22 August - 5 September 2011

After IFS I had a couple of weeks before SUPT started. Some of this might seem "preachy" but it was really a pep talk to myself. With my experience in IFS I knew SUPT was going to be incredibly difficult and, if I wasn't careful, very depressing.

Monday, 22 August 2011

            II Corinthians 1:1-11

            In Paul’s greeting he updates Corinth on what has happened to him. Sharing is part of teaching. The NIV uses “comfort” a lot in this passage but I don’t’ think this is the same as “comfortable”. Rather it refers to comfort in sorrow. Paul just returned from great hardships I Asia but was comforted by the Holy Spirit. Paul desired to share that same comfort with the Corinthians.

            What has God given us that He didn’t intend for us to share? Everything the Father gives me should be given back in praise or shared with others to His glory. What am I keeping to myself? If I am supposed to share my sorrow with others then how much more joy and salvation!

Tuesday, 23 August 2011

           

            II Corinthians 1:12-2:11

            Whatever God has promised Christ reaffirms with a “yes.” We should have confidence, then, in what is written and live like it. Health cannot be claimed because it has not been promised, but joy we can claim at any moment, and should, since it has already been given to us.

            Lord, prepare my heart for this next phase. Don’t let me be discouraged as before. I don’t live to flu like I once thought I might. Because I endured hardships I realized I live for You and that Your will guides me, not my own. How true are the words, “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth, These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”

            God has led me here. I could not have gotten here alone and I don’t know how to go from here. But I don’t have to know! God has promised to lead me. The way seems hard but He promised to make the rough places smooth. I am insufficient – I think I’ve sufficiently covered that – but Christ gives me enough!

Thursday, 25 August 2011

                        II Corinthians 2:12-17

            The question I’m thinking this morning is, “do I speak before God with a sincere heart of for profit?” The former is desirable but often I slip into the latter because OI think if I am talking to God then I am in righteousness. That’s a lie. Satan talks to God.

            To talk with someone in sincerity means, in this context, there must be a sincere, loving relationship, How can I have a sincere conversation with someone if I don’t care about them? Do I care about Jesus and what He’s done for me or do I merely use His sacrifice for profit? If someone died for me is it not appalling to use what they did to make money? What cause am I living for? Mine or Christ’s?

Friday, 26 August 2011

                        II Corinthians 3:1-6

            This is what I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, This is why I am here. I am Christ’s letter to those around me here in Columbus. Not that I have anything to boast about; my confidence is in the Lord. My mission is very clear and it has little to do with pilot training. The Air Force is a vessel for Christ’s letter. Jesus wants those around me to read His letter to them.

            My mission is to show these what the letter says. The easy prt is that the letter has been given to me and written on my heart. I know the letter whether I’m aware of it or not. How can this be? This is possible because the message is Spirit filled, not engraved on stone, and I have the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the letter written on my heart for ht world to see. I have no reason to boast because I myself am not the Spirit not did I write the letter. Can the paper take credit for the Author’s work? I am merely parchment.

Saturday, 27 August 2011

                        II Corinthians 3:7-18

            There are very few people who radiate with the glory of God. Moses had to wear a veil and that glory came from the ministry of the law, death, which was temporary. Why are we not shining with the glory that comes from the ministry of the Spirit which gives LIFE and lasts forever?

            We veil Christ’s glory because a) we are afraid the light might offend others or b) Christ is not a priority and the veil is made out of worldly coverings. Either way we blend in with the world. It is impossible to read a letter without light. How can you expect to live in darkness and have the world read the letter written on your heart? Can’t do it. That’s trying to serve two masters.

            Take the veil off. Don’t be afraid of different. Love in the light. Enjoy seeing the path ahead of you!

            The Lord takes pleasure in you and I. He desires joy for us, joy that lasts. And He wants us to have confidence in Him. Today, I lack that confidence. Maybe one day I will stand before the Lord and know. Today, though, it’s merely mine to be obedient.

Tuesday, 5 September 2011

                        II Corinthians 4

            “We have this treasure in jars of clay,” and that treasure is the light of the glory of Christ. We are the jars of clay and the only way light can shine through is if the jar is broken. “For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our body.”

            Our death, like Jesus’, then brings life. The more the world sees us suffer and respond in a Christ-like manner the brighter that light is. “Perplexed, but not in despair…struck down but not destroyed.” Yes, we are often broken like clay jars, but that only serves to show more light. That light brings warmth.