Skip to main content

Wednesday... Let's encourage each other.


2 Corinthians 13:11 (NLT), "I close this letter with these words: Be joyful, Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you."

Wednesday... Let's encourage each other.

Paul had some problems with one of the churches he had planted so he sent them two letters to deal with the problem. It is so difficult to correct someone you love but you know you have to and Paul was having a problem doing it.


Now Jeremiah, a prophet in the Old Testament wrote down what God told him to say to His people who were totally disobedient to God. It was very tough stuff. God eventually had a nation attack them and destroy their city and then take those who had not been killed but left a few and they too did not follow God's commands. They left were God told them to stay.

Now this shows what kind of God we serve. In Jeremiah 46:28 it says, "'Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant, for I am with you,' says the LORD. 'I will completely destroy the nations to which I have exiled you, but I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you, but with justice; I cannot let you go unpunished." Yes if we do not follow God's commands there will be consequences. But he will still be with us up to a point.

And this was what Paul was doing here in this church in Corinth. Now in 2 Corinthians 13:11 Paul writes, "I close this letter with these words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you." There were some changes that needed to be done and they are changes that we need to be sure of and do in our homes, in our churches, in our communities. And we need to be serious about them and what God will do for us.

We too many times want the God of love and peace to be with us no matter what we do. But He has given us here some of His expectations of us and God is serious. Now the Old Testament didn't have the benefit of Jesus and the Holy Spirit living in them. But we do have them if we have asked them into our life.

Now it is amazing that the God we serve wants to give us his love and peace but He is serious about His expectations of us. Yes, let's take this serious. "I close this letter with these words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you." Yes we want and need Him to be with us so let's be serious at what He asks us to do. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday... Maybe we need this word today.

Psalm 57:1b (NIRV), "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Thursday... Maybe we need this word today. There are words in life that give us confidence no matter what we are facing. Now we have to believe them in order for them to have an impact. David wrote Psalm 57 while he was in a cave hiding from Saul who wanted to kill him and he says in the last part of verse 1, "There I will stay." It was a safe place and Saul didn't know that he was there. But he doesn't stop there. With confidence he said, "There I will stay until." And until is definitely a word of faith and confidence. "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Do we need that today? Let me give you the whole verse. In verse 1 David says, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." And that is a great place to start in times of trouble. Maybe that is what we need to pray today, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." It is so great to have someone...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tuesday... We just have trouble listening.

1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." Tuesday... We just have trouble listening. Over in Jeremiah 25:4 (NLT) it says, "Again and again the LORD has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention." And Jeremiah went on to tell what was going to happen. There will be consequences if we do not listen to what God says through his Word. Now the Apostle Paul over in 1 Corinthians was having a problem with some professed Christ followers who were having trouble at listening. And we too can have problems at listening. We can think that being a Christ follower means we do a lot of finger pointing and we give up on people who don't do what we say. We can even do that in our families. But Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." In verse ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Friday... It is so exciting but wait a minute.

Proverbs 19:2 (NLT), "Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes." Friday... It is so exciting but wait a minute. This time of the year is so exciting. We get our paycheck from work and then we head to the store or Amazon and buy and buy and buy all those presents and then our check is gone Proverbs 19:2 (NLT) says, "Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes." But buying gifts can be so much fun and seeing how happy they are when opening those presents makes us feel so good. But then verse 3 says, "People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then they are angry at the Lord." Now for some that is their life. They get money and they spend it on their wants with no thought of what needs to be paid. An important lesson that we have learned is just because you have money in the bank doesn't mean you must spend it. But our enthusiasm takes over. But the problem is when it is gone and there is no money to pay th...
Post a Comment
Read more