Eph 3:21 "The Power at Work Within You" (September 30)

Eph 3:14-19 - With tears rolling down my cheeks, this is my prayer for you this day and forever more.
For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, that He may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Eph 3: 20-21 I've never noticed before tonight that the "far more abundantly" is according to the power at work within you and me this day.  That gives me so much hope for what I face today.  There's a Beautiful God already at work.  Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.

Amen.

Eph 2:14 "He Himself Is Peace" (September 29)

He Himself is Our Peace - Ephesians 2:14.
I wonder how my day would be different if I really believed that.
I've been locked out of my car by someone else.
Someone accidentally took my lunch and my supper.
A friend called with a need that cost me an hour.
Three friends needed my help right away.
My students needed my help immediately.
I tutored through lunch period, conference period, & after school.
There were several small fires to put out today.
My car was past "E" and my purse on "E" for empty.
I started a major undertaking today that will last for a year.
And I still don't feel very well.
Wonder how my day would have looked different if I truly believed that
He Himself is Our Peace.
There were moments where I was so "at war" in my mind
to believe the best, to not blameshift, to rest at being not doing.
It's not about things:
MORE: going well,
ALL: being solved,
LESS: having fewer problems
He Himself is Our Peace.
No solutions.  No formulas.  No outlines.  No cheat sheets.
So, what stirs in you this day as you process life?

Eph 1:17 "Eyes Opened by Resurrection Power" (September 28)

Ephesians 1:17-19 May God, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead...
That same kind of power, Resurrection power, is at work in me and in you this very day.  Thank you God!

Gal 6:9 "Bear Your Own Load" (September 27)

Galatians 6:5 - "Each will have to bear his own load."

Galatians 6:9 - "Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."

I've had a nagging thought throughout my life that someone should come and rescue me from my dilemmas.  God is calling me to a higher road where we walk alone guided by Providence Himself, bearing our own load, not trying to escape what the Sovereign God has laid upon us.  And, don't grow weary of doing good, especially to the household of faith!

Gal 5:16 "Don't Gratify My Fleshly Desires" (September 26)

There's a question I ask myself frequently.  What really counts in life? 
Here's my answer in 3 verses:

Galatians 5:6 "Only faith working through love" counts for something.

Galatians 5:7 "You were running well.  Who hindered you from obeying the Truth?"

Galatians 5:16 "Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh."

What really counts today in all I attempt and attack and attach myself to?
What would it look like if I really walked by the Spirit today?
Struggling with jealousy over here---no place for that---may I hear His Word in deeper places inside of me and respond in faith.

Gal 4:19 - "Christ Be Formed in You" (September 25)

Dear Galatians,
Dear Friends,
Dear Family,
Dear Kids,
Dear Me,

I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you! Galatians 4:19

Do I hold that kind of anguish for my children, my friends, my husband, that Christ be formed in them.  First in me.  Then, may Christ be formed in you.

Gal 3:1 "Bewitched" (September 24)

Galatians 3:3 Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?

Truly, what person, what thing has cast a spell on me that numbs my faith?

Gal 2:14 "My Conduct in Step with Truth" (September 23)

Gal. 2:14 - Peter's conduct was not in step with the Truth of the Gospel.
Fourteen years later, and Paul is going back to Jerusalem to set the Gospel before Peter.  I wonder who is setting the Gospel before me?  And, am I setting the Gospel directly before any?

In the context of Galatians chapter one, concerning seek man's approval, here is Peter seeking the approval of the Jews.  Peter was sent to the Jews; Paul was sent to the Gentiles.  God was at work in both.  Peter fellowshiped with the uncircumcised Gentiles and was afraid when the circumcision party arrived, so he drew back from the Gentiles.  Paul called his hand.  Peter could have continued fellowship with the uncircumcised Gentiles. Righteousness is not through the law.  Peter was seeking the approval of man. 

Gal. 2:20 - I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live---the hidden life of the believer.  Matthew Henry calls it:  "sin mortified; grace quickened."   Sin, error, ignorance, wickedness---anything that makes us walk away from our Christ is to be crucified.  For we believe that not only was Christ crucified, giving himself for us, but I am crucified with Him.  Dependence on Him.  Grace overwhelming.  God's Grace is not earned with what I do.  Is my conduct in step with the Truth of the Gospel?

Gal 1: 9, 10 - "Consult No Man" (September 22)

         In Galatians 1:17-18 Paul says that when God opened Paul's heart, Paul immediately didn't consult with any man.  He didn't even go to Jerusalem to find the apostles he knew well to ask for their help.  No, he went into the desert----some say for 3 years.  That so stirs me to go to God will all of my problems.  Am I looking for the experts or what's eternal.

         For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.  Gal. 1:9-10

2 Cor 13:11 "Aim at Restoration" (September 21)

2 Cor 13:11Rejoice in God
Aim at restoration
Comfort one another
Agree with one another
Live in peace

2 Cor 13:14
The Grace of God
The Love of Jesus Christ
The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be over all of you!

2 Cor 12:9 "Content With Calamities" (September 20)

2 Cor 12:10

God said to Paul:

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses,

so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

For the sake of Christ, then,

I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. Am I??

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

 

I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?  2 Cor 12:19

 

Paul was afraid that perhaps he may find them not as he wished, and that they may find him not as they wished—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.

 

We are far more evil than we realize.  There is hope for our sin!

 

II Cor 11:30 "The Madman Writes: Boast In My Weakness" (September 19)

2 Cor 11:23 Paul says he is writing like a madman and here's what he says:

I've had far more imprisonments
Often near death
Forty lashes minus one
Beaten with rods 3 times
Stoned once
Shipwrecked 3 times
In Danger from rivers, robbers, Gentiles, cities, wildernes, the sea, my own people as well as false brothers
In Toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night,
In Hunger and Thirst
In Cold and Exposure
Daily Pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches

And who is not weak?
And who is made to fall?
And who is not indignant?

So what does the madman writer have to say about all of the above catastrophes that none of us have faced to any endth degree?

"If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness."  2 Cor 11:30
Am I boasting of being an overcomer or
Am I boasting in Dependency on the One Who holds my life in the balance?

2 Cor 15:15 "An Angel of Light" (September 18)

2 Cor 11:14 "And what I do I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do."  It's deceitful---but even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.

Sometimes in this world, people appear to be righteous and they are not.  And it is deceitful.  It is my mission to mind my own business and continue to do what I do---and that undermines their claims; for we are not on the same page.  Move on and do what God has called you to do!

2 Cor 10:18 "Not What I Commend but what God Commends" (September 17)

God is always doing us good...even when He sends us people who make us feel worthless.  Wonder why I would think that they make me feel that way when it's actually my lofty strongholds gone awry and I need that approval.  There are a couple of thoughts for me straight from God's heart in these verses:

2 Cor 10:4  ~ We  have Divine Power to destroy strongholds.  Can I even grasp that thought?  For this moment, this place, this circumstance---anything that trips me up and makes me want to live falsely.

2 Cor 10:18 ~ "It is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends."  What matters most is that it is the LORD Himself commending me.  This goes beyond all reason.

II Cor 9:8 "Surpassing Grace of God Is On You" (September 16)

Am I living thinking that I can be sufficient in all things & at all times

That the resources I have is sufficient,
the recognition I want is sufficient,
the reality of my situation is sufficient
the relationships I hold are sufficient
the religion I follow is sufficent for all my needs

II Cor 9:8  God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that you may be sufficient in all things at all times & you may abound in every good work.

The Surpassing Grace of God is on you!

II Cor 8:7 "Excel in Act of Grace & Aim at What's Honorable" (Sept 15)

Excel in this act of grace---
of giving yourself first to your God and
then, by the will of God, to whomever he sends your way.  I Cor 8:7

 Aim at what is honorable---
not only in the Lord’s sight
but also in the sight of man.  I Cor 8:

Today, I tried to do what was honorable in the sight of man.
It backfired on me.
Tomorrow, I will aim again and ask our Good God,
The God of the downcast,
to enable me to get back up again and excel in an act of Grace.

II Cor 7:5 "Fighting Without and Fear Within" (September 14)

II Cor 7:5 says
No Rest. 
Afflicted at Every Turn.
Fighting without and Fear within.

II Cor 7:6 says
But God,
Who comforts the Downcast,
Comforted us by the coming of Titus.

Do you feel as though you are afflicted today?
No rest! Downcast?  Need some comfort?
Your God is waiting to comfort the Downcast.
Then, He will send you ...

II Cor 6:13 "Widen Your Heart" (September 13)

II Cor 6:13 Open your hearts wider. 

There are people out there who love us.  Yet, we feel disconnected and it's because of our distance, not theirs.  We have restricted our own affection toward our family, our friends, our co-workers.  Who does God bring to mind that you distance yourself from to play it safe, to avoid conflict, to circumvent interaction with them? 

Widen your heart.  And just how do you do that?

2 Cor 5:14 "Controlled By The Love of Christ" (September 12)

We are controlled by the Love of Christ ~ II Cor 5:14 ~ Or,

Am I controlled by my anger?

Am I controlled by my fears?

Am I controlled by my insecurities?

Am I controlled by jealousy, ambition, comfort, love of money?

Am I controlled by what I want?

Or, is the Love of my Christ what controls me?

All I can answer is what controls me "this" moment.  And repent...

I Cor 4:7 "Surpassing power Belongs to God" (September 11)

I Cor 4:7-9 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but  not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;  always being given over to death for Jesus' sake so that His life may be manifested in our flesh. 
I Cor 4:17-18  This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.

Recently, I sat with my good friends who have two Autistic children who are now teeangers.  The dad shared with me I Cor 4:17 that there is more going on than what we see around us.  Oh, for eyes to see the Hope that is hovering. 

May we boast of our weaknesses that the power of Christ may be on all of us. 

I Cor 3:3 "A Letter from Christ" (September 10)

2 Corinthians 3:2-3  You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

A letter from Christ delivered right on time.  Written by the Spirit of the Living God.  It's not about becoming better. 

C. S. Lewis wrote:  No man knows how bad he is until he has tried very hard to be good. That's just a bunch of rules to keep.  Oh, Holy Spirit COME and breathe a fire into all of us.

2 Cor 2:14 "Beautiful Fragrance" (September 9)

2 Cor 2:14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

You are the living aroma of Christ.  Some people want to smell and some don't. 

This verse is the first sermon I heard preached in Seminary classes.  The prisoners are chained to the chariot and drug through the streets in humliation in their triumphal procession.  The same with us.  We die daily, chained to Him, and He is leading us with no condemnation in a triumphal procession through the streets of our lives...spreading the fragrance of Him. 

Your lives leave me with a Beautiful Fragrance.

II Cor 1:9 "Rely on God Who Raises the Dead" (September 8)

II Cor 1:8-9 They were so utterly burdened beyond their strength in Asia that they despaired of life itself. They felt that they had received the sentence of death. But no, that was to make them rely not on themselves but on God who raises the dead.

Relying on God not a report that says "probably benign." 

I Cor 16:13 "Act Like Women" (September 7)

 I Cor 16:13 ~ Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.  Let all that you do be done in love.  My prayer for each of you.

A friend shared this verse with me 35 years ago and I still remember the moment, the words, to this very day.  And so I share it with you.  Lift up your head.  Act like women. 

What lingers with you as we close the Book of I Corinthians, written to a called corrupt community turned followers of Christ. 

I Cor 15:58 "Labor Is Not in Vain" (September 6)

I Cor 15:58 ~
Therefore, my beloved brothers,
Be steadfast, immovable,
Always abounding in the work of the Lord,
Knowing that in the LORD your labor is not in vain.

If we could see what our labor is producing,
If we could see what is going on all around us,
oh the Hope that we would hold onto.
Hold Fast to Him, the God of all Hope.

I Cor 15:10 "I Am What I Am by the Grace of God" (September 5)

I Cor 15:9-10a -  For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am...

God's Grace covers all of our sins.  Even though we may remember well what we did, He holds them in no account.  Grace Upon Grace. 

I Cor 14:33 "God is not a God of Confusion!" (September 4)

 I Cor 14:33 "For God is not a God of confusion but of peace." 

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself,
because it is not there.
There is no such thing.     C. S. Lewis

He is the Author of my peace.
He Himself is my peace.

I Cor 14:1 "Pursue Love" (September 3)

I Cor 14:1-4
Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

For what do I really seek?  Deliverance?  Healing?  Mercy?  Courage?  Endurance?  Protection?  Or am I pursuing love above all else.

I Cor 13: 1-3  ~
Even if I speak like angels.
Even if I have prophetic powers.
Even if I understand all mysteries. 
Even if I have all faith.
Even if I give away all I have.
Even if I deliver up my body to be burned.
If I do not have love for my husband who is wrapped up in his work/his world,
If I do not have love for my child who is headed down a destructive path,
If I do not have love for my family who treats me like I'm still a little kid, or worse yet---my family treats me like what I have to offer is not valued,
If I do not have love for my church who may be so principled driven & missing God,
If I do not have love for my world where God has placed me
I am nothing, I gain nothing.

So where does this speak to our world today?
For me,
If I do not have love for those who have walked out on me?
If I do not have love for those who "miss" me?
If I do not have love even when I grow a successful ministry?
I am nothing.

What do I want more than the LOVE of my God?