Rejoice!

“Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.”  -2 Corinthians 13:11

Dearest Lord Jesus,

We rejoice in You today.  Help us to continually strive for “full restoration”.   Help us to be an encouragement to others and to live in unity and peace.  Thank You for the promise to always be with us!  You are a great God.

Amen

“He is not weak in dealing with you, but powerful among you.”

“Since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you.  For to be sure, He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in Him, yet by God’s power we will live with Him in our dealing with you.”  -2 Corinthians 13:3-4

Dear Lord,

Thank You for Your strength in our weakness.  Help us to realize that Your strength comes into our lives only when we are consciously living with You. 

Amen

Foolishness

“You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise!  In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face.  To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that! Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about.”  -2 Corinthians 11:19-21

How ironic.  “You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise!”  I am sure I do the same thing.

Dear Lord,

Show me my foolish ways.  Teach me to be wise. 

Amen

Watch and Pray: The Spirit Is Willing, But The Body Is Weak (Matthew 26:41)

 “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to Him.  But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”  -2 Corinthians 11:2-3

Sincere and pure devotion are not enough.  They must be accompanied with growth in Christ or the devil will seek to destroy them. 

Dear Lord,

Guard our hearts and our minds.  Protect us from the devils cunning.  Teach us to watch and pray so that we do not fall into temptation.

Amen

Lord, Teach Us To Pray Believing This…

2 Corinthians 10:4-5:

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Ephesians 6:10-18:

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.   And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

Dear Lord,

Thank You for the “power to demolish strongholds.”  Help us to remember that we are not fighting against “flesh and blood,” but against the “rulers, authorities, powers of this dark world, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  Lord help us to remember that the devil desire to devour the weak, but we have been given the power to fight back.  Teach us to pray and act against these dark powers Lord.  Teach us to be bold in the face of evil and not ignore it.  Teach us to pray boldly to You so that the devil’s schemes may be stopped.  Bring light to this dark world.

Amen

Thanks Be To God!

“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)

Amen

Open Wide Our Hearts

 “We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you.  We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us.  As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children—open wide your hearts also.”  -2 Corinthians 6:11-13

Lord,

You are the only one capable of reaching the lost heart and softening the hard heart.  You are the only one who is able to open the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf.  Lord open wide the hearts of those in our lives who are our “Corinthians.”  Teach us how to reach them where they are and meet the needs that they need met most.

 Lord You are the Rock of the ages, the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.  You are the only one worthy to be  praised forevermore!  Open the hearts of the lost so that they can worship You.

Amen

Rich In Christ Jesus

 “We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.  Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses;  in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger;  in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;  in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;  through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors;  known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed;  sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”  -2 Corinthians 6:3-10

Lord,

Thank You that You are all we need.  Thank You that you can use the weak to shame the strong, and use the poor to bring true riches.  Thank You that when we have You we have EVERYTHING! You are such a great God.  We love You Lord!

Amen

We Are Not Our Own

“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.”  -2 Corinthians 5:14-15

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”  -1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Dear Lord,

Help us to remember that we are not our own.  That we were bought at a price, and because of that we are no longer to live for ourselves, but for You who died for us and rose again.

Amen