Friday 30 August 2013 Just when we get that fuzzy comfortable feeling that we are doing alright on our walk with God and being a Christian ….. the reality of Paul’s life brings us back to earth. In 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul gives the advice “follow my example as I follow the example of Christ”. His concern for the welfare of the souls he has lead to Christ (who were being deceived/fooled/misled by imposters of the faith) caused him to write the following letter. Pseudo Servants of God (The Message) II Corinthians 11 1:15 Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a moment. The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so much—this is the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in marriage to Christ, presented you as a pure virgin to her husband. And now I’m afraid that exactly as the snake seduced Eve with his smooth patter, you are being lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ. …….. I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s door time after time. I’ve been flogged five times with the Jews’ thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I’ve been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I’ve had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I’ve been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I’ve known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather. And that’s not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches. When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut. (When you someone has been duped into sin - does an angy fire burn in your gut). If I have to “brag” about myself, I’ll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus. The eternal and blessed God and Father of our Master Jesus knows I’m not lying. Remember the time I was in Damascus and the governor of King Aretas posted guards at the city gates to arrest me? I crawled through a window in the wall, was let down in a basket, and had to run for my life. Watch the following - there is only one way to follow Christ. youtube/watch?v=32XhShqFi88
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 10:42:52 +0000
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