2 Corinthians 5:13 Insanity?

I was looking through my old notes in 2 Cor 5 when i noticed I wrote something in pencil. It was really hard to read, but it was long. I decided to rewrite it in pen and what I saw a gem of conviction. It’s crazy how I ended up writing this and never had too much thought about it. The notes are so good that I’ll just write it straight from it (with a little additions and clarifications).

2 Cor 5:13
If we are out of out mind (insane), it is for the sake of God; if we are in the right mind, it is for you.

People call Paul mad or insane. Acts 26:24, he was called insane for Christ, doing His will, even in the midst of crap (2 Cor 4:7-12) and always referencing his mind on Christ and God (Acts 26:22). In reality, if you live a life that’s not insane, are you really with Christ? Think about it, you’re in a relationship with a guy whose sole purpose was to serve, never thinking of Himself (Phil 2:6-8). If you had an inkling of Christ, wouldn’t your life seem “insane” to those outside of Him? Would a “sane” person give up all he has to follow Christ (Matt 16:24)? Would a “sane” person give up making his life work for the sake Christ and others (Matt 16:25)? That’s insane…but that’s who Christ is and that’s what He wants. This is why (1 Cor 1:18-21) it’s foolish to the world…  Are you, in the eyes of the “sane,” insane in what you do for the sake of Christ? If not…there might be something wrong with your faith…….

Ouch..

James 2:18 & 22 Faith

¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
²²You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

This is going to be more of thought rather than a command or insight. I’ve been really hit with the thought of faith. The first thing I saw was the fact that faith always has actions. I’ve heard many people in my lifetime (which isn’t long) say they have faith, but their life and their decisions don’t show it. What I mean by that is their life decisions are purposely not on God’s word because a) they don’t know it or b) they’re too scared. Saying you have faith and not acting on it is not really faith, but knowledge. You have knowledge of God. Knowledge doesn’t get you into heaven (It doesn’t say “Well done my good and knowing son”) nor does it show you the blessedness of God (If you lose your life for His sake, you will gain life).

As v22 shows, action is the “completer” or the “perfector” of faith. So the question to us is….. do we have faith? Do we believe in the word of God and what God has promised us? All of these questions stem from 2 verses, Matt 6:33 (But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things (that the pagans run after) will be given to you as well.) and Matt 16:25 (For whoeverwants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.) These two verses are verses of faith not necessary for salvation but to show the true blessedness of God. Life in the latter verse symbolize satisfaction. You gotta have the biggest faith in the world to let your own life take a backseat while placing God in the front. Seek first, lose life for His sake, Be still (ps 46:10), etc, but all these promises have something crazy at the end. He will give you everything you want (Ps 37:4, Rom 8:32). The question is, do we have enough faith to actually go through with it because it says in 2 Cor 1:20 that all of His promises are a yes.

I know that some would think, “God doesn’t give me the things I want!”  Well, the question is, did you “seek first” or “lose your life for His sake?” Meaning, did you stop trying to make your life work for God? Seemingly, the way Jesus “didn’t make His life work” was by serving the people around Him. Is that what you do? Did you stop trying to make your life work for the sake of making other people’s life work? If you haven’t done that, then of course God didn’t give it to you yet.  If you owned a store and you hired a person, would you pay them before they did their hours? I bet not, so if we use this logic, why would God give you those things? You did not fulfill your duties so why does God have to fulfill His? But the crazy thing is God still gives you some of things you want…. It shows His true grace and true love for you.

I’m beginning to see the blessedness of God through my serving. Even though I suck at it and I fail consistently, God seems to hold true to His promise. I’m beginning to receive things that I want AND need. I’ll tell you now, those verses, they are true. God is faithful to His word. Follow it. Faith, it’s the only thing that pleases God and the only thing that can “astonish” Him.

So once again, the big question is:

Are you willing to stop your life for the sake of Christ whose ultimate ambition was to serve others?
Just remember His promises…

2 Corinthians 2:17 Where art thou motives?

2 Cor 2:17
Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity like men sent from God.

It seems that the “Christians” in Paul’s time was preaching for gain rather than to do God’s will. In my head, I hear a conversation like this. “Eh, what can you tell me about this verse?” The “Christian” would say, “What’s in it for me?” You look at that phrase and say, “dude, that’s so messed up. Are you serious? Why would you do that?” Now hold that thought and lets continue with the interpretation.

We have to look at ourselves and say, “Do we do that?” I bet you that you do. Maybe not in the way that I stated through that little impromptu conversation, but think about it. God tells us to preach the word, but seemingly, actions speak much louder words. 1 John 3:18 tells us to show love through actions (the goal of the word is to love Matt 22:37-38) and 1 Peter 2:12 tells us to live such beautiful lives amongst the nonchristians.  I heard this once and my pastor quotes it a lot. “Preach the word and speak it sometimes.”

So the way we act, the way we serve, is it all for the God? Have you ever served for “profit?” Not just monetary gain, but gain in anything? Did you ever serve in order to get praise (thank yous, that’s awesome!, you’re awesome!), material things (money, gifts, food, etc), and anything else other than God? Well, “Dude, that’s so messed up. Are you serious? Why would you do that?”

So when you serve or preach the word, where are your motives?  Are they upwards or elsewhere? Gal 1:10 tells us that if we do it for man (including yourself…..Phil 2:3) we’re not Christians (or servant of Christ, meaning He’s not our master). The question you gotta ask yourself now is, “Can I present my motives in front of God and not be embarrassed?” Paul did just that. (“..we speak before God with sincerity”). The word sincerity literally means tested by sunlight, which basically means pure. His motives were pure BEFORE GOD. Can you do that? Probably not, so how can we? The two words before that phrase, “In Christ.”

How have your motives been lately? Can you share them before God? Are they pure?

2 Corinthians 1:6-9

2 Corinthians 1:6
⁶If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. ⁷And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.  ⁸We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. ⁹Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.

Let’s do a quick recap of what this means. v6 tells us that if we are in trials and suffering, it’s for the benefit of the church (v4 so they can be comforted with the same comfort given by God to us). It also tells us that if we are comforted, people will be able to patiently endure the same trials you went through. Think about it. If you see someone who suffers when  they do something, but the whole time, they are comforted and encouraged, wouldn’t your mind reference to that when you go through the same trial? Wouldn’t you be encouraged to suffer through it since that person did?

The purpose for the sufferings they have is written in v8-9. Paul went through some crazy stuff to the point where they “despised life.” Yet the point of it is to rely on God.

Now let’s see this in terms of suffering through serving the body. How do you see serving? Do you look at the trial now or do you look at the outcome of your suffering? Our tendency is to look towards what we’re doing now and how hard it is rather than look at the purpose and who it will bless. As it says, “if we are distressed, it is for your comfort,” but this suffering is meant for us to rely on God. Why would we rely on God? Jeremiah 17:5-8 basically tells us that He will curse the ones who rely on themselves or man, but bless those who rely on Him. What I find interesting is v6 where he says “he will not see prosperity when it comes” meaning, the “cursed” man will have prosperity from the Lord, but because his eyes are fixed on the “light and momentary trouble” he blinds himself to the work of God. The whole point in suffering is to remind yourself that this is God’s work and you’re doing it for Him, not for yourself or for your glory. Always remember that.

Don’t blind yourself to God’s prosperity. He will encourage you through your trials and sufferings and remember, it’s all for the glory of God and the edifying of the church.

It’s like God spoke to me….

Acts 28:3-6

3 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. 6 The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

This was preached at our church today and it hit me hard. This morning wasn’t the greatest morning for me and I didn’t completely hold back in showing it. The idea of this passage is this: In the midst of Paul helping/serving, he goes through a trial (snake bites him). However, he didn’t let it affect him. You see that he shakes it off and suffers no ill effects. In reality, if I got bit, I would go nuts, freaking out. Even the native islanders we’re waiting for a reaction towards the trial, and yet they see nothing. They see Paul’s stable character and change their perception of him. It makes sense too. If you see someone always in joy, even in the midst of trial, wouldn’t you see it as amazing?

…Now, why does he not react? What is he focusing on? Could it be the passage beforehand in Acts 23:11 where God tells him that he is going to Rome???? God tells him he’s going so he knows this trial isn’t going to affect him too badly, if at all.

So what do we focus on? The light and momentary troubles (2 Cor4:17) or do we look upon God and His word?

Joshua 24:15 Speech of a lifetime

¹⁵ But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

I was talking with a friend about the idea that you’re going to serve something whether it be God or worldly things, even if it’s unintentional. As Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matt 6:24) The context of this may be money, but I think this extends much further.

With this statement, it shows that if our time and our services are not on God, it will be on something else. Wouldn’t  that be idolatry? I know for a fact, before my BC days, I found myself watching a lot of tv, doing a lot of internet surfing, and definitely a lot of guitar playing.

But Joshua here gives a speech that hit directly to my heart. Before this, he explains all the things the Lord did for Israel: Abraham, Isaac, saving from Egypt with Moses, the battles, safety against curses, etc.

I looked at my life (all of the Abrahams, Isaacs, Moses, the battles, the safety, the things I have, the things that I lack in character [for God is made perfect in my weakness. This is such a sick verse 2 Cor 12:9-10], where he has placed me now, and so much more) then I reread verse 15 from Joshua. I had the same reaction as the Israelites in verse 16. Well, almost.  I wanted to get up and throw my laptop and my bible and toss things over while saying “HECK NO, MY HOUSEHOLD WILL WORSHIP THE GOD WHO GAVE ME ALL THESE THINGS!!! RRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

Think of all the people, places, situations, strengths, weaknesses, gifts, possessions, etc that God gave you and reread verse 15. Here, let me make it easy for you.

¹⁵ But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

What are you going to say?

1 Cor 9:26b

1 Cor 9:26b I do not fight like a man beating the air (I box in such a way as not beating the air [NASB], without an adversary [amp])

Why would you beat the air? You know that the enemy is around, but you don’t know where or who he is. I see this as two things.

1)Christians that aren’t really Christian. I would go as far as those who don’t devote themselves to the word. It’s the war plan. It gives you the enemies (Eph 6:12 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.) It gives you the battle plan against them and the flesh too (the scriptures [bible is sharper than a double edge sword Heb 4:12] and how to defeat them (Jesus’ fight against temptation IN WHICH HE USES THE WORD TO BATTLE THE DEVIL; by straining towards the goal Phil 3:13, etc).

2)Devoted Christians lacking focus. Lazy Christians (see, I told you Daniel that laziness is no good..) When you don’t pay attention, when you don’t put in the effort to move towards the enemy to punch him, you’ll miss. (illustration: sitting on the chair, too lazy to get up and trying to punch the guy a step away from you. You swing and its a miss! you’re out!!!….ooo a baseball analogy to. If you don’t focus on the ball coming, you’ll miss your chance.)

I am devoted, but I see a lack of focus and laziness in my life. Am I fighting the enemy or am I letting him just attack me from a distance? Focus on the Lord. Fix your eyes on Him (Heb 12:2), not the momentary troubles (2 cor 4:17), or selfish ambitions (Phil 2:3). Laziness can lead to falling away (Heb 6) and it seems that procrastinating is disobedience until done.

Heb 6:12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Application: Focus on the Lord. Don’t be lazy. How are you going to do it?