Welcome!
Date: Mon/Tue Sept 06/07, 2010
Today: Being transparent
Passage: 2 Cor 4: 1-2 NIV
1Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
Apostle Paul was a very powerful, influential person in the Jewish religion before he became a Christian
He would never bow down to any thing or anybody
But once he became a follower of Christ, everything turned upside down
He was no longer trusting in his own strength or qualifications, but in the strength and power of the Lord
He came to the point of saying, “for me to live is Christ; to die is a gain”
Paul went through lot of sufferings and persecution of various kinds
He was threatened by people and suffered a lot from natural calamities, hunger, he was beaten five times severely, ……. the list goes on
But none of that became in vain. Paul made it all a gain, by contributing his time, effort and prayers for God’s work
Even while he was beaten up mercilessly, he was rejoicing
Paul looked towards the glorious future that lay ahead of Him
Corinth was a sin-city of the time when Paul lived. A “Corinthian” meant a person with a low or no moral values
It was in such a city that God transformed some people and a church was established
But after some time, the sin in the city found its way into the church
When the water enters a boat, it will sink, regardless of the fact that the boat is in the water
Church must influence the world, not vice-versa
Deeply rooted in Christ and His word, we will not compromise with the world. If our prayer life and meditation is weak, it is easy to fall into sin
In other words, all you have to do to fall into sin, is to just do nothing
In Corinth, the Church was “sinking” because of sin
What people don’t understand is this trick of the devil
They will be praying and doing lot of things for God, on one side
But on the other side, they compromise with sin, in various ways
Paul came to the rescue of the church, which was “sinking”
He wrote in very sharp language, admonishing the sinful practices of the Church
However, many strong winds blew against Paul’s life and ministry
But, knowing well that this ministry was given to him by God, Paul was able to stand the attack of the enemy
He could boldly say that he was clean and clear. He was transparent
The enemy could not find any fault in Paul. So, he successfully overcame the attacks of the enemy
1Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. (2 Cor 4: 1-2, NIV)
Even as the enemy comes against us, if we are clean and clear, if we stand in our commitment to God, enemy will not overcome us
As our children go to school, they need our support of prayer
They look at parents and see how they live
Let our hearts and hands be clean
God bless
BG
Prayer: Father, help me to live a life that is pleasing to you and a blessing to others. Show me any sin in my life so that I can correct it. Help me to be transparent. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen