2 Corinthians 10-11 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is 2 Corinthians 10:1-11:33.

“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends” (2 Corinthians 10:17-18).

I need to read this every day. How easily I want to boast in me. I preached a sermon. I wrote a post. I put together some class material. I led a study. I baptized someone. I, I, I, I, I. Me, me, me, me, me. Someone complimented a sermon or class. Someone told me a blog post meant something to them. My head begins to swell, I start checking my stats. I start thinking I’m something.

God? Who is God?

Of course, I would never say that out loud. I would never even consciously think that. Instead, I would just not consciously think about God and His involvement. I just sometimes tacitly forget about God in my fervor to make sure you’ve heard about me. Have I told you about me yet? I’m pretty cool.

But then I remember that I am nothing. I think about where I’ve actually ended up when I was doing things my way and on my own. It wasn’t pretty. Anything I may accomplish for good is totally and completely by the grace of God. If I preach a sermon, it is because God gave the opportunity. If I actually say something meaningful and helpful, it is because God granted the words. If I get to baptize someone, it is because God caused the growth. I’m just a servant. I just go where I’m told and do what God says. Have I told you about God yet? He’s pretty cool.

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? Add your input by clicking the following link: Post a Comment.

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*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

Today’s reading is 1 John 4:1-5:21.

“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20).

God has provided me a litmus test. I know that He works everything out for good for those who love Him. How do I know if I love Him? This text says I look to the way I relate to His children around me.

If I hate people, I don’t love God. I simply cannot. But beyond that, if I view the brethren around me as folks who are here for my benefit, to use, abuse, dominate, then I don’t love them. And I don’t love God. If I am constantly working to prove I am better than all those people around me, then I don’t love them. And I don’t love God. If I view others as my servants, put here for my good pleasure, to stand on, walk on, and simply see what I can get from them, I don’t love them. And I don’t love God.

I need to take a good long look at how I really view the brethren I have seen. It will help me understand how I view my God whom I have not seen. That will show me where I still need work and God’s grace.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Matthew 21:1-22:46.

“And he said to them, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-39).

This is all I have to do today. Love God. Love my neighbor. No doubt, to understand this love I need to get into God’s word and learn how. But when I boil it down to brass tacks, this is what I need to do today. Everything else is unnecessary. I don’t have to buy things. I don’t have to go places. I don’t have to accomplish tasks. I just need to give myself to God and pursue the actions of love.

If I keep it this simple, I can probably do better at it.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 1 Thessalonians 3:1-4:18.

“…and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13).

Here is the struggle. I want to love others, but they have hurt me. I want to love others, but they do wrong. I want to love others, but the fact is most of us are so unlovable. What do we do about that? We recognize that the kind of love we need to have for each other is the kind of love God has for us. We recognize that the strength for that kind of love can only come from the One who already has that kind of love.

If I am filled with God’s love, then His love will spill out into my relationship with others. I need to pray that God will fill me with His love today. I need to pray that God will strengthen me to love as He does today. And notice why. This text says it is through loving others God’s way that my heart is established as blameless in holiness. My heart is not established a blameless in holiness simply because I can declare and follow a pattern regarding the work of the church. My heart is established when the love of God flows from my life toward others just as He has loved me.

That is a tall order. It can only be done by the strength of God.

Father, grant me the strength to love today. Let me love others as you have loved me. Fill me with your love and love others through me. Thank you for your love. I love you.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS: What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Colossians 3:1-4:18.

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him…Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:17, 23).

Whatever I do. That doesn’t mean half of what I do, some of what I do, what I do on Sundays, what I do when people are watching. It means whatever I do. I know that second statement was written specifically to slaves, but I can’t help but see the connection between the two verses. Further, I can’t help but think the second statement doesn’t only apply to those ancient slaves.

Whatever I do, I must do it in the Lord’s name. I must do it by His authority. I must do it by His power and empowerment. I must be confident that I can look at Jesus and claim, “Lord, I’m doing this because you have granted that I can and should. I know you are happy that I’m doing this.”

Whatever I do, I must do it heartily, as for God and not men. I’m walking through life. I do things for family, friends, neighbors, brethren, employers, the government. Who am I really working for? Who am I really serving as I live. I’m serving God. I can’t help but think of Daniel who did his work well, without any neglect. Why? Because he knew he was working for God.

Whatever I do, I’m serving God.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Ephesians 1:1-2:22.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

What a thought! I am not my workmanship. I am God’s workmanship. Obviously, I’m making choices in my daily life. This doesn’t mean I’m nothing more than a puppet with God literally pulling the strings. But it does mean I’m not alone. It means I don’t have to direct the way for me to be all that God wants me to be, all that I want me to be.

God has created me in Christ Jesus to walk in His good works. But is His workmanship merely a moment in time switcheroo? Does Paul simply mean when I was baptized into Christ, God did some work but now He is sitting back hoping the switch took? I don’t think so. This verse means God is still working in me. He is providing me with progressive victory over sin and progressive victory in righteousness.

This doesn’t mean I sit on my backside and wait for God to pull the strings. But it does mean I can take comfort today that God is working in me. I am His workmanship and He is the Master Craftsman. He may not always work on my timetable, but He is working.

I think today, I’ll just surrender to God’s way. I’m pretty sure it works. And I’m pretty sure it will work on me.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

PPS. For those who haven’t seen it elsewhere, here is a great video from the Skit Guys about God working on us. Even if you have seen it, you may want to watch it again. Enjoy.

God’s Chisel by the Skit Guys

Here is the link for my e-mail subscribers: http://giveattentiontoreading.com/?p=1620

Today’s reading is Galatians 3:1-4:31.

“So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God” (Galatians 4:7).

This is great! Do I need to obey and honor my Father? Of course. That is what sons do. But I don’t have to crawl around on my hands and knees in constant fear of getting whipped because I’m a slave. In fact, my great privilege is there is an inheritance waiting for me because I’m a son.

How did I get to be a son? Because the Father sent His only begotten Son into the world to redeem me, to purchase me, to adopt me. God wanted me to be His son so badly, He let his “biological son,” if you will, die so I could become His adopted son. I get the inheritance and I don’t have to pay for it. I simply need to live like a son. I need to revel that i’m part of the family of the king of the universe. I should honor and glorify Him for bringing me into the family.

Wow! What a privilege I’ve been given. I need to remember that privilege today.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Jude 1:1-25; 1 Corinthians 1:1-31.

What a great reading today. Through Jude, God has told me four things I need to put on my checklist today and every day.

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” (Jude 1:20-21).

1. Build yourself up in the most holy faith.

What am I going to do today to build my faith? For starters, I’m spending time in God’s word. I think I’ll talk to some other Christians today and seek encouragement in the faith. I’m going to spend some time praying. I think I’ll write a gratitude list to remind me of the many blessings God is showering in my life.

2. Pray in the Holy Spirit

I don’t think this is a reference to prayer through some miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit, but rather a parallel to Romans 8:26-27, recognizing that in my weakness I don’t always know how to pray or for what to pray. However, as long as I’m hanging on to God, the Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words. When I pray today, I’m going to do so with confidence in the work of the Holy Spirit to intercede for me in my weaknesses.

3. Keep yourself in the love of God.

That also sounds like Romans 8:31-39. Nothing can separate me from God’s love. However, if I choose, I can walk out of His loving hands. Today, I’m going to work on drawing closer to God through His love. Instead of going my own way, I’m going to consider what God’s love suggests for my life. What would God have me do? I know He loves me and therefore His way will be best for me. 

4. Wait for the mercy of the Lord Jesus.

No matter what good or bad things happen in my life today, I’m going to remember that I am turning to God’s love, praying in the Spirit, building up my faith because I’m hanging on to an eternal hope. I love God not because He is giving me a good day or a good week. I love God because He has saved my soul for eternity. That is where my inheritance and reward are: in eternity. I won’t be turned aside from that hope no matter what happens today. I want to keep my mind firmly focused on heavenly things and eternity. 

Well, I guess my plate is full for today. How about yours?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 1 John 4:1-5:20.

I’ve heard and repeated 1 John 4:19 a bajillion times. “We love because he first loved us.” However, I guess I’m just a bit slow. This verse hit me just the other day as I was thinking about something and I couldn’t wait to get to today to share, though I’m sure you figured this out a long time ago.

I had seen what this verse said over and over again. But I had missed what it did not say. It did not say, “He loved because we first loved Him.” 

Do you see what that means? I don’t have to try to earn God’s love today. I don’t have to try to garner God’s love today. I don’t have to try to be really good so that God will love me today. 

In our human experiences, we’ve often learned that we have to do something to get others to love us. We have to pay something, go somewhere be something. We have to be rich. We have to be pretty. We have to be smart. We have to get the right job. We have to believe the right things. We have to score the winning touchdown, make the three point shot, hammer the grand slam. When we do these things people love us. Sadly, this often sends us down the wrong path. We think for people to love us, we have to be cool. We think to be cool, we have to do wrong things. 

If we could just get that we don’t have to win God’s love. God loves us. Don’t try to win God’s love today. Just rest in . Let it wash over you. Accept it. I know I’ve gotten it backwards. I felt like if I could just try harder, I might get God to love me. The problem was, I always failed and so I didn’t see God’s love for me. And then, I thought I might as well quit trying. However, when I understand that God saw every single failure I’d ever have and sent Jesus anyway because He loved me so much. I quit trying to win His love. I just accepted it. The more I know that He loves me, the more I love Him. 

I know that to some of us Christians this is going to seem counter-intuitive. We just can’t believe this. But, I’m telling you it is true. Biblical love for God is not offered up in hope that He’ll love us back. True biblical love for God is the result of coming to grips with the fact that God loves me already.

By the way, as a side note. One reason it is often so hard for folks to realize God loves them is because we can’t actually see God. We can’t feel Him holding us. God has placed other Christians down here to demonstrate that love. The sad problem is we Christians often make people try to earn our love. If we could learn to just love people no matter what, then perhaps they would see God’s love through us. When they see that, they might just start loving as well.

Today’s reading is John 13:1-14:31. 

“Honk if you love Jesus!” said the soaped message on the rear window of the car in front of me. I wasn’t sure if he really wanted me to honk or if he might get upset. We were at a stoplight and he might forget the message on his back window. 

Messages like this abound. Is that really what shows our love for God? Honking? Maybe what we need is a bumper sticker that says something about God or a fish symbol. Maybe we should get a neat shirt with a profound spiritual message. Putting our faith in God on display like this must surely prove how spiritual we are. That is, until you’ve been cussed out by someone in a “Jesus” shirt or given the bird by someone with a fish symbol on their car. I had a friend once who told me she always stayed away from anyone who put a fish symbol on their business card. She’d been taken advantage of by too many “Christian” businessmen.

Jesus explains how we let the world know we love God in John 14:31, saying, “I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.” I’m not saying neat t-shirts and bumper stickers are wrong. I’m just pointing that those are symbolism over substance. A catchy saying on a t-shirt is no substitute for obeying God. 

If you want folks to know you love God, you don’t have to scream it to them. You just have to do what God says. Treat them the way God says to, even when they aren’t treating you that way. Act the way God says to around them. They’ll see it. Trust me. Most folks don’t live the way God has asked us to. If you do this, you’ll stand out. And you’ll be loving God.

***Question: How do you show you love God every day?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC