If you enjoy watching and playing the game of football (I certainly do), you have observed a curious activity called a “spike.” It’s rather unusual. A team fights its way toward the goal line yard by yard. Minutes seem like hours as the offensive team plods along. Suddenly, it happens.
Read MoreTag Archives: Second Corinthians
Our Common Struggles: Affliction, Confusion, Persecution
In yesterday’s post, we were introduced to four common struggles all servants of God deal with. Really, they’re consequences. In 2 Corinthians 4:8–9 we read them: afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, struck down.
Read MoreThe Dark Side of Serving Others
We Christians have received a priceless treasure (the glorious gospel) in a very frail and perishable container (our weak bodies). There is a reason. So nobody will have any question about the source of power, it must be of God and not of any human origin.
Read MoreSome Common Misconceptions, Part 2
Yesterday, we learned that God’s servants have no special powers in themselves. Thinking they do is our first misconception. Our adequacy comes from God alone. Another misconception is that servants don’t struggle with everyday problems.
Read MoreSome Common Misconceptions, Part 1
Does it surprise you that being a servant of God is perilous? To some folks, serving others sounds as safe and harmless as a poached egg on a plate. What could possibly be perilous about it? Plenty. As we examine Paul’s words in the fourth chapter of 2 Corinthians, I’d like to suggest several familiar misconceptions regarding servanthood.
Read MoreThe Perils of a Servant
Whoever takes the time to investigate the evidence that led to such a bizarre atrocity soon discovers that the man at the top (who claimed to be a servant of God) fell into the trap that has ruined many a strong, natural leader.
Read MoreServanthood Starts in the Mind
Wouldn’t you love to live courageously in spite of the odds? Doesn’t it sound exciting to be divinely powerful in day-to-day living? Aren’t you eager to become independently authentic in a day of copycat styles and horrendous peer pressure? Of course!
Read MoreSupernatural Ability of the “Renewed Mind,” Part 2
As we allow God’s truth to pierce the tough, hardened barriers we have erected in our minds, we receive surprising benefits. We saw yesterday that God gives us His divine power (2 Corinthians 10:4). He also grants us what I call authentic independence.
Read MoreSupernatural Ability of the “Renewed Mind,” Part 1
As the truth of God’s Word penetrates our hearts, it displaces those secular mental barriers we have erected over the years. In fact, we receive several very exciting benefits. Paul names two of them in 2 Corinthians 10—divine power (10:4) and authentic independence (10:11–12).
Read MoreMental Barriers to God’s Voice, Part 3
Along with the mental wall of habitual resistance, the humanistic reasonings that give it strength, and the proud, lofty reactions that keep the truths of Scripture at arm’s length, there are actual thoughts, techniques, and devices we employ that push away God’s Word and His promptings. Let me be specific.
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