I have been taking my time through 2 Corinthians because each passage is so stinking incredible.
God has used this book to make me want to change everything about how I live. It's pretty crazy because as I was praying for God to do all these things in me (I prayed pretty specifically), a random freshman came up to me, gave me a folder, and said "I wrote my journal entry about you for English class." I read her entry in which she wrote about how there's a difference between joy and happiness, and she said that she has happiness but can see that God can give joy and peace like He has given to Hope Chambers (me!) It was really cool to read this because it had very little to do with me and mostly to do with God and how HE can give joy; I'm just an example of someone who has received such joy. A friend gave me some really good advice last time I talked to him and expressed to him my discouragement about seeing such little fruit on my mission field (a lukewarm Christian school): he told me that my job is to be satisfied in the LORD and to let that shine to those around me. Once I stopped focusing on what I was doing and focusing more on who I was becoming, life became much less depressing and I relied much less on myself and much more on God. I suppose the effects of ministering to God foremost and ministering to people as overflow have been more successful also. I hope that doesn't sound prideful or anything; really, it's just so amazing that God answered my prayer and satisfies in a noticeable way!
Here's a brief stroll through what I have learned so far from 2 Corinthians...and I know a lot of it seems straightforward but seriously, these concepts are so unbelievably deep.
-Christ leads us in triumphal procession, proclaiming to all creation what He has done in the lives of His people. We should be a beautiful scent to the people around us, spreading the knowledge of Him everywhere. (See my most recent entry.)
-The Holy Spirit is more permanent and more glorious than the 10 Commandments, and the 10 Commandments were extremely glorious. WE HAVE GOD'S SPIRIT. We cannot underestimate His power!!! My goodness, how I underestimate the Holy Spirit that I posses!
-Christ has torn the veils off our faces, and by this freedom from the Spirit we can behold His glory and be transformed to be more like Jesus.
-We are ugly horrible broken jars of clay but we contain a great treasure: THE GOSPEL. We must let the Gospel emanate through our lives in everything we do.
-We must look "not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Cor 4:18) If something can be seen or touched by humans, it is probably not everlasting. Praise God that His Word is more than a book, His church is more than a building, and His love is more than goosebumps. God is indestructible. I now see the beauty of faith. If something doesn't require faith, it is probably not eternal.
-I am thankful that GOD is my inheritance. In Joshua 13, Moses was giving different tribes different portions of land, "But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance; the Lord God of Israel is their inheritance, just as he said to them." They received no tangible portion, but He is their inheritance, and that is more than enough. God has given me good things like a house, a family to snuggle with, friends to have fun with, a bed, etc., but all these things can be destroyed by fire, killed, or stolen. My heart cannot stop praising Him because He is everlasting by nature! The things of God cannot be seen, this is true, but I am so glad that He requires faith because things that can be seen aren't guaranteed and are not constant. We don't need to worry about anything for two reasons: 1) What do I have to lose? My life? Yay. My car/house/stuff? So what? The only important thing (God's love) cannot be taken away from us because He promised us so. 2) The safest place in the world is the center of His will...and even then we are not promised that we won't die or get hurt; but even then we know that's according to His perfect plan and He will be glorified through it. The LORD has promised us everlasting life, and He has never backed down on his promises. There hasn't been another earth-cleansing flood. His love for his people is secure because of what Jesus did. I have said words similar to this before, but they develop more and more meaning as time passes. The weight of His truth becomes heavier and heavier, and deeper and deeper imprinted on my heart. The LORD is my inheritance.
-God, who said "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Can you imagine how powerful that command was that God made? "Let let shine out of darkness." Can you imagine the world if He had not said that? And that same God has shone light into our hearts! What power!
So in conclusion, I think I have been underestimating everything...the power of the Gospel, how much it means for God to shine through us, our inheritance through Christ, the God-ness of the Holy Spirit. This is real stuff, not fiction, not "a part of our lives." Religion is not something God made. He just is, and the universe is to respond accordingly.
And I've been really humbled too. God has convicted me of a lot of sin in my life, which is very good because I was becoming extremely self-righteous and my heart was disgusting. It hurts to be humbled and sometimes I feel like I can hardly breathe because I hate myself so much, but through this I can also learn a lot about God's grace and how He is faithful even when I am unfaithful. (2 Timothy 2:13)
-The Holy Spirit is more permanent and more glorious than the 10 Commandments, and the 10 Commandments were extremely glorious. WE HAVE GOD'S SPIRIT. We cannot underestimate His power!!! My goodness, how I underestimate the Holy Spirit that I posses!
-Christ has torn the veils off our faces, and by this freedom from the Spirit we can behold His glory and be transformed to be more like Jesus.
-We are ugly horrible broken jars of clay but we contain a great treasure: THE GOSPEL. We must let the Gospel emanate through our lives in everything we do.
-We must look "not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Cor 4:18) If something can be seen or touched by humans, it is probably not everlasting. Praise God that His Word is more than a book, His church is more than a building, and His love is more than goosebumps. God is indestructible. I now see the beauty of faith. If something doesn't require faith, it is probably not eternal.
-I am thankful that GOD is my inheritance. In Joshua 13, Moses was giving different tribes different portions of land, "But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance; the Lord God of Israel is their inheritance, just as he said to them." They received no tangible portion, but He is their inheritance, and that is more than enough. God has given me good things like a house, a family to snuggle with, friends to have fun with, a bed, etc., but all these things can be destroyed by fire, killed, or stolen. My heart cannot stop praising Him because He is everlasting by nature! The things of God cannot be seen, this is true, but I am so glad that He requires faith because things that can be seen aren't guaranteed and are not constant. We don't need to worry about anything for two reasons: 1) What do I have to lose? My life? Yay. My car/house/stuff? So what? The only important thing (God's love) cannot be taken away from us because He promised us so. 2) The safest place in the world is the center of His will...and even then we are not promised that we won't die or get hurt; but even then we know that's according to His perfect plan and He will be glorified through it. The LORD has promised us everlasting life, and He has never backed down on his promises. There hasn't been another earth-cleansing flood. His love for his people is secure because of what Jesus did. I have said words similar to this before, but they develop more and more meaning as time passes. The weight of His truth becomes heavier and heavier, and deeper and deeper imprinted on my heart. The LORD is my inheritance.
-God, who said "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Can you imagine how powerful that command was that God made? "Let let shine out of darkness." Can you imagine the world if He had not said that? And that same God has shone light into our hearts! What power!
So in conclusion, I think I have been underestimating everything...the power of the Gospel, how much it means for God to shine through us, our inheritance through Christ, the God-ness of the Holy Spirit. This is real stuff, not fiction, not "a part of our lives." Religion is not something God made. He just is, and the universe is to respond accordingly.
And I've been really humbled too. God has convicted me of a lot of sin in my life, which is very good because I was becoming extremely self-righteous and my heart was disgusting. It hurts to be humbled and sometimes I feel like I can hardly breathe because I hate myself so much, but through this I can also learn a lot about God's grace and how He is faithful even when I am unfaithful. (2 Timothy 2:13)
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