2 Corinthians 5 - 1.1.24

Happy New Year church family!

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:17; 20- Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; The old has gone, the new is here!…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.

Observation

Paul is saying that because of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, reconciliation with God has been made possible. David Guzik’s commentary on enduringword.com says that Paul could be imploring “the whole world on Christ’s behalf” or imploring “Corinthian Christians on Christ’s behalf.” “The thought is valid either way, and both ideas may be in mind.”

Application

Be reconciled to God and join us for our 28 days of prayer and fasting.

Another word for reconciliation is restoration, like restoring something that is broken or not working as it should or used to work (Source: New Oxford American Dictionary).

When my relationship with the Lord doesn’t feel secure or as deep as it should be, it’s 100% my fault. Prayer and fasting always helps me during those times, such as fasting meals so that I could spend more quiet time with Him and rely on Him. Also, getting off social media for a month helps me to quiet my mind and fill it more with Him through prayer, journaling and reading His Word and other books that point me to Christ. The amazing thing is that when my relationship with Christ is good, it affects all other areas of my life and relationships too, for the better!

Come join us as we pray and fast as a church family for 28 days!The kickoff is this Wednesday, January 3rd at 6:30p. Here are a couple more links with information on it:

Prayer and Fasting

https://www.desertstreams.com/28days

One on One’s

https://www.desertstreams.com/one-on-one

Prayer

Dear Lord,

I pray over this New Year and this week as we kick off our 28 days as a church family. May our roots grow deeper with You and may we eliminate any and all distractions that keep us away from You. May we be reconciled in our minds and hearts with our relationship with You. Amen.

-Michelle Gaddi

2 Corinthians 4 - 12.29.23

Scripture : 2 Corinthians 4:13-18

“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.”

Observation: 

Verse 13 says we believe and therefore we speak. We are to share our faith that the one who raised Jesus from the dead will also raise us. When we do, we will get a great reward.  God is glorified as an ever increasing amount of people rejoice at this news. 

Even people in Paul’s times got discouraged (vs. 16). Paul offers a solution. We are to fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is eternal.  Also, we can remember the troubles we experience now will reap eternal glory. We can be renewed on the inside daily. 

Application:

I need to seek God each day to fill me with a spirit of faith, not focusing on the trials around me.  Instead, fixing my eyes on who God is and his power that raised Jesus from the dead. BTW that power also is given to us. (Romans 8:11) What a hope we have that others need to hear. 

This has become extra real to me as my Uncle passed away and my cousin is dealing with the sudden death of his mom last March and now this. The pain is real, but we have hope. We need to speak it out because we never know if the people we meet and those we love have another day. 

Prayer:

Dear Lord,

Thank you so much for all you have done for us. Coming as a baby was such a humbling experience. The God of the universe having to cry so his mom knows he needs to be changed. You did not come in vain, but died for our sins and on the third day you rose from the dead to give us everlasting life. 

Please help me to have this truth at the front of my mind daily and the joy that goes with it. So, I will not be able to keep quiet. My faith will prompt me to share with others and as this passage says “more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.”

Amen. 

- Cindy Howard

Psalms 42 - 12.28.23

SCRIPTURE: Psalms 42:1-2 CEV

“As a deer gets thirsty for streams of water, I truly am thirsty for you, my God. 

In my heart, I am thirsty for you, the living God. When will I see your face?”

OBSERVATION 

A psalm attributed to the sons of a Korah.

This psalm begins with a powerful image – a deer aching with thirst.

Perhaps the thirst came from drought or from heated pursuit; either way, the deer longed for and needed water. In the same way, the psalmist’s soul longed for and needed God.

The word thirst is taken from: arag: to cry out or deeply long for.

It’s not—I’m a little bit thirsty-

It’s—I’m in deep agony and in desperate need for water.

In this analogy the deer is crying out in distress.

APPLICATION 

Learning to be thirsty for God

I like how Spurgeon put this:

“Ease he did not seek, honour he did not covet, but the enjoyment of communion with God was an urgent need of his soul; he viewed it not merely as the sweetest of all luxuries, but as an absolute necessity, like water to a deer.”

“Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again. 

But no one who drinks the water I give will ever be thirsty again. 

The water I give will become in that person a flowing fountain that gives eternal life.””

(John 4:13-14 CEV)

I am simply sitting pondering today and asking God for a deep and desperate thirst for Him.

“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

(Jeremiah 29:12-13 NIV)

“Deep calls onto Deep” (Psalm 42:7a NIV)

“Whatever the “depths” of our need, sorrow, or desire, 

IN God there is a FULL “Depth” of supply that may be obtained.” (FB Meyer)

PRAYER

Lord Jesus 

I pray today that my heart will desperately thirst and long for You as a priority of my life. YOU are the direct source of ALL I need and ALL I desire.

I desire to have More of You.  To be immersed in Your Presence.

Draw me near. Make my life Your living Worship.

In Jesus Name, amen.

Tina L Kudelka