Quiet Times

2 Corinthians 4:2 2 but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth  commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.  This passage clearly outlines to me how I am to conduct myself as a servant of God. First I am to renounce any activity or behavior that has a hint of darkness in it. This necessitates walking in the light and a life of complete transparency before God and before man.It also implies holding myself accountable and opening my life to correction from those around me. This further requires humility on my part. This makes complete sense considering that the captain of the army who captured me with His love has walked the path of humility the entire time He lived as a human.  Second, I am not to walk in craftiness. To be crafty is to be skilled in deception. In the Greek, the word "craftiness" mean "unscrupulous conduct". To be

2 Corinthians 4:1   1 Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry , we do not lose heart. Another aspect of this ministry Paul talks about is found in 2 Corinthians 2 :14-17:   14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of 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, like men sent from God. In an earlier blog I shared about the implication of the passage that says God "always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him". The focus of my sharing was on the seriousness of our ministry a

  2 Corinthians 4:1   1 Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.  I woke up today acutely aware of how blessed I have been through the 44 years God has given me. My mind raced back to the varied seasons God allowed me to go through and my heart lept with gratitude for God's hand upon me through the many ups and downs of life even before I knew Him. As I meditate on the goodness of the Lord, the phrase "jars of clay" came to mind. So I searched the Scripture and found the phrase nestled in 2 Corinthians 4. So today I start my meditation on this chapter, commencing from verse 1. Verse 1. "Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry: we do not lose heart." What ministry was Paul talking about here. We find an answer to this query from chapters 2-3. In 2 Cor.2:14-16. Paul talks about the the nature of this ministry. In verse 14 he thanked God who "always leads us in triumphal procession in Chri

  Genesis 1:26-27  "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."   So God created man in his own image,        in the image of God he created him;        male and female he created them. This passage is foundational to the truth that humanity is God's idea and that God Himself is the originator of humans. The humans God created in Gen.1 were sinless. Unfortunately they did not remain in this state due to their disobedience of God's command not to eat of the fruit of the knowledge of God and evil. It is interesting though how Scripture defined humanity in this verse. From this passage one sees that it is the image of God in man that makes him human. To quote Millard Erickson "the real human is the being that came from the hand of God unspoiled by sin and the fall." 

Psalm 63:4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands .          This Bible passage has never been so real to me than today. At the onset of the year I injured my left arm and was hardly able to raise it. It was a rotator cuff injury which I probably got from constant use of my left arm reaching for stuff over my head. Needless to say for months the movement of my left arm was very limited to just raising it forward. But today as I was singing "Can't stop praising His name" with Ron Kenoly via youtube, I raised both arms above my head! What I joy! What freedom worship brings! I lifted my hands today in worship to my King--a testimony to His healing power and to His awesome goodness and mercy upon me.          Thank you Lord for the ability to raise both my hands as I stand before your presence in worship. I acknowledge that you my Lord are the one who continue to train my hands for battle, so my arms can bend a bow of bronze (Psalm 18