2 Corinthians 4: 13-18

"13It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken."[a]With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 14because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. 15All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

The bolded parts are what sticks out to me and encourages me most. Praise God for his daily renewal through his word & holy spirit! I'm encouraged in vs. 17 to honor God even in the midst of dealing with my relational recovery/pain, in bringing down difficult and frustrating strongholds, etc. Honoring him in my response to this adversity increases his Kingdom by bringing glory to him, both through the way he answers and grows me, and also by how his work in me can encourage others. Our lives in this way are also a ministry to others. Thanks be to God for using us, perishable containers-wasting away, to accomplish his purposes. I feel when I reflect on his purpose, my needs and pain really do seem so, so small. . .

Forgiveness for the Sinner

2Corinthians 2:5-11
5If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent—not to put it too severely. 6The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. 7Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. 9The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. 10If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

Kind of extrapolating from this, the thought I believe the H.S. was laying on me was that we need to forgive to bring glory to God, even if we don't want to. It increases God's Kingdom (grows us and frees the other person) . For me, this makes it easier to forgive, because I'm better motivated to grow His kingdom than to forgive someone that perhaps I don't even like or want to like.

2 Cor: 1:15-end of 1 (To Rebuke or not rebuke?)

Paul seeemed to think that the Corinthians deserved a "strong rebuke" but for some reason he decided not to go them and give them one. Instead he decided "to work along with them" to encourage them in their pursuit of truth in their own faiths. This was a learning point from me, especially when it's so easy to be critical of others especially when we know they need it. The learning point for me is let the holy spirit guide how to approach others, it's not always a strong rebuke that's needed, even though I WANT to give one.

Lord, when it comes down to it, help me to encourage and/or rebuke others in each situation based off your leading not my own. Help me not to subtly insert my will over yours. Amen

1 Peter 4:12-13

I know what the traditional thought is in regards to the suffering that Peter is referring to here, but I wonder if Christ longed for human love and marriage as we do. As he was completely human when he was here, I cannot imagine him not feeling those feelings. Did he watch his friends and siblings get married and have kids and feel rejected? How much of his life plan was he aware of as he was living it? Did he know that, as the Son of God, marriage wouldn't be a part of his life?
I wonder if these things are things that concerned him.

1 Corinthians 13:4-6

My mantra for the last few days has been 'Your will, not mine, Lord.'

Patient and kind are the two aspects of love that are mentioned first in this passage, and for me that is especially apropos. Patience in love, both in wanting to express it and in wanting to receive it. Kindness in a general sense I do well with, but in the moment I certainly could use more work.

Envy of love that others is something that I have also struggled with. As happy as I am for others when they have or are in love, I still have that little bit of resentment that it isn't me.

I guess that's why I'm a work in progress.

Romans 1:21-23

"because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man..."

Sometimes it seems like it's enough to know God. Not so. This passage shows that there is a big difference between knowing Him and glorifying Him as God. If we fail to glorify Him and be thankful towards Him, it's a downhill slide into idolatry. It doesn't paint a pretty picture: "futile" thoughts, "darkened" hearts, and giving up God's "incorruptible" glory for a mere "image." May we all avoid the dark futility of idolatry by willingly, consistently bringing glory to God and being thankful for all that He is to us.

Romans 1:17

"For in it [the gospel of Christ] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith.'"

"Faith to faith" and "shall live by faith" both seem to point to the ongoing nature of faith in our lives. It will not be enough to have faith at one point in time and then go on our way. We need to have an active faith moment by moment--an ongoing faith that spiritually sustains us just as we are physically sustained by each ongoing breath.

Just prayer

Today my verse wasn't inspiring any particular thoughts, so I'm going to do some prayer. My mood isn't the greatest mostly due to work and home pressures.
So I'm starting off with those.
Lord, I give these up to you:
My job
My relationships
My family
My friendships
My emotional state
All these things are in your hands

Thank you for sheltering me
Thank you for guarding me from the unknown
Thank you for Your fellowship
I love you Lord

Romans 1:12

"that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me"

Mutual encouragement flows from mutual faith...sounds like Tuesday nights

Psalm 139:7-10

No matter how alone I may feel, He is always there. Guiding, securing, making sure that my feet are on His path for my life, as long as I let Him guide me. Sometimes it's a challenge to allow myself to be guided; my ego rebels against the idea that I am not in charge of my life. Then I look at some of the decisions that I've made on my own and I reach out like a little child, grasping at my Fathers hand to guide me.
At least that's my hope.

Romans 1:9-10

"For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you."

1) What does it mean to "serve...in the gospel of His Son"? Serve for, serve because of...those make sense. But what about serving in?
2) Who is the focus of my prayers?

Romans 15:14-end

I won't rewrite this passage, but I took away from it that Paul was an example in his speech and in his faith in action. The challenge and prayer for me after reading this was that the Lord would help me so that my speech and my faith/actions would bring others to the Lord.

1 John 2:24-25

24See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is what he promised us—even eternal life.

This sorta confused me. Too many 'he' and 'him's that tend to confuse who it is the author is talking about. The section that I got the most out of was verse 28; an encouragement to keep the faith, keep strong in the Lord. It appeals to our humanistic side by cautioning against embarrassment when we stand before the Lord. I find that interesting.