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..

Philippians 2:5-8 WWJD

Phil 2:5-8

⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
⁶Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
⁷but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
⁸And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!

These verses had been stuck on me for quite some time and now are one of those verses I constantly say in my head.

I also thought randomly, one day, about those WWJD bracelets everyone, at one time, seemed to have. At time, I even thought that people wore them as a fad rather than a reminder of what Jesus would do in certain situations (and I’m starting to think that with the whole He>i thing too).  So….what would Jesus do?

I think these 4 verses state them beautifully. They are simple and to the point. Jesus came, obviously, not to be served, but to serve (Matt 20:28), and here’s how.

He never took a hold of who He was when things got nuts. Think about it, He is God. He could’ve done whatever He wanted, but did He? No, He did what everyone else wanted Him to do in terms of service. For example. when people wanted to be healed, He healed them. One thing that always gets me, and I know I’ve said this many times before, is the Luke 9:10-17. He withdrew, meaning He wanted to be alone with His disciples, but the crowds came. Did He run faster? Did He summon walls of dust to shoo them away? No, He welcomed them, healed them, fed them, etc. Is that what we do? When we want to be by ourselves, yet people come to us, do we welcome them or not? Lastly, think about the crucifixion. Dude, if I was God (and thank Him that I’m not), I would’ve turned everyone to frogs when they hit me or something. Watching Passion of the Christ wrecked me. How can He have sooooo much self control not to knock any of these guys down?

Verse 7 wrecked me. He made Himself NOTHING. I don’t know how else to explain this except that He never thought of Himself as too good to serve. He was nothing in His mind and everyone else was everything. He took the very nature of a servant. HE TOOK. Not, “It was forced on Him.” No, He took the identity. He served. That’s who He was and that’s how He lived.

(Here’s a secret to serving. Make yourself nothing and it’ll be much easier.)

He became obedient even to death. Is that us? Do we serve even when it hurts? Jesus did. He did it to the point where it killed Him. Do you?

If you have one of those WWJD stickers or bracelets, and you decide to put it back on, always remember this. What would Jesus do? Not refer to His rights, made Himself nothing and became a servant who was obedient even to His death. Now verse 5 gives us our application. Is this our attitude in life?

1 Corinthians 10:31 Glory Work

1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God

The keyword in this is “whatever you do.” Eating does not bring us closer or farther to God, drinking is the same…unless you drink to much of alcohol (which I advise not to do. Don’t cause others to stumble)….But in everything that we do, it should be for the glory of God.

How do we bring glory to God? Jesus states it very nicely in his prayer. John 17:4  I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work (action) you gave me to do. We bring glory to God by doing HIS work, by putting action to our zeal. What is His work? The greatest command is to love God first, then love people. (Selfless servant?)

How are you gonna love on people today?

It’s interesting that my QTs are mostly about being a servant….I think God is telling me something…

1 Corinthians 10:10 Part 1:Complain?

1 Cor 10:10 And do not grumble (discontentedly complain AMP), as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. (Along side Numbers 16)
The story in Numbers talks about a group of leaders who created a faction against Moses about the leadership of the Israelites (which is one of the OBVIOUS acts of sinful natures Gal 5). In turn, Moses told them that God will choose he who is holy. An interesting thought is this. v9 talks about how these Levites rising against Moses was given many things, and yet they wanted more. Also, Dathan and Abiram was saying to Moses to the effect of “We have yet to receive what you promised us!” (v14) This goes back with yesterdays application. Are you content with what you have or are you going to complain about what you don’t have? Are you content with what you have received or do you focus in what you have not received?

Now the idea of complaining….(the context is to grumble or complain about the situation and what God has done but we’ll look ahead to the other complaints) I looked back on my life and asked myself, “why do I complain and what are the reasons and what happens when I do?”

I remember telling God many times:
1)Why don’t I have this certain thing?
2)Why do I have to do this thing?
3)Why do I have to go through this thing?
I see the error of my ways. The way I see it, what I’m telling God, just like the Israelites, is:
1)Why are you taking so long to give me what I want?  (Cause you know that the Lord will give you what you need [Matt 6:33/Ps 37:4])
2) Aren’t I the master and Jesus is my servant or aren’t I better than Jesus? (You may not be saying this to yourself, but you’re implying it. John 13:15 Jesus is washing His disciples feet and says “I have set an example that you should do as I have done for you.” The idea is Jesus laid down what He had, the power of God v3, and served his disciples. If you don’t like the idea of serving, always complaining when doing something, you’re implying that you are better than Jesus and that you are his master (v16a “I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master…” so you not wanting to serve is telling him I’m better than this.)
3) “I don’t want to be like Jesus. I don’t want to be what God wants me to be.” The reason why people go through trials is so that one can be stronger, more complete in their faith (James 1:2-4). (This is for the blog) I remember hearing people say, “Come as you are,” or “I don’t have to change to come to Jesus.” This is totally true…..up to a point. People tend to leave out the second half of this part. The reason why you would come as you are is so that God can turn you into what He wants you to be. He molds you, shapes you, and polishes you to be like Him. My pastor gave a really good illustration about the fire and gold mentioned in 1 Peter 1. An impure gold is placed in a furnace so that the impurities would rise to the surface. It would then be wiped off and placed in the fire again until the impurities are gone. Then they would rub something really irritating on it so that it can be polished with the final product showing a reflection of the cleaner. It’s the exact same thing in life. The fires, or trials, also mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3, bring out the impurities in you. Have you noticed that when you go through crap, the real you comes out? Then you get rubbed by all the roughness in life so that you can reflect to others the one that polished you, God.
So this is the idea. If people say to come as you are, do you come that way every single time? If you were made Christian and you still “come as you are” from the first time you came, would God be happy? Don’t you expect growth from your children? Peter started off as a fisherman. Did he stay that way?

There will be a part 2. It’s interesting to write the blog at the end of the day. I realize how many times I’ve failed at what I’m trying to apply…

Isn’t it interesting that you don’t realizing that you’re failing until you already fail…?

1 Cor 9:26a

1 Cor 9:26a Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly;

Million dollar question: Do you run like you’re running aimlessly? Why would you run aimlessly? Because you have no idea where the goal is. I would go even as far to say that you think you know where your goal is. So according to verse 24-25, which prize are you going for? The crown that will last or wont last? God or the worldly things? Pick one and “Run in such a way as to get the prize.” It shouldn’t be both. You should be either hot or cold, “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth” Rev 3:16 You can’t have both, 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 (the world)” Matt 6:24

For the runners running towards the crown that lasts forever (heaven): When we run, our minds, our eyes and all of our efforts (running means you give it your all. If you don’t give it your all, you’re jogging or walking) on the goal. Where is our goal? “Heb 12:2a Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,” Jesus is the goal. So if we know our goal and our destination, how do we get there? Jesus tells us that “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” John 14:6 so the obvious idea is to live by His word and his teachings. Simply put, the Word is our guider. 2nd Tim 3:16 says “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” Do you submit to God’s words? Or more importantly, do you read God’s word in a way to change your life? To change your week?

In reference to following to Jesus’ example, Phil 2:6-7

6)Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, (did not refer to his rights; selfless) 7) But made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness. (Became a servant)

He became a selfless servant. Apply it.