shared encouragement

Posted on September 22, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

20160216-22

devotional post # 2147

2 Corinthians 1:6-8

2 Cor 1:6 But if we are suffering, it is for your encouragement and deliverance, or if we are encouraged, it is for your encouragement, which produces in you the patient enduring of the same misfortunes that we also experience.
2 Cor 1:7 And our expectation for you holds firm, knowing that, as you are sharers of the misfortunes, so also you are of the encouragement.
2 Cor 1:8 Because we do not want you to miss the fact, brothers, about the suffering that came to us in the province of Asia, the fact that we were weighed down extremely, beyond our power to endure, so that we thought we would even lose our lives.

shared encouragement

Paul and his missionary team experienced some terrible things. But Paul recognized that every one of those bad experiences led them closer to God, so that they could be encouraged by his presence. The Achaian believers were also in God’s plan, because they would be encouraged by the perseverance of Paul’s team, and would learn to persevere themselves. If we– as servants of God — endure no troubles, we cannot pass on the encouragement.

LORD, show us how to turn our troubles into testimony of your faithfulness.

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encouragement overflow

Posted on September 21, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

20160216-21

devotional post # 2146

2 Corinthians 1:3-5

2 Cor 1:3 Praised be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of acts of compassion and God of every encouragement,
2 Cor 1:4 who encourages us in everything that we suffer, so that we are able to encourage those who are suffering anything, with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God.
2 Cor 1:5 Because just as the misfortunes of Christ overflow in abundance to us, even so through Christ our encouragement also overflows in abundance.

encouragement overflow

Paul and his team have suffered a great deal because of their relationship with Christ. God stayed close to them, and encouraged them through all that suffering. That is why the team can now serve to encourage others as they face hard times. The encouragement they received from God can now be used to hold others up who are facing hard times.

LORD, we praise you in the hard times, because you help us through them, and strengthen us so that we can pass on the encouragement to others.

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consecrated context

Posted on September 20, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

20160216-20

devotional post # 2145

2 Corinthians 1:1-2

2 Cor 1:1 Paul, a missionary sent by Christ Jesus because that is what God wants, and Timothy our brother, to the assembly of God that is at Corinth, consisting of all the consecrated ones who are in the whole province of Achaia:
2 Cor 1:2 May grace and peace come to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

consecrated context

It is not wise to read too much into the salutation of an epistle. But this one helps us understand the context in which Paul writes words. The whole group of people who call themselves Christians in the province of Achaia have been consecrated by God to do what he wants. But many of them are missing the mark, particularly because they have been following the wrong advice, and have turned against the wishes of their founding missionary: Paul. So, Paul writes correct the misunderstandings which are creating problems in relationships among the believers.

LORD, correct our misunderstandings. We choose to be consecrated to you. Do not allow us to misrepresent you.

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frustrated or fruitful?

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

20160216-19

devotional post # 2144

Hosea 14:8-9

Hos 14:8 O Ephraim, why am I still having to deal with the idols? I am the who answers and looks after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; your fruitfulness comes from me.
Hos 14:9 Let whoever is wise understand these things; let whoever is discerning know them; because the roads of Yahveh are right, and the upright walk on them, but transgressors stumble on them.

frustrated or fruitful?

Hosea’s parting words are a final appeal for the Israelites to recognize that idolatry will only lead to fruitlessness and lack of direction. The LORD is the evergreen cypress who promises a fruitful life. The LORD has the right roads that they can walk on without stumbling. Everyone makes choices in life, and the LORD wants us all to know that he is the right choice.

LORD, here we are again, looking for you to guide us. We want to live fruitful, purposeful lives. Thank you for showing us the way.

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the heart for healing

Posted on September 18, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

20160216-18

devotional post # 2143

Hosea 14:4-7

Hos 14:4 I will heal their defection; I will love them freely, because my anger has turned from them.
Hos 14:5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily; he will take root like the trees of Lebanon;
Hos 14:6 his shoots will spread out; his beauty will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon.
Hos 14:7 They will turn and dwell beneath my shadow; they will flourish like the grain; they will blossom like the vine; their fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.

the heart for healing

God’s heart was for the healing and restoration of his people. That was what he wanted. He wanted them to turn, and he promised to restore them. He still has the same heart. Hew waits for those who have left him to return, no matter what generation it is.

LORD, show us how to turn to you utterly.

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take words with you

Posted on September 17, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

20160216-17

devotional post # 2142

Hos 14:1 Turn back, Israel, to Yahveh your God, since you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
Hos 14:2 Take words with you and turn back to Yahveh; say to him, “Take away every violation; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls what we have vowed with our lips.
Hos 14:3 Assyria will not rescue us; we will not ride on horses; and we will no longer say, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.”

take words with you

Hosea tells Israel that renewal and restoration begins with a simple act of repentance. If the people only take words with them, asking God to forgive them, and vowing to return to the covenant, God will honor that. But they have to stop riding the fence. They have to give up the hypocrisy of thinking they are okay, and they have to give up the foolishness of trusting in a foreign power to protect them.

LORD, we have nothing to bring you but words. We trust in your grace, because we have nowhere else to go.

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no reason for rescue

Posted on September 16, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

20160216-16

devotional post # 2141

Hosea 13:14-16

Hos 13:14 Should I rescue them from the power of Sheol? Should I redeem them from Death? O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? My eyes see no reason for compassion.
Hos 13:15 Though he may thrive among his brothers now, the east wind, the wind of Yahveh, will come, rising from the desert, and his fountain will dry up; his spring will be parched; it will strip his treasury of every precious object.
Hos 13:16 Samaria will bear the punishment she deserves, because she has rebelled against her God; they will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.

no reason for rescue

The LORD knows that the Israelites are in danger of death and Sheol. It is the punishment they deserve. So, he refuses to acknowledge them because they had refused to ackowledge them. He knows their future, but will not rescue them because they will not ask him.

LORD, give eyes to see the need for your rescue. Save us from our own complacency.

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right time, wrong question

Posted on September 15, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

20160216-15

devotional post # 2140

Hosea 13:10-13

Hos 13:10 Where is your king now, can he rescue you in all your cities? Where are all your leaders– those about whom you asked, “Give me a king and princes”?
Hos 13:11 I granted you a king in my anger, then I took him away in my wrath.
Hos 13:12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is kept in store.
Hos 13:13 The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an unwise son, because at the right time he does not present himself at the opening of the womb.

right time, wrong question

The LORD appeals to the Israelites through Hosea, telling them that their sins have been bound up inside them, like an infant, waiting to be born. But, when the time is right for them to repent and be born again as a people of God, they insist on asking God for another king. They want a human solution. They want a conqueror who can defeat their human enemies, not a God who confronts them with their sins. Hosea describes them as an infant that refuses to present himself at the opening of the womb.

LORD, change us; make us new, so that we can change the world for you.

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lion food

Posted on September 14, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

 

20160216-14devotional post # 2139

Hosea 13:7-9

Hos 13:7 This is why I act like a lion to them; like a leopard I will lurk beside the road.
Hos 13:8 I will ponce upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs; I will tear open their breast, and there I will devour them like a lion, ripping them open like a wild beast would.
Hos 13:9 He destroys you, O Israel, because you are against me, against your helper.

lion food

God is sending his people to the lions. But the lion is also God. God wants to be the helper of his people, but he does not have to sit idly by and watch his people betray him and rebel against his wishes. He is still a lion and a bear, and he can destroy those who are against him, no matter what they have professed in the past, or who their parents were.

LORD, be our helper. We seek you, and want your will to be done.

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forgetting what you know

Posted on September 13, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

20160216-13

devotional post # 2138

Hosea 13:4-6

Hos 13:4 But I am Yahveh your God from the land of Egypt; you are to admit knowing no God but me, and besides me there is no savior.
Hos 13:5 It was I who admitted knowing you in the desert, in the land of drought;
Hos 13:6 but when they had eaten in the pasture, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; for this reason they forgot me.

forgetting what you know

The Israelites had admitted knowing God because he saved them from bondage in Egypt, and starvation in the desert. But when they got settled in the promised land, their full bellies caused them to forget what they knew — and who knew them.

LORD, may we always remember who saved us, and who chose to love us.

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