Savoring the Scripture

A Mother’s Longing “…in your faith you are standing firm.” 2 Corinthians 1:24 It is not surprising that 3 John 4 is so often quoted by Christian parents in their deep desire for their children, “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth” (NASB). This is the deep longing of my heart as a mother. I want my children to truly know Christ, to walk in His ways, to love His Word, and to be committed to His church. I desire to be able to say to them, “in your faith you are standing firm” (2 Corinthians. 1:24). Am I being a faithful steward of my role as a Christian mother? Are my actions reflecting this deep desire to see my dearly loved children walking in the truth?  As we head into this new year, it is wise to both look back and look forward. The new year offers us many possibilities to grow and change and also to continue to persevere in the things that God, by His grace, has enabled us to carry out faithfully. If one of my deepest longings is to see ...

The Wilderness Will Not Be the End of You As the saints are empowered to persevere through adversity, the genuineness of their profession is authenticated, and they are shown truly to belong to God. Greg Beale What comes to mind when you hear the word “wilderness”? Natural beauty? Solitude? Quiet? Untamed vastness? Rough terrain? What about when you think about a spiritual wilderness? I think of isolation, loneliness, feeling distant from the Lord, feeling dry and weary, unclear of what to do, lacking fervency for spiritual things, and looking all around seeing the wilderness stretching out in all directions. No end in sight. It’s a time of questioning. It’s a feeling of weakness. Perhaps even a time of doubt and deep discouragement. Thankfully, on the wilderness road, I am not alone; I am sealed by God and He has me on this path to establish and strengthen my faith. This is the truth Paul used to encourage the Corinthians. Paul reminds them of God’s faithful work in them. “Now He who ...

A Piercing that Drives Us to Our Knees: to the mothers of the brokenhearted and the wandering Where there is a praying mother there is always hope. J.C.Ryle From the time our children are a positive line on a pregnancy test and then placed in our arms for the first time, our hearts as their mother are intricately intertwined with theirs. The first cry brings tears and joy, such inexpressible joy. And then they grow, and we love to see them exploring, learning, and developing their personalities. But the moment they come home having faced rejection for the first time, or they struggle with a mental illness that leaves us feeling deeply inadequate, or we get an email from the school that they’ve been caught cheating, each taste of sorrow and sin that they taste, we experience as well. The words spoken to Mary could be the gentle warning each mother must heed, “and a sword will pierce even your own soul”(Luke 2:35).  I’m not sure our children will understand until they become parents ...

Jars of Clay: Fragile and Useful His power finds its full scope in human weakness. Verbrugge&Harris  Jars of clay. Many people enjoy using clay pots to cook in as they claim the pots keep food more tender, flavorful, and moist. Others love them for gardening because of their versatility and the way they provide an aerated environment for plants. One of the biggest disadvantages to using clay jars however, is their fragility. Too quick a change in temperature or not handling carefully enough and the jar breaks or cracks. Paul uses this imagery when describing us. “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). Paul uses jars of clay to convey our human frailty, to communicate our feebleness. Paul says this in a context of explaining why he never loses heart in his ministry. One of the reasons Paul can continue on faithfully in ministry is because in his frailty and in his weakness, God proves Him...

  Don’t Give Up: when mothering makes you weary Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we never give up… 2 Corinthians 4:1 ESV, NLT Mothering can have seasons where weariness and discouragement lie right at the surface. Perhaps it’s a physically exhausting time, maybe spiritually you’re struggling or a child is, maybe it’s just busier than normal and it’s hard to juggle everything without feeling stressed out, or maybe it’s hard to even find a reason why you’re struggling. It can be so many little things, or big things and little things, and you just want to give up, even if only for a little while. You wish you could run away and rest, clear your mind and breathe. How can we faithfully persevere through motherhood, each of its season, and each season’s hardships?  As I studied 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, I wanted to see how Paul could say, “we never give up.” Studying this book, I have come to appreciate the tenacity of Paul and his steadfastness through so many diffic...

Be Imitators of His Faithfulness But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no. 2 Corinthians 1:18 Paul took seriously his responsibility to imitate Christ. He had been personally commissioned by Jesus to be His ambassador and His witness. Paul knew that he was to be an example to believers, newer and older alike, of the character of Jesus. For those Paul was teaching and training, he would be the living example to them of the ways of Christ. He wanted his life to mirror that of Christ to such a degree that he could tell those under his care, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ”(1 Corinthians 11:1). And In 2 Corinthians 1:17-20 to demonstrate his trustworthiness to the Corinthians he says, “But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no” (1:18). Changes in Paul’s plans had been used by the Corinthians to question Paul’s truthfulness and unwavering word. But Paul labors to show them that God is faithful, and just as He is faithful, so also Paul and hi...

We Cannot Escape God’s Providence The Book of Esther teaches that God’s providence is active in every facet of human life. We cannot escape Him. His purposes, though sometimes hidden, are far-reaching. We can be confident of God’s care and protection.  Key Word Study Bible      God’s providence, according to the Heidelberg Catechism, is “The almighty, everywhere present power of God, whereby, as it were, by his hand, he still upholds heaven and earth with all creatures and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink , health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things come not by chance, but by his fatherly hand.” John Piper described God’s providence as his “wise and purposeful sovereignty…It is God’s seeing to everything. Absolutely everything that needs to be done to bring about his purposes, God sees to it that it happens.” One of the most comforting truths we can consider is the providence of God. Hi...

  God’s Compassion: Hope for the Sinner You, in Your great compassion, did not forsake them in the wilderness… Nehemiah 9:19 Nehemiah lived in the time when the Jews were returning to their home land after being taken into captivity by both the Assyrians and the Babylonians. By his time, other nations had taken over, and he was cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, a position of complete trust (Nehemiah 2:1). Through the favorable hand of God, Nehemiah gained permission from the king to lead some of the Jews back to Jerusalem to begin rebuilding the walls of the city. They faced opposition and threats, yet they persevered. Nehemiah and Ezra led the people in confessing their sin after reading the Law. The confession of both their sin and the sins of their fathers is recorded in Nehemiah 9 and it’s a beautiful demonstration of seeking the compassion of the Lord and remembering His faithfulness in the midst of the distress caused by their own rebellion.  We are in Great Distress The pra...

  Not One is Missing Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing. Isaiah 40:26 “Astronomers estimate that the universe could contain up to one septillion stars—that’s a one followed by 24 zeros. Our Milky Way alone contains more than 100 billion, including our most well-studied star, the Sun”* This magnitude of stars is far beyond our comprehension. And yet, the Bible tells us, that because of the might and strength of our God, who created each of those billions and billions stars, and called them all by name, not a single one is missing. Likewise, our prayers, each whispering, shouting, weeping, and rejoicing prayer is heard by our God. Not one is missing.  Are you experiencing a season of seemingly unanswered prayer? Have you been crying out to the Lord for the salvation of a loved one, a r...

The Joy of a Sincere Life 2 Corinthians 1:12 Sincerity makes the very least person to be of more value than the most talented hypocrite.  Charles Spurgeon     For many ages, masks have been worn in theatre performances, religious ceremonies, and parties. Masks were worn to create a persona, to emphasize a particular emotion, portray a different character, or hide one’s identity. But too often, we wear masks in our every day life, not literal masks, but we disguise our true selves behind a facade.  In 2 Corinthians, Paul demonstrates by his own example, that godly sincerity should mark the life of the believer. Would we be able to say like Paul, “in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you” (2 Corinthians 1:12)? Is our testimony one of genuineness, lacking hypocrisy? Or do we wear a mask?     Sincerity is that quality of character that doesn’t hide under a...

  The Truest Kindness in the World 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 The God who raises the dead and who delivered Paul from such a deadly peril is responsive to prayer. Paul Barnett Have you or a loved one ever been in a situation that brought you to the end of what you knew you could bear? Have you ever been stretched so far that you felt you would break? Have you ever wished you had unlimited resources to assist someone in need or take care of your own seemingly insurmountable troubles? Last time we saw that for the believer there is comfort for every sorrow. In Christ, all and every one of our afflictions will be met with the comfort, consolation, and encouragement of God, and this comfort we receive is not just for ourselves but is for the comfort of other believers. Now we will see Paul give the Corinthians an example of how God comforted him and his companions in their trouble, which had caused them to despair even of life itself, and how the Corinthians played a role in the accomplishi...