how to stay enthusiastic

Posted on October 13, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

Oct 2017 (13)

devotional post # 2168

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

2Co 4:16 So we do not lose our enthusiasm. Though our outer man is being destroyed, our inner one is being renewed day by day.
2Co 4:17 Because this insignificant momentary suffering is preparing for us an extraordinary permanent weight of brightness,
2Co 4:18 as we look not to the things that we can now see but to the things that we cannot now see. Because the things that we can see are temporary, but the things that we cannot see are permanent.

how to stay enthusiastic

Paul’s method of maintaining his enthusiasm for ministry amid a life of hardships and disappointments is his perspective. He sees the end of the game. He sees the permanent extraordinary weight of brightness of Christ’s image, perfectly formed in him and in the others he reaches for Christ. Compared to that, these things he suffers along the way are insignificant and temporary. Destruction of the outer man is hard, but for the resurrection and perfection of the inner one, it is worth it.

LORD, give us Paul’s perspective on suffering, so we do not lose our enthusiasm for life and ministry.

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motivation for mission

Posted on October 12, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

Oct 2017 (12)

devotional post # 2167

2 Corinthians 4:13-15

2Co 4:13 Since we have the same spirit trusting in agreement with what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak,
2Co 4:14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.
2Co 4:15 Because it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may multiply thanksgiving, bringing more honor to God.

motivation for mission

Paul and his team were able to undergo great suffering for their mission because they trusted that the scriptures are true. They spoke out declaring the gospel because they believed it. They trusted that the same God who raised Jesus from the dead would also raise them up. They also knew that the more the gospel of God’s grace was proclaimed, the more honor it brought to God.

LORD, give us the wisdom to look beyond the present, and so to have faith to focus on our mission for the present.

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dying, that they may live

Posted on October 11, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

Oct 2017 (11)

devotional post # 2166

2 Corinthians 4:10-12

2Co 4:10 always carrying around within the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be revealed within our body.
2Co 4:11 Because we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be revealed within our mortal flesh.
2Co 4: 12 So death is working within us, but it means life in you.

dying, that they may live

Paul has developed an interesting perspective on his team’s tough times. He sees the troubles and difficulties they have faced as a display of the death of Jesus. It is as if they wake each day destined for the chopping block. But they also demonstrate the life that Jesus offers, so people wanting eternal life in Jesus are not turned off by the suffering these evangelists experience. The team suffers, so that others might live.

LORD, make our suffering count. Lead others to you by the hope we display in spite of our tough times.

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riches within rags

Posted on October 10, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

Oct 2017 (10)

devotional post # 2165

2 Corinthians 4:7-9

2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen containers, so that the excess of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;
2Co 4:8 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;
2Co 4:9 persecuted, but not deserted; struck down, but not destroyed;

riches within rags

Some of the Corinthians assumed that Paul was under some kind of curse, because bad things kept happening to him and his team. But Paul said that the tough times he was facing was proving what he said about the gospel. It is God’s grace, not our performance that matters. The tough times we face while trying to live out the truth of the gospel show that God is doing something in us that cannot be explained by mere good fortune. He has given us a treasure to carry around in beat-up earthen containers.

LORD, show us how to display your riches within our rags.

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a flash on a face

Posted on October 9, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

Oct 2017 (9)

devotional post # 2164

2 Corinthians 4:5-6

2Co 4:5 Because we are not proclaiming the brightness of ourselves, but the brightness of Lord Jesus Christ, but we ourselves have become your slaves because ofJesus.
2Co 4:6 Because God was the one saying, “Out of darkness a light flashed,” This light flashed in our hearts revealing by illumination the knowledge of the brightness of God in the face of Christ.

a flash on a face

Paul spoke of that brief glance he had of the brightness of God’s face shown on Christ’s face. For Paul, the light was blinding, but he recovered. But he never forgot the glory of God he saw in his vision of Christ on the Damascus road. From then on, his goal and objective in life was to serve cHrist and to serve others for the sake of Christ.

LORD, flash your face before us, and give us the ministryt of revealing you to others.

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openly stating the truth

Posted on October 8, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

Oct 2017 (8)

devotional post # 2163

2 Corinthians 4:1-4

2Co 4:1 For this reason, since we are serving by the mercy of God, we do not give up.
2Co 4:2 But we have renounced shameful, corrupt ways. We refuse to trick people or to tamper with God’s word, but by openly stating the truth we reccommend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.
2Co 4:3 And even if our gospel is covered by a veil, it is veiled only to those who are perishing.
2Co 4:4 In their case the god of this world has blinded those unbelievers’ minds, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the brightness of Christ, who displays the image of God.

openly stating the truth

Paul’s missionary strategy was openly stating the truth. He suffered a great deal during his ministry, but he refused to hide that fact. His opponents in Corinth used his troubles against him, claiming that he could not be blessed by God, since he was always in trouble. But Paul believed that the gospel about Christ is what matters, not the prosperity or peace of its messengers.

LORD, show us how to proclaim your truth openly, in spite of our current circumstances.

 

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turn, see, be transformed

Posted on October 7, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

Oct 2017 (6)

devotional post # 2162

2 Corinthians 3;15-18

2Co 3:15 But, even today, a veil rests over their hearts whenever Moses is read.
2Co 3:16 But when someone turns to the Lord, that veil is removed.
2Co 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, freedom is.
2Co 3:18 And we all, who have had that veil removed, noticing the brightness of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one shade of brightness to another. Because this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

turn, see, be transformed

Paul is describing people who read the scriptures. There are two types. Those who read with a veil over their faces, who are not changed, stay in bondage. But those who turn to the Lord lose the veil. The result is freedom from the bondage, a vision of the brightness of the Spirit of God, and transformation into the same image — from one shade (not of gray, but of brightness) to another.

LORD, we see a beautiful image of a free, glorious being. Change us into what we see in Christ.

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an unveiling service

Posted on October 6, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

Oct 2017 (6)

devotional post # 2161

2 Corinthians 3:12-14

2Co 3:12 Since we confidently expect this, we serve very openly,
2Co 3:13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites would not gaze at the product of a service that was being destroyed.
2Co 3:14 But their minds were hardened. Because to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil is still unlifted, because is it destroyed only by Christ.

an unveiling service

When Moses served the LORD by mediating the old covenant, one of the products of his service was that his face glowed with a brilliant shine. He veiled his head to prevent others from seeing that effect. Paul told the Corinthians that he had no intentions of veiling the gospel. In fact, he and his team serve the new covenant very openly. They know that Christ can remove the veil from people’s hearts, and anyone can freely shine brightly with God’s love and power.

LORD, give us the courage to openly confront the ignorance that keeps people from your gospel, and the freedom they can have in you.

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lasting shine

Posted on October 5, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

Oct 2017 (5)

devotional post # 2160

2 Corinthians 3:9-11

2 Cor 3:9 Because since the service that brought condemnation had a brightness to it, the service that produces a right standing with God overflows with brightness.
2 Cor 3:10. Since the former bright service has at this time no brightness because of the brightness that currently surpasses it.
2 Cor 3:11. Because if that which was destroyed by the veil still had its own brightness, that which continues on is much more bright.

lasting shine

There was a brightness, a glory, a shine to the Old Covenant, because God acted to intervene in the affairs of a people and that shone through in spite of the veil which covered Moses’ face. But this new covenant founded on the content of the gospel has a lasting shine that can never be covered up. It does not temporarily excuse the sins of the sacrificer. It nails the sins of the repentant to the cross permanently.

LORD, thank you for your lasting brightness, which we can have in Christ.

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the brightness of his imprint

Posted on October 4, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

Oct 2017 (4)

devotional post # 2159

2 Corinthians 3:7-8

2 Cor 3:7 Now given the fact that the service of death came with brightness, with its writings engraved on stone, with the result that the sons of Israel were not able to stare intently into the face of Moses, because of the brightness of his face, which is now destroyed.
2 Cor 3:8 How much more bright will the ministry of the Spirit be?

the brightness of his imprint

The ministry of Moses produced written tablets of stone, and the miracles associated with it led the people to respect the commands of God. Now there is a new ministry, the preaching of the gospel around the world. The same Holy Spirit who empowered the first ministry will empower this one. But Paul calls the ministry of the new covenant the ministry of the Holy Spirit, because now the Holy Spirit directly imprints himself on human hearts. We should expect that ministry to be ever more so glorious and bright.

LORD, imprint yourself on our hearts.

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