6/7 - 2 Corinthians 8, Part 1

First off, congrats to my good friends Dave & Kendahl yesterday on their marriage. Their story is so awesome and is an amazing testimony. Check it out if you get a chance http://kendahlanddave.wordpress.com/proposal-story/. I haven't told her yet but Kendahl was a major inspiration for me to start blogging.

2 Corinthians 8
When I was in Tallahassee my pastor, Pastor Reggie, had such a strong belief in daily Bible study and implored us almost on a weekly basis to do it. It made sense but at that point in my life I hadn't even considered trying to read the Bible every day. I would feel so good about reading it every so often and admittedly would even feel that I was gaining a significant amount of points in heaven for doing it. I suppose I was comparing myself to others who didn't read at all (stupid). The point of all this is, I've probably read through 2 Corinthians 3 or 4 times now and so much of this seems so new to me. I guess that each time I read it I'm more mature than the previous time and God is able to speak a new thing but through the same words. What an amazing God...

Paul begins to encourage the Corinthian church by the example of the churches in Macedonia (Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea):

"²Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. ³For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, ⁴they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. ⁵And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will." (v. 2-4).

This is a tremendous encouragement for us, especially in today's economy. Macedonia was an impoverished province that had been ravished by wars and plundered by Roman authority, and yet here we find them giving above their ability. Now this just doesn't make any sense - giving more when you have so little. I'm sure, being a small Christian community at the time, their tithe & offering and 'building fund' envelopes weren't exactly overflowing and yet they gave so much. So, although we're faced with layoffs, unemployment, down markets, high gas prices and generally very little hope, could the call still be to give more? This couldn't make sense right? The only way it could is if we realize where our true treasure is, Who owns the little treasure we do have and, like the Macedonian church, give ourselves first to the Lord.

My cousin and I were talking yesterday about knowing the Word vs. believing the Word. I know the Bible is 100% true and think I even believe it. I know that Christ is my reward (Revelation 22:12) and that everything belongs to Him (Psalm 24:1). I could know these things and even preach them, but an actual belief would drive me to action. No longer holding on to the material things in life but freely giving, not to my comfort level, but like the Macedonian churches - beyond my ability, having full confidence in God my provider. I mean, what these people were doing was nonsense! Volunteering, urgently by the way, to take part in a ministry to help other poor saints in Jerusalem.

So yet again, this morning my perspective is shifted. I see some of the large churches in Cincinnati doing some amazing things with how they give back to the community, go on mission trips, give out free Bibles and do all kinds of amazing things for the kingdom. When I see this, my thought usually is "man, it's nice that they're so blessed to be able to do that. Maybe our church will get there one day." Maybe I'm undervaluing what our church does because we do a lot but we're not able to send 50 people to Africa or something like that. But in light of these Macedonians it would seem that we're able to make a huge impact and though we aren't exactly what you'd call a megachurch yet, it's so fitting that we give even more though we have so little. Not out of obligation, but because we give ourselves first to the Lord.

5/25 - 1 Corinthians 16, Part 1

Praise God for a holiday! I mean, I love having a job and all, but ain't nothing wrong with a day off. Shout out to all the troops who have lost their lives and those who currently risk their lives for this country. Today's chapter has an exhortation for them - "Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong" (v. 13).

Today is a reminder for me that no chapter in the Bible should be taken lightly. The final chapter in Paul's letters is usually a bunch of final instructions and what you could consider 1st century shout-outs. I usually just breeze through them, and today I had full intentions on skimming through this last chapter to get to a chapter that had some 'real meat.' Silly me...I suppose God isn't as arbitrary as I played Him off to be. Every word in the Bible is there for a reason.

Never knew this before, but verses 1 - 2 is where the modern church gets the concept of worshipping on the first day of the week and giving offerings on a weekly basis. It also hits on a concept that is left open to interpretation (likely on purpose in my opinion). Verse 2 reads: "On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, so that there be no collections when I come"

There's actually no specified amount of giving in the New Testament. Paul suggests giving "as you may prosper." There's several ways you can take that information, but I'd venture to say that it encourages us to give more rather than less. Most struggle with this but for some, giving 10% of their income is not much of a sacrifice and is rather easy to give up. In all honesty, I'll add myself to the latter group and offer the encouragement not to get satisfied with your offering. We tend to give as long as it doesn't impinge on our standard of living. This probably isn't sacrifice. And by probably, I mean definitely. Consider this verse:

"King David replied to Araunah, 'No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing" - (1 Chronicles 21:24)

When we get a raise, pay off a bill, get a tax return, or in other words "as we may prosper," are we considering how much more we're able to give with our newly found income? Consider the fact that, even if you have none of these sort of boosts in income, you're living in America and are still pretty prosperous. God deserves a meaningful sacrifice, not just the extra that we may get or, in other words, our leftovers. We just reviewed this concept in a recent Bible study and that was about the part I started feeling really convicted. Not saying you should....I'm just sayin'. It's easy to fall into the 'I'll tithe when I hit the numbers' spirit, but when we consider that all we have is from the Lord, it is a very reasonable response to offer Him back a little thanks in the form of sacrifice. Not what you will be able to do, but what you can do right now.

My prayer today is that God will work on my heart, that 'as I prosper' I'll be moved to worship and willingly give Him a meaningful sacrifice. That I will fully buy in to the concept that everything truly belongs to God and that my material desires don't compare to what He has in store for those who love Him. I pray for the desire to even want to love God like that. That I'll learn from King David and never again consider offering God something that costs me nothing. Father, you're way more valuable than I've given you credit for. Thank you for this lesson. In Jesus name.