Personal Devotions
Notes from Mark's personal Bible reading and meditation
With a goal to apply one truth from each day's reading to my life that day
Oct 9, 2024, 9:12 AM
Passage Read: 2 Corinthians 6-7
Meditation Verse: 6:3
Thought
This is a tough statement to process. Paul determines to give no cause for offense in anything. How does he mean that? Certainly not in his teachings, because the Gospel has offended many Jews, and his other teachings have offended many others. Obviously, the whole situation with the sinning man hit everyone hard, and this letter, at least up to this point, has a different feel from the first letter.
Oct 8, 2024, 9:14 AM
Passage Read: 2 Corinthians 4-5
Meditation Verse: 4:2
Thought
Anything that brings shame, instead of hiding it, covering it, continuing in it but claiming freedom, deceiving people about it, Paul renounced it. If he could not practice it publicly because it was shameful, he did away with it. He didn't try to convince everyone that it was honorable or a source of pride; he turned away from it and ceased to practice it.
Oct 7, 2024, 9:15 AM
Passage Read: 2 Corinthians 2-3
Meditation Verses: 2:6-8
Thought
This is likely in reference to the man in 1 Corinthians 5, but whether him or some other brother, the point remains. Church discipline is not for the purpose of eternal rejection, but to impress on the unrepentant their need for repentance. So there should be no hatred of the sinner, but only love, a love that desperately seeks their repentance and desires restoration. When the sinner repents, we should have no difficulty in forgiving him and restoring him to fellowship.
Oct 6, 2024, 9:16 AM
Passage Read: 1 Corinthians 16 - 2 Corinthians 1
Meditation Verse: 2 Corinthians 1:7
Thought
Those whom God has chosen, He will also preserve in Christ. Those whom God has chosen, when they suffer for Christ, they will also receive from God His comfort, so that they will not be discouraged or embittered against God for what they suffer. Those whom God has chosen will have also chosen Him to such degree that no matter what trial comes their way, they will remain faithful to Jesus.
Sep 22, 2023, 2:04 PM
Passage Read: 2 Corinthians 12-13
Meditation Verses: 13:1-4
Thought
Sin should not be so difficult to discern, if every matter can be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. But it requires a clarity of God's Word. If we don't know what God requires or expects, we cannot know if someone has violated that standard, in which case it doesn't matter how many witnesses there are, we can't convict anyone of sin! But Paul is basically stating that if we're clear on what God desires, then it shouldn't be that difficult to determine if someone has sinned (and remained unrepentant).
Sep 21, 2023, 2:05 PM
Passage Read: 2 Corinthians 10-11
Meditation Verses: 11:23-29
Thought
These are the marks of a true servant of Christ. How can any man think he knows Christ unless he had suffered like this in order to proclaim Christ to those who have yet to hear? How can any man think he is close to Christ unless he has suffered in like manner for the gospel and the lost? Who can compare himself to Paul in terms of service? So who can dare to judge Paul or debate his word? Paul knows Christ in ways I can't imagine, so who am I to sit in judgment on his teachings?
Sep 20, 2023, 2:07 PM
Passage Read: 2 Corinthians 8-9
Meditation Verses: 8:2-4
Thought
The Macedonians understood that supporting the saints in Jerusalem was a huge honor and privilege. So much so that they didn't let their own trials or poverty limit their giving; they gladly gave beyond their ability. They begged Paul for the honor of sharing with the saints in Jerusalem. They were not concerned about the things of this world; they happily gave up their own things in order to meet needs among the saints in Jerusalem.
Sep 19, 2023, 2:08 PM
Passage Read: 2 Corinthians 6-7
Meditation Verse: 7:1
Thought
Since God promises to live among us and be our God, to adopt us as His own people, to be our father, Paul says our only right response is to purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit. We should perfect holiness in ourselves out of reverence for God. God says to come out from among the unclean things so that He can receive us. If we understand and appreciate the privilege God is offering us here, then we need to make it our diligent purpose to perfect holiness in ourselves. We shouldn't dabble in it, but make it our highest priority.
Sep 18, 2023, 2:10 PM
Passage Read: 2 Corinthians 4-5
Meditation Verses: 5:10-11
Thought
The fact that we will all stand in judgment before Jesus is sobering to Paul, and drives him to seek to persuade men to believe in Jesus. He doesn't think that he's fine and safe because he himself believed the gospel, but he knows what it means to fear the Lord. He doesn't want any reprimand, even if he's guaranteed eternity with Christ. He's not going to kick back and coast into heaven.
Sep 17, 2023, 2:11 PM
Passage Read: 2 Corinthians 2-3
Meditation Verse: 2:4
Thought
Writing the letters to the Corinthians was not easy for Paul. With tears and anguish and distress, he wrote to them, compelled not by bitterness or anger, but by love. In fact, it was the depth of his love for them that compelled him to write what he did. There was no joy in it for him, because he knew there would be no joy in it for them. His only hope was that they might actually repent rather than remain hurt and bitter.