Thursday, May 26, 2016
2 Corinthians 5 NIV ~ The Ministry of Reconciliation (5:11;6:10)
2 Corinthians 5 NIV
11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear
the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it
is also plain to your conscience.
12We are not trying to commend ourselves to you
again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can
answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the
heart.
13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some
say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.
14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we
are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.
15 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.
16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly
point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no
longer.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the
new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us
to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
19 that God was reconciling the world to
himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has
committed to us the message of reconciliation.
20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors,
as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s
behalf: Be reconciled to God.
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that
in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 6 NIV
1 As God’s co-workers we urge you not to
receive God’s grace in vain.
2 For he says, “In the time of my favor I
heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.”I tell you, now is the
time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
3 We put no stumbling block in anyone’s
path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.
4 Rather, as servants of God we commend
ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and
distresses;
5 in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in
hard work, sleepless nights and hunger;
6 in purity, understanding, patience and
kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;
7 in truthful speech and in the power of
God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;
8 through glory and dishonor, bad report
and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors;
9 known, yet regarded as unknown; dying,
and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed;
10 sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor,
yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
2 Corinthians 4 NIV ~ Treasure in Clay Jars (4:7-16a) ~ The Prospect of Death and What It Means for the Christian (4:16b;5:10)
2 Corinthians 4 NIV ~
Treasure in Clay Jars (4:7-16a)
Treasure in Clay Jars (4:7-16a)
7 But we have this treasure in jars of
clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
8 We are hard pressed on every side, but
not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck
down, but not destroyed.
10 We always carry around in our body the
death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our
body.
11For we who are alive are always being given
over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our
mortal body.
12 So then, death is at work in us, but
life is at work in you.
13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I
have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also
believe and therefore speak,
14 because we know that the one who raised
the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with
you to himself.
15 All this is for your benefit, so that
the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow
to the glory of God.
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though
outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by
day.
17 For our light and momentary troubles are
achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen,
since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 5 NIV
1 For we know that if the earthly tent we
live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven,
not built by human hands.
2Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed
instead with our heavenly dwelling,
3 because when we are clothed, we will not
be found naked.
4 For while we are in this tent, we groan
and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed
instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up
by life.
5 Now the one who has fashioned us for
this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit,
guaranteeing what is to come.
6 Therefore we are always confident and
know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the
Lord.
7 For we live by faith, not by
sight.
8 We are confident, I say, and would
prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
9 So we make it our goal to please him,
whether we are at home in the body or away from it.
10 For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the
things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
2 Corinthians 3 NIV ~ The Corinthian Believers -- a Letter from Christ (3:1-11) ~ Seeing the Glory of God with Unveiled Faces (3:12;4:6)
2 Corinthians 3 NIV
1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves
again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or
from you?
2 You yourselves are our letter, written
on our hearts, known and read by everyone.
3 You show that you are a letter from
Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of
the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
4 Such confidence we have through Christ
before God.
5 Not that we are competent in ourselves
to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.
6 He has made us competent as ministers of
a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but
the Spirit gives life.
7 Now if the ministry that brought death,
which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites
could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory
though it was,
8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be
even more glorious?
9 If the ministry that brought
condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings
righteousness!
10 For what was glorious has no glory now
in comparison with the surpassing glory.
11 And if what was transitory came with
glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!
Seeing the Glory of God with Unveiled Faces
12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we
are very bold.
13 We are not like Moses, who would put a
veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing
away.
14 But their minds were made dull, for to
this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been
removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.
15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a
veil covers their hearts.
16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord,
the veil is taken away.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where
the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the
Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory,
which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 4 NIV
1 Therefore, since through God’s mercy we
have this ministry, we do not lose heart.
2 Rather, we have renounced secret and
shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On
the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to
everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is
veiled to those who are perishing.
4 The god of this age has blinded the
minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that
displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but
Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out
of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of
the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Monday, May 23, 2016
2 Corinthians 2 NIV ~ Forgiving the Offending Party at Corinth (2:5-11) ~ God's Direction in Ministry (2:12-17)
2 Corinthians 2 NIV
Forgiveness for the Offender5 If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely.
6 The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient.
7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.
9Another reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.
10 Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake,
11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
Ministers of the New Covenant
12 Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me,
13 I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.
15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?
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, as those sent from God.
Sunday, May 22, 2016
A Fresh Word in Season TV Program # 17
This is why Jesus did what he did for us.
Published on Mar 30, 2015
Why did Jesus need to go to the Cross?
AFWIS TV program # 17
AFWIS TV program # 17
Saturday, May 21, 2016
2nd Corinthians ~ Greetings (1:1-2) ~ Thanksgiving for Divine Comfort in Affliction (1:3-11) ~ The Integrity of Paul's Motives and Conduct (1:12;2:4)
2 Corinthians 1 NIV
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the
will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together
with all his holy people throughout Achaia:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so
that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive
from God.
5 For just as we share abundantly in the
sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.
6 If 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.
8 We do not want you to be uninformed,
brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of
Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that
we despaired of life itself.
9 Indeed, we felt we had received the
sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on
God, who raises the dead.
10 He has delivered us from such a deadly
peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will
continue to deliver us,
11 as you help us by your prayers. Then
many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer
to the prayers of many.
12 Now this is our boast: Our conscience
testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our
relations with you, with integrityand godly sincerity. We have done so, relying
not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace.
13 For we do not write you anything you
cannot read or understand. And I hope that,
14 as you have understood us in part, you
will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of
you in the day of the Lord Jesus.
15 Because I was confident of this, I
wanted to visit you first so that you might benefit twice.
16 I wanted to visit you on my way to
Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me
on my way to Judea.
17 Was I fickle when I intended to do this?
Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say both
“Yes, yes” and “No, no”?
18 But as surely as God is faithful, our
message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”
19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who
was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and
“No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.”
20 For no matter how many promises God has
made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us
to the glory of God.
21 Now it is God who makes both us and you
stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,
22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put
his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
23 I call God as my witness—and I stake my
life on it—that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to
Corinth.
24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but
we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.
2 Corinthians 2 NIV
1 So I made up my mind that I would not
make another painful visit to you.
2For if I grieve you, who is left to make me
glad but you whom I have grieved?
3 I wrote as I did, so that when I came I
would not be distressed by those who should have made me rejoice. I had
confidence in all of you, that you would all share my joy.
4 For I wrote you out of great distress
and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know
the depth of my love for you.
Friday, May 20, 2016
1 Corinthians 16 NLT ~ Conclusion: Practical and Personal Matters
1 Corinthians 16 NLT
1 Now regarding your question about the
money being collected for God’s people in Jerusalem. You should follow the same
procedure I gave to the churches in Galatia.
2 On the first day of each week, you
should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until
I get there and then try to collect it all at once.
3 When I come, I will write letters of
recommendation for the messengers you choose to deliver your gift to
Jerusalem.
4 And if it seems appropriate for me to go
along, they can travel with me.
5 I am coming to visit you after I have
been to Macedonia, for I am planning to travel through Macedonia.
6 Perhaps I will stay awhile with you,
possibly all winter, and then you can send me on my way to my next
destination.
7 This time I don’t want to make just a
short visit and then go right on. I want to come and stay awhile, if the Lord
will let me.
8 In the meantime, I will be staying here
at Ephesus until the Festival of Pentecost.
9There is a wide-open door for a great work
here, although many oppose me.
10 When Timothy comes, don’t intimidate
him. He is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am.
11 Don’t let anyone treat him with
contempt. Send him on his way with your blessing when he returns to me. I
expect him to come with the other believers.
12 Now about our brother Apollos—I urged
him to visit you with the other believers, but he was not willing to go right
now. He will see you later when he has the opportunity.
13 Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be
courageous. Be strong.
14 And do everything with love.
15 You know that Stephanas and his
household were the first of the harvest of believers in Greece, and they are
spending their lives in service to God’s people. I urge you, dear brothers and
sisters,
16 to submit to them and others like them
who serve with such devotion.
17 I am very glad that Stephanas,
Fortunatus, and Achaicus have come here. They have been providing the help you
weren’t here to give me.
18 They have been a wonderful encouragement
to me, as they have been to you. You must show your appreciation to all who
serve so well.
19 The churches here in the province of
Asia send greetings in the Lord, as do Aquila and Priscilla and all the others
who gather in their home for church meetings.
20 All the brothers and sisters here send
greetings to you. Greet each other with a sacred kiss.
21 HERE IS MY GREETING IN MY OWN
HANDWRITING—PAUL .
22 If anyone does not love the Lord, that
person is cursed. Our Lord, come!
23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with
you.
24 My love to all of you in Christ Jesus.
Thursday, May 19, 2016
1 Corinthians 15 NLT ~ Instruction on the Resurrection (ch. 15)
1 Corinthians 15 NLT
1 Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it.
2It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.
3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said.
4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.
5 He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve.
6After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.
7 Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles.
8 Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him.
9 For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church.
10 But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.
11 So it makes no difference whether I preach or they preach, for we all preach the same message you have already believed.
12But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead?
13 For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either.
14 And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.
15 And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead.
16 And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.
18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost!
19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.
20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.
21 So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man.
22Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.
23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.
24 After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power.
25 For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet.
26 And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.
27 For the Scriptures say, “God has put all things under his authority.” (Of course, when it says “all things are under his authority,” that does not include God himself, who gave Christ his authority.)
28 Then, when all things are under his authority, the Son will put himself under God’s authority, so that God, who gave his Son authority over all things, will be utterly supreme over everything everywhere.
29 If the dead will not be raised, what point is there in people being baptized for those who are dead? Why do it unless the dead will someday rise again?
30 And why should we ourselves risk our lives hour by hour?
31 For I swear, dear brothers and sisters, that I face death daily. This is as certain as my pride in what Christ Jesus our Lord has done in you.
32And what value was there in fighting wild beasts—those people of Ephesus —if there will be no resurrection from the dead? And if there is no resurrection, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
33 Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.”
34 Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all.
35 But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?”
36 What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first.
37 And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting.
38 Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed.
39 Similarly there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.
40There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies.
41 The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.
42 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever.
43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.
44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
45 The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit.
46 What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later.
47 Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven.
48 Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man.
49Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.
50 What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.
51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!
52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.
53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? ”
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.
57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
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