Paula Wiseman

STT: Second Corinthians

Paula — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:20:28 +0000

Second Corinthians is the most underrated, underappreciated book in the New Testament, maybe the whole Bible. In it, Paul is passionately personal in his defense of his ministry and his authority, but he also exhorts and encourages the believers in Corinth in a touching heartfelt way. It is packed with tremendous truth. (I could do several posts on my favorite verses…)

One thing worth noticing, even keeping a list of, is everything Paul says about God, Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit.

For example in 1:3-4, Paul says "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

The Father of mercies
The God of all comfort
He comforts us in our tribulation

Some major topics Paul covers include:

What does it mean to be a minister (and we are)? What are our responsibilities? What should we be doing? (You'll find these answers mostly in chapters 2-6)

What are our responsibilities when it comes to giving? (Look at chapters 8-9)

How a leader should conduct himself and how should we in the body respond? (Try chapters 10-13)

But the guts of the book are found in chapter 5:17-20. It is perhaps the most succinct statement of what God did for us and what our job is as a result. Love these verses!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Is Second Corinthians the most underrated book? If not, which one would you say?

Accepted

Paula — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:17:21 +0000

"to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved." Ephesians 1:6

Accepted.

From the Greek, God "graced" us. He poured it out on us.

That act bestowed high honor and great favor on us.

We don't have to earn it.

We don't have to perform to maintain it.

It is grace.

And we are accepted.

Unity – The Most Difficult Thing

Paula — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:18:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I posed a question – What is the most difficult thing about living a Christian life?

I got several responses through the site and Facebook, and I was surprised to see a common thread. In my nonscientific informal survey, the most difficult thing we face as believers is… other believers.

We are each other's biggest difficulty. How does that happen?

We get satisfied.

We lose grace.

We have more self-righteousness than Christ's righteousness.

We become prima donnas, more concerned about being served than serving Christ or others.

We forget what were saved from.

We forget that we are fellow soldiers and not empire builders.

We prize our agenda about the Kingdom.

Or a host of other possibilities…

It reminds me of a poem my husband heard his pastor quote when he was a kid-

To live above with saints we love,

O, that will be glory.

To live below with saints we know…

Now, that's a different story.

In the hours before Jesus' crucifixion, He prayed that we would be one. Not that we would be the same, but that we would be united. Jesus knew all about our foibles when He saved us, and He intended for us put those to work for Him. His own disciples wrestled with this. Simon the zealot belonged to a political party sworn to assassinate guys like Matthew for being Roman collaborators. They worked it out because they bought into a greater vision.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Psalm 133:1

Contingency Free for Kindle Feb 1-5

Paula — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:48:18 +0000

For the next 5 days you can download a copy of Contingency for your Kindle for free. Pass the word! Thanks!

If you don't have a Kindle, Amazon has free apps so you can read Kindle books on your tablets, smartphones, laptops or desktops. (And they sync, so you can pick up where you left off when you change devices.)

STT: First Corinthians

Paula — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:13:36 +0000

First Corinthians is an extremely relevant book for believers trying to live in culture that is contrary and hostile to faith. A careful reading of the two epistles leads many scholars to believe that we have two out of four letters. The letter is intensely personal and Paul's pastoral heart shows through each line.

Here are few ideas on how to approach a study of First Corinthians.

The book is roughly divided into three sections:

Paul encourages unity within the church. (1:10)
Paul admonishes the church to deal with sin. (5:1)
Paul answers a series of doctrinal and practical questions. (7:1)

Perhaps the easiest way to study the book is to watch for each of these topics and keep track of what Paul says about each one. The key transition words to note are "now concerning" (Your translation may use "now regarding" or some similar expression.) Occasionally, Paul uses "I do not want you to be ignorant" (or unaware).

Second, the book is filled with quick encouragements and instructions that are worth listing.

Third, some questions to consider:

What are believers' responsibilities to God and to each other?

Do Paul's answers/statements challenge your ideas?

What is your favorite verse or passage in First Corinthians?

Opportunities of Weakness

Paula — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:13:33 +0000

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV

I love this.

"My grace" - It's Christ's and He can dispense it as He chooses and He chooses to give it to me.

It gets better.

"Sufficient" – Enough to meet my needs

"Made Perfect" – That's the same Greek word Jesus used on the cross when He cried out, "It is finished!"

The fullness, the completion, the totality of His grace and strength is best revealed in my weakness.

My weaknesses, failures, distresses are all redeemed and turned to opportunities because of His grace.

Sufficient (paulawiseman.com)