WISHING THE BEST FOR OTHERS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

We pray to God that you will not do what is wrong by refusing our correction. I hope we won’t need to demonstrate our authority when we arrive. Do the right thing before we come—even if that makes it look like we have failed to demonstrate our authority. For we cannot oppose the truth, but must always stand for the truth. We are glad to seem weak if it helps show that you are actually strong. We pray that you will become mature.

I am writing this to you before I come, hoping that I won’t need to deal severely with you when I do come. For I want to use the authority the Lord has given me to strengthen you, not to tear you down.

2 Corinthians 13:7-10 (NLT)

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Is it just me or does it seem like people have become more and more self centered?

I’m afraid that a fast spreading epidemic of egotism has washed over society as a whole, especially in the United States, with people only caring about their own selves without giving a thought about others. The “as long as I’m okay, it’s okay” attitude can be found in any place and within people of all ages and there is widespread apathy toward wanting to do anything for the good of someone else.

The problem with all this is that our population at large has developed into becoming what I like to refer to as “consumers of people”. They only see value in another person through the lens of what they can get from them.

The Apostle Paul couldn’t be more of an anti-consumer of people. Like Jesus, he regularly placed himself second for the good of others. He even willingly placed himself in harm’s way on a consistent basis for the good of those he wanted to help save, ready to die if it was necessary for the cause of the Gospel.

Paul also always wished the best for others, especially Christian believers within the churches he helped plant and establish. The Corinthian church was one such church and as we look again at the words of the apostle, we see how the apostle sought to encourage the believers there.

We pray to God that you will not do what is wrong by refusing our correction. I hope we won’t need to demonstrate our authority when we arrive. Do the right thing before we come—even if that makes it look like we have failed to demonstrate our authority. For we cannot oppose the truth, but must always stand for the truth. We are glad to seem weak if it helps show that you are actually strong. We pray that you will become mature.

I am writing this to you before I come, hoping that I won’t need to deal severely with you when I do come. For I want to use the authority the Lord has given me to strengthen you, not to tear you down. 2 Corinthians 13:7-10 (NLT)

First, note that Paul prayed for his brother and sister Christians in Corinth. Specifically, he hopes that the believers will live in righteousness by putting everything into practice that Paul and his fellow missionaries had advised. In other words, the apostle hoped that the previous sins that were committed in the church had been set aside. As a matter of accountability, Paul reminded the church that he would be visiting for a third time and didn’t desire to have to impress his spiritual authority on the Corinthian Christians.

Through his words, we see how Paul wished the best for the church in Corinth. He wanted them to do the right thing and stand for the truth found in the Word of God. Paul knew that if the believers would commit themselves to the scriptures and accept the leading of the Holy Spirit, they would be seen as spiritually strong and mature. Ultimately, Paul desired to use the authority the Lord had given him to strengthen the church, not tear it down. He longed to encourage far more than he wanted to criticize.

Friends, this is a lesson we all need to learn, a lesson that will help us avoid the pitfalls of self centeredness. Life wasn’t meant to be all about ourselves. Rather, the Lord calls us to wish the best for others, edifying and caring for one another. For when we do this, then we will model the very selfless life of Jesus, just as a Christian ought to do.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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PASSING THE TEST

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test.

2 Corinthians 13:5-6

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

If you stood in front of a mirror that allowed you see how well you were living as a Christian, what do you think you would see?

Maybe many people wouldn’t want to do it because they fear what would be revealed.

As we continue our study of this last chapter of 2 Corinthians, we find the Apostle Paul challenging the Christian members of the church in Corinth to test themselves for the purpose of seeing whether or not they were really “in the faith”.

What did it mean to be “in the faith”?

Simply put, it was all about the evidence that Jesus was abiding within a person. In other words, a person had Christ inside them and it was clearly apparent to themselves and others. Those who could testify this would have passed the test.

What do we learn from this?

We learn that it’s not enough for a person to say they are a Christian. They need to show it.

In other words, it takes a conscious effort from someone to be genuine and true as a Christian believer. It requires a dedication to study the scriptures, especially the Gospels so to know how Jesus lived for it’s only then that a person can shape their life to model His. One should read what He thought, said, and did, and then mimic it.

A person needs to also devote themselves to the leading of the Holy Spirit, the Counselor Jesus promised that God would send to guide believers after Jesus departed. The Spirit illuminates the word of God when we read it and provides direction every day as to how we can be more and more like our Savior.

Going back to our passage, we find Paul not only asking the Corinthian Christians to examine themselves to see if they passed the test but he also challenged the believers in Corinth to examine himself and the missionaries in his company to make sure that they were passing the test as well. The last thing Paul wanted to be accused of was being a hypocrite so he was very committed to practicing what he preached. To do otherwise would disempower his ministry and render his work for Christ fruitless.

It has been said that Christians should be very intentional in living their lives in concert with Christ because they might be the only Jesus a person ever sees. This doesn’t mean any person will be one in the same with Jesus. Rather, it means that the way a Christian lives will either allow others to get a glimpse of who Jesus is or not, and we can’t ever afford for the latter to happen.

Read about Jesus in the Gospels and then ask for the Holy Spirit to lead you in the ways of Christ, being fully obedient to that lead so that your life will imitate the life of Jesus.

This is how you can ensure that you are in the faith and able to pass the test.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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FROM WEAKNESS COMES POWER

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I already gave you a warning when I was with you the second time. I now repeat it while absent: On my return I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any of the others, since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. For to be sure, He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in Him, yet by God’s power we will live with Him in our dealing with you.

2 Corinthians 13:2-4

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Power from weakness.

It’s really a counterintuitive statement, right?

The world wouldn’t see any value in weakness and would in fact encourage someone to avoid it, lest be exploited and taken advantage of. For the strong are seen as dominant over those who are weak. Confidence and unwavering self assurance are far better character traits than humility and self surrender.

And yet, when we look to the story of Jesus, the Son of the God Most High and Savior of the world, and His death, we see how weakness can result in power.

You remember how things went, don’t you?

The powerful Sanhedrin, the Jewish religious authority of the day, fabricated charges against Jesus and then hauled Him into court. There, He was falsely accused and charged with blasphemy, all because He told the truth.

After that, the Jewish religious leaders marched Jesus to the Romans and convinced Pilate to crucify Him. At first, Pilate had Jesus brutally beaten and Jesus didn’t offer resistance. He took the punishment because it was part of the penalty due sinful man, a penalty He was willing to bear.

This would be bad enough but then the worst of sufferings came on Jesus as He was forced to carry His own cross to Calvary before being nailed to it and hoisted up to hang and die among the mockers who gathered to ridicule Him. Again, Jesus could have called on legions of angels to come down and destroy His attackers before rescuing Him but He didn’t. It was His Father’s will that He see things through until He drew His final breath.

Now, I’m sure the Sanhedrin believed they had taken care of eliminating their number one rival and may have even been surprised that they got their way so easily. I’m sure they saw Jesus as weak with His absence only enhancing their power among the Israelite people.

But then came the third day, the day when weakness and submission gave way to power and dominion.

For the tomb was empty that Sunday morning following Jesus’ execution. He was not there for He had been raised in power and it wouldn’t be long before He would ascend into the heavens where He would sit at His Father’s right hand in authority over all creation.

In looking at Jesus, we see a perfect example of how the Lord can make power emerge out of weakness.

Fast forward less than fifty years after Jesus was raised to power and we find the Apostle Paul addressing the church in Corinth and as you may guess by the theme of this message, he talked about power arising from a place of weakness. Look again at his words here:

I already gave you a warning when I was with you the second time. I now repeat it while absent: On my return I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any of the others, since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. For to be sure, He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in Him, yet by God’s power we will live with Him in our dealing with you.  2 Corinthians 13:2-4

Here, Paul reminds the Corinthians about the Christ that they were supposed to be serving, the Christ they didn't believe was working within the apostle. He assures the Corinthian believers that he and his fellow missionaries were weak on their own merit but ministered by way of the full power of Jesus as they lived in and of Him.

In other words, Paul and his ministry comrades dealt with the church in Corinth, or any other Christian church for that matter, by the very power of the God who raised Jesus from the grave and into authority.

In both these examples, we see how God can take someone out of weakness and into His power, and He is still doing it today. Consider these words from Paul as he wrote to the Romans:

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. (8:11a NLT)

We are all are weak, unable to get through the things of life without help. None of us can make it on our own and certainly no one is able to deliver themselves from the eternal consequences of sin.

This is what makes the verse from Romans 8 so critically important to us, because we have the very power of God dwelling living in us despite our state of weakness.

Without Him, we can do nothing but with Him, nothing is beyond the realm of possibility, to include being resurrected to eternal life, the eternal life God promised through His Son Jesus.

Praise be to God for abiding with us so that His power might ever emerge from the depths of our human weakness.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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CHECKING CREDIBILITY

Can I pray for you in any way?

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In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

This will be my third visit to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”

2 Corinthians 13:1

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

How many times has a person waged an accusation against someone else and that accusation was a lie?

Don’t even ask me to count how many times it has happened in my lifetime. And we can add the times people falsely alleged things against me behind my back that I was never aware of.

This matter of a person lobbing mistruths has been going on for the ages. We just went through another election and an onslaught of ads on television where one candidate tried to outdo the other in what ends up being nothing less than competing smear campaigns.

As we read the scriptures, we are reminded that this isn’t just a 21^st century phenomenon. For if we go all the way back to the Mosaic Law, the Law given by God to dictate proper behavior of His people, we find guidance on how matters of accusation were handled. Consider these words from the nineteenth chapter of Deuteronomy, the 15^th verse:

One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. Deut 19:15

Here, God’s word is clear. If a charge is levied against an individual for a crime or offense, it isn’t legitimate if it would come from just one person. Rather, the crime or offense had to be validated “by the testimony of two or three witnesses”, witnesses not only testifying before those hearing the charges but before God as well, the Supreme Judge, the One who sees through any attempts to sin.

In other words, the accusers would be held accountable by God for their accounts of whatever matter they were talking about.

Fast forward to the ministry of Jesus and you will find Him giving the following directions in regard to handling faults identified in Christian believers:

“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’” Matthew 18:15-16

Note here that Jesus encouraged things to get worked out at the lowest level possible. In this case, person-to-person first.

There was no need to drag anyone else into the issue at hand as long as the person transgressing listens and commits to repent and change behavior back toward righteousness. But if they refused to accept the truth of their sinfulness, then two or three other witnesses to the sin were to be brought in with the hope that this might cause the erring believer to right their ways.

In invoking the two or three witnesses, Jesus was simply adhering to the Law and the principles His Father God had established.

Later, Paul would write this to Timothy, his protégé:

Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses.1 Timothy 5:19

In chapter 1, we learn that Timothy was working with the Christian church in Ephesus when Paul provided instruction on what was to be done. It was obvious that there was some strife within the church with the elders involved. Here again, we find Paul, like Jesus, upholding the commandment in Deuteronomy by requiring an accusation to only be considered valid when it is brought by two or three witnesses.

Speaking of accusations and the fledgling Christian church in first century AD, Paul had his own issues to deal with in Corinth. We know that false teachers had infiltrated the church and were trying to influence the believers against Paul and the Gospel he had brought to the people. The false apostles sought to discredit Paul in order to try and make themselves look credible and such was Paul’s concern that he was ready to visit Corinth for a third time to defend himself and expose the sinful false teachers.

Before that happened, note how Paul leads into this final chapter of his second letter to the Corinthians:

This will be my third visit to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”

Paul wanted to make it clear right away that if anyone was going to levy an accusation against another person, it would need to be done lawfully by way of the “testimony of two or three witnesses”. These ground rules would apply to everyone involved because we know that Paul had his own charges to bring to bear.

Today, many charges will be waged against other people. When this happens, we should refrain from being too quick to judge until we gather all the facts, including the testimony of more than one person, and ultimately pray to God to reveal the truth to us for we know when we do that, He will always bring it to us.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com