2 Corinthians 9:1 – 10:6

July 9, 2011

Yesterday I noted that our giving to God begins in our heart as we remember God’s gift to us in Christ Jesus. It is also vitally important for us to look to the future and have a vision of how God can use the gift. As an example, some years ago I listed in the church bulletin a need for scholarships to send our youth to summer camp. One of the pledges was for a ½ scholarship made by a single woman who I knew earned barely enough to get by. I asked her what motivated her to make the pledge and she responded, “The most important decision in my life was made when I was sixteen and attending church camp. I hope my gift will help someone encounter God like I did.”

She willingly and lovingly made a sacrificial gift because she had a vision of what God could do with her gift.

What does today’s reading reveal to you about God?
What does it reveal to you about yourself?
Think about what God wants you to do or remember about this passage.

Does God want you to change anything in your life?

2 Corinthians 8

July 8, 2011

The preacher was new to the town and began visiting his new flock. He stopped by the office of a businessman, who trying to impress the new preacher said, “Reverend, every week I have my secretary mail a check to the church.”

A missionary was witnessing to the chief of a primitive tribe. The chief wanted to impress the missionary and offered her horses, blankets and jewelry. The missionary replied, “My God does not want the chief’s horses, blankets and jewelry. My God wants the chief himself.” The chief smiled and said, “You have a very wise God, for when I give Him myself He also gets horses, blankets, and jewelry.”

When we receive our Sunday offering the slide on the power point screen reads: Extravagant Generosity: A Matter of the Heart. This is the message of Paul in chapter eight. All of our gifts and offerings to God should begin in our heart as we remember “the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.” (8:9)

When we remember this we will do well in our offerings.

What does today’s reading reveal to you about God?
What does it reveal to you about yourself?
Think about what God wants you to do or remember about this passage.

Does God want you to change anything in your life?

2 Corinthians 6:11 – 7:16

July 7, 2011

The Apostle Paul quotes from several Old Testament texts to paint a picture for the church. Think about the parable of the Prodigal Son and how the father welcomes his son home. Paul has that vision in mind when he draws on the Old Testament texts that deal with God bringing His people out of exile. The exile Paul sees was the exile that separated us from God: sin and death. God, in Christ, redeemed us from sin and death so that the Father could welcome us home.

With that vision in mind Paul is challenging the church to consider whether it is good to have God’s people bound in relationships with people committed to pagan idolatry. This is not at all about forming a secret society that is cut off from the world. Paul is very clear that we are called to be in the world; but not of the world. We are in the world so we can witness for Christ. But, while we are in the world we hold firm to our Christian standards. That can be difficult in the best of circumstances. But, it is nearly impossible when we enter into partnerships with unbelievers. In those cases we are doing the very thing we ask God to help us not do: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

What does today’s reading reveal to you about God?
What does it reveal to you about yourself?
Think about what God wants you to do or remember about this passage.

Does God want you to change anything in your life?

2 Corinthians 5:12-6:10

Regardless of how a person begins their relationship with God, the goal of the relationship is the same for all Christians: To become like Christ. I believe one of the most essential qualities of the life in Christ is having a good sense of awareness. Our sense of awareness reminds us of both the goal – to become like Christ and an honest appraisal of where we are in our journey – what yet remains to be transformed in our life to become like Christ?

I believe one of the most essential qualities of a good sense of awareness is perspective. Are you looking at yourself, others and the world through the eyes of Jesus? Or, is your perspective on life more like the ways of our world?

The reading for today offers many opportunities to examine your perspective:

Are you controlled by Christ’s love or some other love?

Is your Christian life something that you place alongside the rest of your life? Or have you died to your old life and no longer live for yourself? Do you now live for Christ?

Are you trying to fit the life in Christ over your regular life? Or do you see yourself as a new person? Is your old life gone and has a new life begun?

Is your new life in Christ something you have earned, or deserve? Or is it a gift from God?

Whose responsibility is it to share the Good News about Jesus -- the ‘church’ or the ‘pastor’? Or, are you an ambassador for Christ?

When is the time to put your heart and energy into fulfilling God’s will for your life? When you retire, or when you know more or when you feel like it? Or, is the right time now? Is today the day of salvation?

Do you live the way you want to live? Or, do you live in a way that no one will stumble and no one will find fault in the way you serve Christ?

Are you relying on your wisdom, your abilities, and your power to live the Christ life? Or, are you relying on God’s power working in you?

Are you still measuring your worth and value by what you own and possess? Or, have you allowed God to bring you to the wonderful place where you own nothing, yet have everything?

Becoming like Christ requires awareness – being aware of both where you are going and where you are. Awareness requires perspective. Are you seeing yourself through the eyes of Jesus or through the ways of the world?

What does today’s reading reveal to you about God?
What does it reveal to you about yourself?
Think about what God wants you to do or remember about this passage.

Does God want you to change anything in your life?