I wonder what Paul means by this?

I sometimes wish Paul was more plain is his writing.  He tends to be a bit "flowery" and I think that sometimes obscures his meaning.  Here is an example.

2 Corinthians 8:9(NKJV)

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

In what way did Jesus become poor?  He and His family, in an earthly sense weren't poor.  They received a lot of expensive gifts from the wise men when Jesus was born.  In addition the Bible seems to indicate that they were gainfully employed as carpenters.

Could it be that He became poor by becoming human?  If so then that may put a new twist on the whole the poor inherit the earth thing.  This will bear further study. 

"…exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation."

Here is Paul fulfilling part of my foundational verse; Romans 5:3-5.  Glory on our tribulations.  Paul uses joyful in place of glory but it is the same meaning.  As I've said before, I believe being joyful in our tribulations is simply an outward manifestation of our inner faith.   

2 Corinthians 7:4(NKJV)

Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation.

"…the ministry of reconciliation…."

 

2 Corinthians 5:18-19(NKJV)

Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 

that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

What do you think that means?  How does one become reconciled to God?  Is it by continually lowering God's standards so as to attract more people?  Or is it maintaining the standards that God set and then explaining to others why it is in their best interest to submit to doing things God's way?

If you have been reading what I write for very long you already know which side of this question I am on.  God was very consistent throughout the Old Testament that He is a jealous God.  That is He will not tolerate divided loyalties; people who think they can worship the One True God and at the same time worship other gods. 

Jesus said very clearly that He did not come to bring peace.  He came to force people to choose. 

Matthew 10:34-39(NKJV)

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 

For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 

and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’  

He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 

And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 

He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

 

So in my view the ministry of reconciliation is about bringing the truth to people and encouraging them to choose Jesus.  For those who don't want to choose let them know that "not choosing" is a choice.  It is a rejection of Jesus.  The only way to become reconciled to God is through accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. 

Have you done that yet?  If not, why not do it right now?  Just have a conversation with Jesus.  Let Him know where you are at in life and what you are looking for.  Allow Jesus into your heart and let Him guide you.  "Dear Jesus……"

"Even though the outward man is perishing…."

Man, as I age this Scripture has new meaning. 

2 Corinthians 4:16-18(NKJV)

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 

while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

It's amazing how the body begins to break down over time.  Now I'm not deathly ill or anything.  I'm just talking about the normal process of aging.  Things begin to hurt for no reason.  Some of my joints don't work as well as they used to.  I'm not as flexible as I once was.

I thought it was just me.  Gail and I were talking the other day and it is happening to her too.  We are more careful when we bend over to pick things up.  We are more careful to make sure we don't fall, etc. 

But through it all the "inward man is being renewed day by day".  It still all goes back to the foundational verse in my life.  Romans 5:3-5.  Take joy in your tribulations!!!!!  It's just not that big of a deal in the greater scheme of things.  My grandson Rico has heard me say it so many times that it comes out of his mouth automatically as well.  No matter what happens, the response is "no big deal". 

Take joy in your tribulations!!!!!  Every day thank God for the blessings in your life and thank Him for each and every opportunity He gives you for growth (tribulations).  I believe it is that spirit that gives us the continued growth if the inward man. 

God is….Near

Just a reminder about this word study.  I couple of years ago I was contemplating the Character of God.  I was at some point in the Bible where there were multiple passages that started with God is near, God is peace, etc. 

God whispered in my ear and said "Hey, I bet this would be a good place to start in discerning my character.  I found that many of the words were only used a handful of times.  There was one word however that was used more than 30 times to describe God.  The next closest word as far as usage was only used 11 or 12 times.  I took that to mean that the word used way more than any of the others must indicate the biggest or most significant character of God.  I will reveal what that word is at the end of the God is series that I am doing.

So what I started doing is taking each phrase like God is near and reading every verse in the Bible that has the word near in it.  Many of the verses using near weren't applicable.  I have copied below a handful of verses that I thought were applicable.

One of the best things about building a relationship with God is that He will draw nearer to you as you draw nearer to Him.  He will be right there with you.  I have had experiences where I have felt like God had His hand on my shoulder and was whispering in my ear.  That is how near He can be! 

Let's take a look at some of the verses.  Some I will comment on and some I won't.

Exodus 19:14-15(NKJV)

So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes. 

And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not come near your wives.”

This is an example of one that I thought wasn't applicable.  It had the word near but it really had nothing to do with God being near.

Exodus 24:2(NKJV)

And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near; nor shall the people go up with him.”

In the Old Testament there was a bit of a separation from God.  Only Moses was allowed to go meet with God in person.  Now since Christ has paid the price for us all we can all come near to God.

Deuteronomy 4:7(NKJV)

“For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him? 

Psalms 75:1(NKJV)

    We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks!      For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.

Psalms 85:9(NKJV)

    Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him,     That glory may dwell in our land.

Psalms 119:151(NKJV)

    You are near, O Lord,     And all Your commandments are truth.

Psalms 145:18(NKJV)

    The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,     To all who call upon Him in truth.

Notice this one.  God isn't near to everybody.  Only those who call on Him.  That is why it is so important to accept Christ and then spend time daily building that relationship with God. 

Isaiah 46:13(NKJV)

    I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off;     My salvation shall not linger.     And I will place salvation in Zion,      For Israel My glory.

Isaiah 50:8(NKJV)

    He is near who justifies Me;     Who will contend with Me?     Let us stand together.     Who is My adversary?     Let him come near Me.

Jeremiah 23:23(NKJV)

    “Am I a God near at hand,” says the Lord,      “And not a God afar off?

Lamentations 3:57(NKJV)

    You drew near on the day I called on You,     And said, “Do not fear!”

Malachi 3:5(NKJV)

    And I will come near you for judgment;     I will be a swift witness     Against sorcerers,     Against adulterers,     Against perjurers,     Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans,     And against those who turn away an alien—     Because they do not fear Me,”     Says the Lord of hosts.

James 4:7-10(NKJV)

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 

Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Once again notice the order.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.  We have to make the initial invitation and the ongoing effort to build that relationship.  God will not force Himself on us.  He has too much respect for our free will.

So dig into the word and start building that relationship.  You won't believe how cool and comforting it is to have God always right there covering your back!

"If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. "

In case anyone is still under the mistaken impression that God takes a "live and let live" attitude towards those who don't believe in Jesus. 

1 Corinthians 16:22(NKJV)

If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come!

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

I found this interesting.  There seems to be a cause and effect here.  Notice that we need to seek and try to draw near to God before He will draw near to us.  In other words God will not force himself on us.  He will always wait for an invitation.  We have to seek Him before He will reveal Himself to us. 

And although I don't have any Scripture to back this up right now I think that the amount of Himself that God reveals to us is in direct proportion to the amount of effort we put forth in seeking Him. 

James 4:7-10(NKJV)

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 

Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

On earth as it is in Heaven…

I have written before about what I think is the mistaken belief by many that we will all be rewarded equally in Heaven.  We are all saved by grace but our rewards in Heaven will be based on what we do for God.  Jesus said He goes to prepare a mansion for us but that doesn't mean we will all be living in the Penthouse Suite.  Some of us may find our rooms in the basement.  :)

I've then taken that belief about Heaven and transferred it to our lives here and now.  My basis for doing so is the Lord's Prayer.  You know, on earth as it is in Heaven.

Some believe that no matter what we do or do not accomplish here on earth, we should all be valued equally by society for our contributions or lack of contributions.  I believe that is incorrect.  First I believe it is incorrect because it doesn't follow the model of "on earth as it is in Heaven".  Secondly I think it is wrong because Scripture says so.  Read the following passage.

1 Corinthians 14:1-5(NKJV)

Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 

For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. 

But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. 

He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. 

I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.

So here we clearly have a situation where Scripture says one person's contributions are valued higher than another person's (and we are not talking about money here).  Now is this an isolated incident or is this the way things should be done?  Is it OK to value one person's contribution over another?

I believe it is.  Now let me be clear that I don't mean that we should be mean or look down on the person whose contributions are less valued.  Not at all.  I'm just suggesting that we should eliminate this silly belief that everyone's contributions should be valued equally.  Make sense? 

"Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews"

That is really hard to imagine for me.  Here you have the Son of God and He has to slink around and hide himself somewhat to avoid the Jews who were trying to kill Him?  There is a lesson to be learned here I think.  Read the text and I'll give you my take on the other side.

John 11:54(NKJV)

Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.

OK, here goes.  Jesus could have called down the wrath of God on these people any time He wanted and they would have all been condemned and killed.  But Jesus chose not to do that.  Jesus chose to hide Himself instead.  Why would He do that?

I think one of the lessons we can learn here is that we have to think and act tactically.  In another part of Scripture, I think Jesus says it but I am not sure, we are told to be sly as a fox.  I think that is what Jesus is demonstrating here.  While Jesus had the power to crush His opposition Jesus held back.  He didn't do it right then.  They say sometimes timing is everything and I think that is part of what was going on here.  Make sense?

Diversity

I saw an article the other day that was debating what the value of diversity is in our country.  Those on the left seem to view diversity as one of the highest values.  Those on the right disagree.  We think diversity should be secondary to focusing on the things that unite us, not the things that make us different.

I normally try not to get very political here but I ran across this Scripture today and thought it was worth commenting on.  Take a look at what Scripture has to say about the issue.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6(NKJV)

There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 

There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 

And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 

Now this is just my interpretation and I could be wrong but here is the way I see it.  In all three lines we see that diversity is mentioned in the first part of the line but then we are reminded that even though there is diversity, we are serving the same God.  So for me at least, this passages makes clear that unity is the dominant theme here, not diversity. 

Why does Paul bother me so much?

I think more than anything it is because he contradicts Jesus so much.  I have posted other examples but here is a new one that I just noticed.

1 Corinthians 11:20-22(NKJV)

Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. 

For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 

What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.

Wasn't sitting down together and breaking bread a big part of Jesus ministry?  So why is Paul so against Christians breaking bread together?  Now look at the part highlighted in green.  How does breaking bread together show "that you despise the church and shame those who have nothing"?  Is Paul suggesting that Jesus despised the church and shamed those who have nothing?  Hmm?

Or how about this. 

1 Corinthians 11:13-16(NKJV)

Judge among yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 

Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? 

But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering. 

But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.

Since Paul asked I will answer.  Question 1 highlighted in yellow.  Yes Paul it is proper for a woman to pray with her head uncovered.  The important thing is that she is praying.  I doubt that God gives a rip whether she has her head covered or not. 

Paul himself tells us that God isn't bothered if we eat meat sacrificed to idols because God is more powerful than the idols so why does Paul think God would be so bothered by a woman's hair?

Second question, highlighted in green.  No Paul nature doesn't teach us that.  More importantly Jesus didn't teach us that either.  In all of the Biblical representations I have ever seen the men, including Jesus, are depicted with long hair.  So once again, is it Paul's opinion that Jesus was dishonoring God by having long hair?   

The number one question I want to ask God when I get to Heaven is "What is up with Paul? 

So we should remain willfully ignorant?

This seems like bad advice to me.  In my profession you could go to jail for being willfully ignorant. 

1 Corinthians 10:25-29(NKJV)

Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience’ sake; 

for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.” 

If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience’ sake. 

But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience’ sake; for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.”  

“Conscience,” I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience? 

Scripture tells us the truth will set you free and yet here we have Paul telling us to avoid the seeing the truth.  Weird.

Do we need to be chameleons to win others to Christ?

That was really a rhetorical question.  I don't believe we need to be chameleons to win others to Christ.  What prompted this question was the following passage by Paul.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23(NKJV)

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; 

and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; 

to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; 

to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 

Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.

I believe this is simply a matter of differing styles.  To me it would seem dishonest not to be who I am.  What you see is what you get.  That's not to say that I think Paul is being dishonest.  If I were to put a word on it I think this is just Paul's way of saying he empathized with lots of different people.

So is one way right and the other way wrong?  Not at all.  Different people are reached by different messages and methods.  The Gospel needs to be presented in many different ways to reach all people as we are commended to do. 

So I think the more important question is what can each of us do to reach more people for Christ in our own individual ways? 

I just don't understand Paul's reasoning.

Read through this and I'll comment at the end.

1 Corinthians 8:4-13(NKJV)

Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. 

For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), 

yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.

However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 

But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.

But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. 

For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? 

And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? 

But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 

Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

So here is my question.  Why would the weak brother perish from seeing someone else exercise the full freedom and benefits of knowing Jesus and knowing Scripture?  Paul just said that food does not commend us to God. 

Wouldn't it make more sense to use this as a teaching opportunity?  After all Scripture does tell us that the truth will set us free?  Why would Paul not take this opportunity to instruct someone on the truth instead of hiding it from them?  Hmm?

I find this admonishment from Paul weird.

We are told that sex between a husband and wife is a beautiful thing and a gift of God.  And yet we have Paul saying this.

1 Corinthians 7:1-7(NKJV)

Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. 

Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. 

Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. 

The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 

Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 

But I say this as a concession, not as a commandment. 

For I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that.

Seems to me that Paul is substituting what is his preference to what is good for mankind.  If Paul got his wish and all men could be like Paul and not touch woman the human race would die out wouldn't it?  :)