Day 240: 2 Corinthians 2:12-17

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” - 2 Corinthians‬ ‭2:14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Roman triumphal processions were common in the first century Empire. It had to do with slaves the armies led to execution. Paul draws on this picture as he writes that this is the proper view of what Jesus was doing with his life.

Ben Witherington helps us as he wrote, “As God drags Paul around as his slave, the knowledge of Christ emanates from Paul wherever he goes.”

The Corinthians were very unimpressed with Paul’s insistence on humility. His GoFundMe wasn’t flush with cash, and he wasn’t seeking one million Instagram followers. Paul didn't seek to build his own brand. He was in it to sacrifice for his Lord Jesus.

Where does this leave us? We are the true aroma of Christ when we reject self-preservation at all costs. We exist, as Christians, to try and bring life to those who smell us. There is significant risk in committing to this lifestyle, but it is a decision we won’t regret.

It is worth it to follow Jesus, in life or death.

Paul's words are being brought into full view for us today as we see our brothers and sisters in Christ walking through extreme suffering because of their faith around the world.

Oh, the stories we will tell for eternity in heaven of God’s unending faithfulness and the honor of obeying Him.

Day 239: 2 Corinthians 1:12-24, 2:1-11

“When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ’s authority for your benefit, so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.” - 2 Corinthians 2:10-11 NLT

Paul is here referencing the man he had rebuked in 1 Corinthians 5 for sleeping with his stepmom (I know, gross). As you can imagine, it caused a stir throughout all the house churches.

Whenever there is division among Christians, we know who the initiator is: The Devil (our adversary). God, on the other hand, is always trying to bring us together. Friends. Spouses. Even those we naturally bump heads with.

The last word in these two verses is noema in Greek (schemes). In a more fleshed-out view, the word means the content of thinking and reasoning. (Nida/Louw Lexicon)

The mind of the Devil never stops working to tear us apart, and his method is to encourage us to see another human as standing in our way, preventing us from happiness.

Can you see how Eve, then Adam, gave in to the deceit of the Devil in the Garden of Eden?

The temptations that come are always sugar-coated with something that seems like it will satisfy.

Let’s pray the last part of the Lord’s prayer as often as possible:

“And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.”

- Matthew 6:13 NIV

Day 238: 2 Corinthians 1:1-11

"In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we learned not to rely on ourselves, but on God who can raise the dead." - 2 Corinthians 1:9 NLT

The Greek word that is used for comfort in our passage today is parakaleo. This is very similar to the term that's used to describe the Holy Spirit. It can also be translated as to encourage, to urge, or to cause someone to be consoled.

Paul gives the Corinthians strong teaching about troubles and parakaleo-ing each other, and then in verses 8-11, he shows them how they helped save his life from afar. How did they do it? What was the great difference-maker in bringing Paul comfort?

It was their prayers.

Paul really believed that his life was spared in Asia Minor, because people in southern Greece were praying. He was crushed and overwhelmed and didn't think he would make it (verse 8).

Yet the church in Corinth prayed.

What differences will we make when we pray?

Never believe the lie that your prayers don't matter. They can (and will) make all the difference.

In 1914, Miriam Arnold wrote the following chorus to a beautiful hymn. What a great reminder these words are!

O how praying rests the weary

Prayer can change your night to day

So, in sorrow and in gladness

Don't forget to pray.

Day 237: 1 Corinthians 16:1-24

“Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love.” - ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭16:13-14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

These two verses have it all when it comes to practical advice for living as a Christian. I love these five so much that I pray them over my son every day. Here is how it breaks down:

On guard - there are no off-days as Christians; we have to be ready

Stand on faith - not on our own efforts, but Jesus’

Courageous - we need to be brave and unintimidated by the world

Strong - this is the same Greek word used for Jesus and John the Baptist as they grew up; I'd say we want what they had

Love - wanting what is spiritually best for us and others (not just what we want)

On another note, the older I get, the more refreshing the ends of Paul's letters become to me. I love seeing the teams that God gave him in order to do ministry all across the Mediterranean. 

I'm also encouraged by the tone of endearment he gave. These weren't just people Paul had assembled to do his bidding. He saw them as family members worth his sacrifice, people he wanted to see thrive in their pursuit of Jesus.

Our challenge for today is to realize that we won't accomplish the above list of five without each other and our Advocate, Jesus.

Day 236: 1 Corinthians 15:29-58

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” - 1 Corinthians‬ ‭15:58‬ ‭NASB‬‬

This is such a fantastic verse to share with those who are struggling to hold on. The very thought of becoming immovable strikes us with the courage to face whatever is to come. It is the Greek word ametakinētos, which can also be translated as not to be moved from place to place. (LSJ) When we stand with Jesus, we will not need to stand anywhere else for this life and the one to come!

Yet still, how can we stand so assured, knowing that our work for Jesus isn’t useless (all for nothing)? Resurrection is yet again the answer. The hope of new bodies. A new heaven and a new earth. A day when all things will be made new (see Revelation 21:1-7).

C.S. Lewis’ thoughts fit well here: “He (God) knows what a wretched machine you are trying to drive. Keep on. Do what you can. One day (perhaps in another world, but perhaps far sooner than that) He will fling it on the scrap-heap and give you a new one.”

Don’t give up just yet. Dig your heels in if you need to. Do whatever it takes to make sure your dependence on Jesus grows more and more every day. In the end, we won’t regret it.

See, I will create

new heavens and a new earth.

The former things will not be remembered,

nor will they come to mind.

- Isaiah 65:17 NIV

Day 235: 1 Corinthians 15:1-28

“And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world.” - 1 Corinthians 15:19 NLT

Have you ever met a truly miserable person? Maybe you’ve seen yourself in this kind of state. A miserable person is someone who has nothing to look forward to. It seems that this is one of the favorites of our enemy, the Devil. If he can get us to believe that tomorrow isn’t worth living, he feels as though he has won.

As Christians, we know that Jesus’ resurrection ensures that we will always have something better ahead of us. This is despite the painful circumstances we will face.

We know Jesus was raised, and we understand that this means we will one day be raised as well. We are assured of this because of our being united with Jesus when we came to faith initially (Romans 6:4-6).

The world may pity us because of our faith, but we can smile — because we know the truth. The empty tomb continues to be the proof.

Now the challenge is to share our salvation story with the world.

“We all announce that Christ died, was buried, and was raised. There is no Christianity without this affirmation.” - C.K. Barrett

Life is worth living. Jesus being alive is the evidence.

Day 234: 1 Corinthians 14:18-40

“For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,” - 1 Corinthians 14:33 ESV

How is it that a worship service should be ordered? The church in Corinth was a hot mess of chaos each and every time they met. So, Paul lays out the purpose of these times of worship in verse 27: "Everything must be done so that the church may be built up." It is clear that chaotic Christian worship will not end in the encouragement of the believers, nor will it bring about the salvation of those who have yet to believe.

Even Paul's comment about women being silent in verse 34 is wrapped into this context. For the first time in this Greco-Roman world, women were treated as equals without any education. Of course, they had a plethora of questions to ask on Sundays, but these could be asked at a later time.

Some of us don't enjoy structure. It feels too tight and rigid. We need to remember that everything God has ever done was brought about with intention and not with haphazardness. He expects our times of worship to reflect His character.

This also assumes the incredible amount of importance Jesus lays on Christians assembling together regularly for organized worship. Corporate worship isn't optional for the followers of Jesus, and it needs to be fine-tuned, even if it takes some hard work.

"Life in the Spirit is not chaotic and disorderly. Vibrancy and order are not enemies but friends, and the gifts can be controlled since God himself is not a God of disorder, chaos and confusion, but of peace and order." - Schreiner, T. R. (2018). 1 Corinthians (E. J. Schnabel, Ed.; Vol. 7, pp. 295–296)

"God, we ask that all people be convicted of sin as we worship intentionally together. We pray that we all would fall down and worship you, exclaiming that You are in our midst. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 233: 1 Corinthians 14:1-17

“What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.” - 1 Corinthians 14:15 ESV

Everything we do in a worship service needs to engage the mind. At no point does Paul encourage us to turn off our mental faculties and "let the Spirit lead" as we enter into spontaneous confusion.

For centuries, Hinduism has been preaching the importance of emptying our minds of all things to achieve nirvana, the highest spiritual state. Mind-zero isn't the goal of the Christian.

Sure, we engage our spirits (our deep breaths) with excitement and passion, but if our minds remain untapped, our experiences lack portability or substance. We will have nothing to translate into our actual lives as we try to shine bright in this world.

All of this teaching on tongues and prophecy may be confusing. Still, we have to remember how crucial it was to the early church, where the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) wouldn't be written for another ten years after Paul wrote this first letter to the Corinthians in around 53 AD.

What a blessing to be able to read the completed New Testament, to fill our spirits and minds to the brim as we burst forth in thoughtful and soul-refreshing praise.

"Rational prayer is not less spiritual than irrational." - C.K. Barrett

Day 232: 1 Corinthians 12:27-31, 13:1-13

"Love will last forever." - 1 Corinthians 13:8 NLT

One of the most cherished passages in the entire Bible is this one in 1 Corinthians 13. Yet you won't find a more challenging section in all of Scripture. All the facets of love do not come to us a la carte. We cannot commit to being patient without also keeping no record of wrongs.

So there are two questions that arise from this:

1. How are we ever going to live up to the standard love sets?

2. Isn't it risky to treat another flawed human being this way?

The answer to the first question is that we won't live up to the standard, at least on our own strength. God not only sets the standard for love (1 John 4:7-21), he also empowers us to start loving the way He does (Galatians 2:20).

In answering the second question, we need to know that to love someone else is to take all of the risks of them not reciprocating. Jesus saw this as a risk worth taking for us when He went to the cross. His sacrificial love is still saving nearly 2,000 years later!

So much in our world is failing. Not love. It stubbornly persists.

"Love is permanent; it never fails, where the verb commonly means ‘to fall’. It comes to be used with the meaning ‘collapse,’ ‘suffer ruin.’ Love will never suffer such a fate. ‘Many waters cannot quench love’ (Ct. 8:7)." - Leon Morris

Day 231: 1 Corinthians 12:1-26

“Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.” - 1 Corinthians‬ ‭12:13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Our culture is obsessed with rankings and comparisons. LeBron or Jordan? IU or Purdue? Chocolate or vanilla? Country or rock? So this naturally leads us to ask, “Who is the most important member of the local church I attend?” Definitely not a good question to ask.

Paul lays waste to this kind of thinking. There is, in fact, no ranking system in the body of Christ.  This was as revolutionary in the first century as it is today. For the first time in human history, a slave could be counted as equal in standing among the elite.

Today, our culture may say that all are created equal, but most don’t live and work that way.

The Church is a body. If you are a Christian, you are a member of that body, and you matter as much as anyone else. Actually, Paul says that if you think yourself insignificant (the weakest), you may be the most necessary.

The truth is that God doesn’t need us to be a part of His church — He wants us. Still, we do need each other. We need everyone to exercise their gifts.

"Individual members cannot contract out. The disputes at Corinth seem to have depressed some of the less gifted members of the church. They wondered whether they had any right to belong to so august a body, including as it did people with such wonderful and spectacular gifts. Paul gives encouragement to the lowly." - Morris, L. (1985). 1 Corinthians (Vol. 7, p. 169)