedicated to the cause; otherwise this promise of God does not apply. Now there is nothing wrong with paying the bills to run the church. There is nothing wrong with having all the expenses of a building, paid pastoral staff, support staff, and all the stuff needed to “Do church” , but all that does not qualify as giving to the those in need. No if we would like to see the blessings of God’s promise here, we simply need to give to those in need when the opportunity presence itself to us. As in the case of the Corinthians they were giving to another gathering of believers who were in need. This of course required some kind of interaction, or at least an intercessor, like Paul, to make the need known. But in either case, it requires a sense of communication between one church and another. This would imply we cannot afford to be an isolated church, we need to fellowship with others, we need to know how others are doing, are they well, or in need. Perhaps this is how the Spirit will do his work. But if we what to be the cause of others giving thanksgiving to God, according to this statement we need to give. Those who we give to will thank God and we having been increased will thank God.  Giving gives cause for thanksgivin

God Sees

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

GOD SEES

2 Cor 9:6-9

6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever."   

NIV

The key words here are “not reluctantly of under compulsion”. There such not be any pressure from anyone about this giving. That is not to say someone could not bring a need to the attention of all others, such as in the case when a pastor presents a need to the congregation. But when those people on television show us pictures of starving little children and tell us they will die unless we send them so much a month to support this little one that is under compulsion. They are putting as much visual pressure on us, trying so hard to tug at our hearts. The question is how much of our money goes to support them, their lifestyle, and their television ads asking for money and how much is given to toward that child? We have turned what God intended to be something wonderful into something perverse. Yes we are to give and not be stingy in our giving. Sure we should give according to what we have. That is we should not try to give beyond our ability to give. But we should still give, and do it with a cheerful heart, knowing this is how God intended us to give. He has blessed us with what we have and we should be willing to share with others. Perhaps that is how he intends to bless them. If we are stingy or give sparingly then we can expect very little back. If we give generously we can expect a lot back. But is that a good reason to give? Roberts wrote a whole book about this seed faith kind of giving and made big bucks doing it. We could wonder if he gave all the profits away cheerfully. It appears we should just give and do it with a cheerful heart just because God intended it to be that way, not for any return, not for any blessing, not for any recognition, not for any other reason other than because God intended it to be. This getting a record of giving for tax purposes is just another perversion. If we think for one moment that no one knows how much we give, forget it. Someone or a group is counting it all, marking it down, and making a record of each individual’s amount. Someone is recording it in some computer and printing it out every quarter to let us know how we are doing. This is not anywhere close to what God said about not letting your right hand know what your left hand is doing in regard to out giving. It might be good for us to get back to the basics. Give when a need it seen, and give generously toward that need, doing it and do it cheerfully from our hearts as we are inspired by the Spirit and by the Spirit alone. And do it anonymously, God sees.

True giving

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

TRUE GIVING

2 Cor 9:1-5

9:1 There is no need for me to write to you about this service to the saints. 2 For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action. 3 But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you in this matter should not prove hollow, but that you may be ready, as I said you would be. 4 For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we — not to say anything about you — would be ashamed of having been so confident. 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given.

NIV

We are still talking about this gift from those in Corinth to others somewhere else. It appears Paul may not be as confident in their generosity as he keeps telling them he is or he wouldn’t have spent so much time on this issue. Perhaps that is why so many pastors spend so much time preaching about tithing. Of course tithing has nothing to do with this kind of giving although it would seem this giving still requires a great deal organization. It would seem this just isn’t a move of the Spirit on an individual’s life to give to someone in need. It appears this has to be a concerted effect on behalf of the whole assembly to collect a united gift that will be sent on its way, even to those who are not personally known to the givers. Could this be the basis for the modern church missions programs? It seems everyone needs to be a apart of this giving, as we saw, each according to what he has, not to what he doesn’t have. But we should all be giving something, up and beyond what we pay to run our church. Of course in those days the people did not pay to run their churches. There was no salaried pastor or in some cases pastors, along with a paid support staff of secretaries, multimedia people, and such. They did not have a big building in need of a paid janitorial staff. They did not have large campus areas which required garden equipment, like mowers, or snow removal in the winter for us up North. They did not have to be concerned about the utility bills, the mortgage, and other expenses for the building. All they needed to do was to gather a gift to send off to others in need. How confused we have become about how God desires us to live. We gather ourselves together and pay out large amounts of money to be gathered together, when in fact we are not actually together at all, but just physically being in the same building, while others are struggling to just get by. But we still set aside a small portion of our church budget to missions so we can feel good about ourselves. Is this really the way God intended it to be? Is this true giving?  

Proactive

DEVOITON

2 CORINTHIANS

PROACTIVE

2 Cor 8:22-24

22 In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ. 24 Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it.

NIV

There is no question about having a good reputation among our fellow believers, both as an individual and as a group or church. Either Paul had a lot of pride in the people of Corinth or he was just clarifying to them that they better be on their best behavior when his friends showed up because he had told them about how much work he had done in Corinth. Considering all the corrections he included in his first letter to them, it would seem we was giving them fait warning to be ready to shine as believers when this group of guys showed up. He wanted them to behave in accordance with the reputation they had developed among the body of Christ. Would that then mean we should also behave in accordance with our reputation as believers? The world, even though it is full of sin, has an opinion of what kind of behavior we believers should demonstrate. Whether we want to admit it or not we have established a reputation among those outside the church by default because they know how we should behave. Everyone is watching us, examining us, trying to find the kink in our armor so to speak. We are among those who represent the churches, and we are the ones who bring honor to Christ. Do others speak of us in the manner Paul is speaking about these people? How are we perceived by others? What kind of thoughts do people have about us? When they watch us what do they see? Can we say we have pride in the church we attend? Can we say to others that our church is one that can show proof of their love? Can we take pride not just in the pastor, and how good he can preach, or in the worship, how good it sounds, or in the atmosphere or the physical environment we have created to make visitors not feel uncomfortable, but can we take pride in the whole body of people and how they will respond to others. Being a believer is not a passive thing, but a very active lifestyle. We need to be proactive in developing our reputation among all the people. 

Whats Your Reputation?

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

WHATS YOUR REPUTATION?

2 Cor 8:16-21

16 I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. 17 For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative. 18 And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel.   19 What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. 20 We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. 21 For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.

NIV

There is plenty here we could focus on but it would appear the overwhelming truth or should we say the underlying truth within is all about reputation. Surely Paul has defended his more than once, but now he lift us the reputation of Titus and the brother, whoever that might be, some think it to be Timothy, some Barnabas or Luke or maybe even Mark or Silas but there is not prove of any. We have to notice how these men are praised for their faithful service to God. We also have to see that Paul was concerned about the reputation of himself and these men was right both in the sight of God and in the sight of men. So we have to ask ourselves what kind of reputation do we have first with God and second with men. Is our reputation with God one of enthusiasm? Does God think of us serving him of our own initiative? Does God praise us for our service to the Gospel? Do we have a reputation with God of taking great pains to do what is right? Then we have to ask about our reputation with others. Do we have a reputation of having a heart after God? Do men see us as having great concern for others? Do they see our enthusiasm and our initiative toward serving the Kingdom of God? Do they think us sincere about it, or do they think of us as glory grabbers? Do people think of us as having eagerness to serve, or see us as serving, but more out of a sense of duty? What is our reputation about the way we administer the liberal gift of God? Do men see us as taking pains to doing what is right in the sight of God as well in their sight? We are ambassador of God. We are aliens in a foreign land, representing our sovereign. We are his voice; we speak for him to the locals who are citizens of this foreign land. We wear his crown in our hearts and minds. Our reputation among men is critical because we are his ambassadors. When men think of us is what they think about God. So we have to sit and examine our reputation, if it is not as it should, we need to revise our ways. If it is the way it should be, then we should continue on with even more determination. But we must take a good hard look at our reputation. 

Equality

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

EQUALITY

2 Cor 8:13-15

13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, 15 as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."  

NIV

Paul is quoting from the time of gathering manna in the wilderness and that everyone gathered according to their need, or the number of people in their tent. What we have to ask here, is does this sound a bit like God is advocating communism? This equality issue surely sounds a little like communism although even within that system there are the rich and the poor, those who are powerful and those who are powered. No system administered by men can ever bring equality. But God is giving us an insight here through these words written by Paul as to how the Kingdom of God looks. We know that God administers equality upon all mankind. He sent his son to die for everyone’s sin. God does not show favoritism. Yet here we are seeing we should be operating within the Kingdom of God in a way that is not commonly thought of. Can we ever remember believers coming close functioning like this? It would seem this concept of equality sort of “flies in the face” of our system of capitalism. We surely have a great deal of inequality within the church. It seems that everyone is out for themselves, perhaps giving a little here and there in order to make themselves feel good, or out of a sense guilt, or perhaps thinking themselves obedient. But there is still those who are extremely wealthy while others are completely impoverish. There are those who have more than enough and thus invest it in the world’s financial system in order try to have more, while others are barely making it from paycheck to paycheck. What we see in the church is surely not the equality that is spoken of here. We see those who have plenty keeping their plenty while those who do not have plenty living accumulating debt just trying to live, perhaps beyond their means in an endeavor to be equal with those with plenty. SO how do we deal with this? How do we go about experiencing the equality that is spoken of here? How do we determine who is the giver and who is the receiver? Do we look to some third world country and say they have little while we all here in America have plenty? Then why don’t we give enough so they can live as we do? So why then don’t we share enough of our money so they can own homes and cars? Do we say that if we make one hundred thousand a year here, it is equal to them making one hundred dollars a year in their society and thus we have equality? Something is wrong. We may never get this resolved. But maybe we are alright. Maybe that giving to missions every so often is fine, and fits the bill of equality. After all we should not be hard pressed so others would be relieved. Yet what remains is this word equality. 

Giving

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

GIVING

2 Cor 8:10-12

10 And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. 11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. 12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.

NIV

It looks like they only gave once a year. Once again that could not be about tithing on a weekly basis, as we are sometimes shamed into today. But this is about taking up some special collection of funds to be sent off to help others in some other assembly of believers far off. It also is clear that the giving of each person for this collection should be in accordance with what that individual is able to give. Surely there were those in Corinth who had a greater amount of wealth then others. Some might even have been what we would call poor. It is clear this is not something which is a command, nor is it a set policy, doctrine, dogma, rule or regulation which must be followed to the letter in order to be consider a good believer. This is about being willing to give. It is not about the amount of the giving. There is not set amount nor is there a set percentage of a person’s monetary situation. It is about being willing to give whatever you can. Jesus commended the widow for giving although it was so very small, it was all she had, while others of much substance gave more, it was nothing compared to what they had. Surely this applies in our giving as well. It is expressed here that we should be willing to give and to give according to what we have. That is to say that each of us can participate in the act of giving. Even if we have very little we can still give, even if it is a little. But those of us who have a lot can give a lot. The question is of course is, what or who determines what is consider a little and what is considered a lot? How do we know we have given our appropriate share? If the Spirit moves us, and we listen to his voice, we surely would know when the times comes when to give, what to give, and who to give it too. It does appear a specific collection was made for a special purpose which was determined by those giving. They also could have been led be person in the act of collection for this purpose. That would mean it might well be appropriate for our church leaders to ask us for a special offering for a special purpose. That would be within the realm of this passage. But is also could be simply a moving of the Spirit among believers to give to others who are in need. But we must see this is about giving.

A Matter of the Heart

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

A MATTER OF THE HEART

2 Cor 8:8-9

8 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

NIV

There is a couple things here which seem a little odd at first. The first is this comparing thing, and second, the part of becoming rich.  It would be worth noting that Paul is not commanding them to give, but appealing to their hearts and conscience. It might appear he is trying to use the giving of others to create an atmosphere of competition. But we surely know God would not in any way use those kinds of tactics in order to have us give more than someone else has. First off, he does not want our right hand knowing what the left hand is doing; our giving should be in secret, not as a competition to see who can give the most. But it does appear he is spurring them on to give as not to be outdone by others. The point which could be at the center of this would be their expressed love. The fact that we say we love others, the fact that we profess how good of a Christian we are, the fact that we declare how spiritual we are should be backed up by how much we give. That could especially count if we are the kind that stores up wealth for ourselves for some later date. We will see this later in this conversation about giving according to our ability. Now as to becoming rich we should always be aware that Jesus was there in the creation, and that everything that was made was made through him. He is the almighty Lord and owner of everything, the wealthiest Lord of all. He is all powerful and has all authority over everything. Yet he humbled himself, he became poor, he became a servant even onto death, a terrible death on the cross, so that we could inherit all the riches of his glory. Through his poverty, his servitude we can have eternal life, the greatest riches of all times. We have the blessing of God in our lives. Is all this material stuff, all our worldly wealth able to compare with that? Now we also we see a little later that we are not being spurred to give others so much that we make ourselves poor in doing so, there is this work equality used. But once again we should be aware that the point here is we have so much ahead of us because of our faith in Christ that we should not cling so strongly to what we have here and share with those who are in need. There is no command to give and the preachers of today should never use that kind of language, but it is a matter of the heart. Each one of us should consider this.  

Excel

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

EXCEL

2 Cor 8:1-7

8:1 And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.   5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will. 6 So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7 But just as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us-see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

NIV

This is just the beginning of a complete teaching about giving. This is not about tithing, but about giving. This is not about supporting a paid staff of people, paying the bills of the physical building we call church, but about giving to others who are in need. Sure, we think that in our tithing we are giving to the needs of others because our church budget includes a percentage of funds designated for different missions, which is supported to be administered by those we choose to do so.  But we have to be honest and admit the highest percentage is spent within our own church, and that does not constitute the giving that is spoken of here. In fact there is nothing under the new covenant which speaks of tithing, but plenty which talks about giving. If we think we excel in our faith. If we think we excel in our speech and knowledge of the scriptures and of Jesus. If we think we are completely earnest in our love for each other. Should we not also excel in our giving to the needs of others? Within the context of this passage, Paul might be talking about the giving of money although it is not actually expressed so. Later we will see the term equality, a shared life, no extreme wealth while others are in extreme poverty, thus we believe it is implied that money is the form of giving. Yet we surely can give in many other ways, as with our time and energy. Yet this surely is all about the giving of material goods, either in items or in a monetary contribution. This type of giving might well be the kind that should be done in secret, applying the “Not letting your right hand know what your left hand is doing” principle. That applies to both the one receiving the gift as well as all those other believers in church. If we talk about our giving to anyone we surely might have already received our reward. Yes we should give and not be tight fisted about it, but surely we should not stand on the rooftops and boast of our giving. When we hear preachers, list off all the things the church supports that might fit into the boasting category, especially if there are non-believers, or non-members presence. Yet the main point here is to excel in our giving. 

Confidence

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

CONFIDENCE

2 Cor 7:13-16

In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. 14 I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well. 15 And his affection for you is all the greater when he remembers that you were all obedient, receiving him with fear and trembling. 16 I am glad I can have complete confidence in you.

NIV

It is a good thing to invite someone to join a group of believers knowing full well that group will behave in such a manner the visitor will come away completely delighted by their visit. That is probably why we invite so many visitors to come to church with us. We have so much confidence that all the others at church will make them feel so welcome, so delighted to be there. That is also why we boast so much to all the people we know about our particular church, knowing full well they will receive anyone we send there to visit and not embarrass us by standing around in their little clichés ignoring everyone else, especially a new face. We also can be sure that whenever we ask someone to visit our church they will come away completed refreshed because all of us, that is everybody, joined in the refreshing. Unfortunately all that may not be so true about us as it appears it was about those in Corinth. Why is that? Could it be due to a totally different culture? Could it be because of the time we live in compare to then. Could it be because of the way we conduct church? Could it be because we all sit facing the same direction and only see the backs of people’s heads? Could it be because we really don’t want to know knew people because we just want to stay in our little clichés? Could it be because we are scared to meet new people or just don’t care about them enough to introduce ourselves and find out about who they are? Maybe that is why we don’t invite our neighbors, or co-workers to visit our church. We know they will be ignored, or we might be embarrassed of how they will be treated or worse yet, we might be embarrassed of the gospel. It would be a great thing to have complete confidence in our fellow believers, in our church, in our small group or in our cliché as to how they would receive a visitor we sent, or invited. The question is, do we have that confidence?