Tag Archives: 2 Corinthians 9:1-15

Daily Bible Study

September 07, 2014 Bible Study — Give Generously

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 22:24-25

    Be careful about befriending and associating with people who have trouble controlling their temper. their lack of control will tend to rub off on you. We learn to behave like our friends and those we associate with. Let us choose our friends and associates accordingly. Let us befriend and associate with those who behave in a godly way so that we learn from them to behave accordingly.

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Psalm 51:1-19

    Only by God’s mercy can we be cleansed from our sin. Ultimately, all of our sins are against God, it is to Him we must answer. Only God has the standing to hold us morally responsible. Other people are our equals and have no moral authority over us, except that which is derived from God.
    Nevertheless, we are all sinners before God. None of us have the ability to redeem ourselves, we cannot do so by offering sacrifices. We cannot make up for our sins by doing good, since whenever we are not doing good we are adding to our burden of sin. It is only when we recognize our sin and brokenness that we can approach God. It is when we call on God to heal our sin, contrite for our failure to live according to His desire that we will receive His forgiveness and healing. If we call out to God with remorse for our sins, He will create a pure heart within us and renew our spirits. Keith Green wrote a great song based on this psalm. I often sing it to myself when I desire to call upon the Holy Spirit to take over my life, something I do not as often as I should.

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2 Corinthians 9:1-15

    Paul reminds the Corinthian Church of the importance of following through on projects which we propose and get others enthusiastic about, something I often struggle with. When we suggest to others an idea about how we as a group can serve God, it is important that we do our part (this does not mean that we cannot suggest something to others that we do not feel God calling us to, as long as we make that clear from the start).
    This passage is often used by those who preach variations on “Prosperity Gospel”, the idea that doing God’s will is a way to achieve health and wealth. The key to that misreading is the mistaken idea that God’s blessings are primarily material in nature. God’s blessings are only occasionally material in nature. When God gives us great material wealth, it is not a blessing, it is a tool. When God gives us physical well-being it is so that we can use that to carry out His work. God does not give us material wealth and good health in order for us to spend it on ourselves and our pleasures. He gives us those things so that we can use them to serve Him. However, the more we use the resources God gives us to serve Him, the more opportunity He will give us to serve Him. So, let us use the resources God gives us to serve Him in whatever way that we can. What I have is not my own, it is God’s to be used to further His Kingdom.

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Song of Solomon 5-8:14

    Having told us not to awaken sexual desire until the time is right (and the person is right), the writer talks about the dangers of playing hard to get. If you play hard-to-get with the person you love, you may find that they believe you and move on. Do not play games when God brings the person meant for you into your life.
    The poem suggests that brothers should protect their sisters from predatory men, from men who will attempt to take advantage of them sexually. If their sisters are sexually inexperienced, they should block those who try to take advantage. If their sisters are sexually active, they should strive to block men from taking advantage. I will say that sisters should do the same for their brothers. There are women who are sexually predatory as men. We should strive to encourage those we care for to settle for nothing less than a monogamous, life-long relationship with the person of the opposite sex God intended for them (although we should recognize that God has called some to be celibate their entire life).

Daily Bible Study

September 7, 2013 Bible Study — God Loves a Cheerful Giver

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

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Song of Solomon 5-8:14

     I am not sure of my understanding of today’s passage. I may be misreading what is intended. However, it appears to me that the young woman is portrayed as playing hard to get. When she does this, the young man turns away. She realizes her mistake and pursues him. This gets her into trouble. She asks her friends to tell her lover that she wants him back. They both express their continued love for one another. The young woman wishes that she did not have to be mindful of the rules of propriety. Once more the young woman tells other women to wait until the time is right to allow sexual elements into a relationship. Finally, we have a young woman’s brothers vowing to what is in their power to protect their sister from being used by other men.

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2 Corinthians 9:1-15

     Paul tells the Corinthians that he does not really think he needed to write to remind them to give to this ministry, since it was their idea in the first place. As a matter of fact, it was Paul telling them about the Corinthian’s enthusiasm for giving to this ministry that inspired the Macedonian believers to give. However, Paul wanted to make sure that the Corinthians were aware that he had been telling others about what they were doing so that they were prepared when these others came to Corinth.
     Paul continues by telling them that any gift they give should be just that, a gift. They should only give that which they are willing to give and should not give anything out of a feeling of compulsion. Each individual should decide for themselves how much to give. They should only give that which they can give without reluctance and no one should make anyone feel compelled to give. If we share freely with those in need out of our surplus, God will see to it that we always have sufficient surplus to give to those in need. Paul tells us that two good things result when we give from our surplus to those in need. The first is that those in need have their needs met, but just as importantly, others will praise God because of our generosity.

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     This passage points out that we should give to help those in need out of recognition of the fact that all that we have is a gift from God. It is ours to do with as we will, but God gave it to us so that we can bring glory to His name. In addition, Paul’s teaching here reminds us of Jesus’ parable of the talents. There Jesus told that each of us has been given resources from God that we are to put to use for God’s gain. Those who make the best use of those resources will be given more. This is true of those who serve God with their resources and those who do not. The main difference being that those who serve God with their resources have a different idea about what is best…and about what is more. Mother Theresa (there are probably better examples than Mother Theresa, but since they were so successful, no one has ever heard of them) would have said that she had more than Bill Gates.
     There is another point I want to make about this passage. From time to time, someone will argue that Christians should favor government programs that help the poor, based on various passages which tell us that we are to help the poor. However, this passage makes it clear that each individual is to decide for themselves how much they are called to give to the poor and that no one is to feel compelled to give any more than that amount. There are many arguments against government aid for the poor, but I am only going to make one here. Government aid for the poor is never voluntary. It always requires a certain amount from each person according to what someone else believes is that person’s surplus, not according to what that person believes is their surplus. That runs directly contrary to what Paul is teaching here. I am not being charitable when I spend your money to help the poor (although I may be being charitable by spending my time doing so).

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Psalm 51:1-19

     I love this psalm. It contains so many points of the Gospel message.

  • I am a sinner. I have sinned time and again.
  • Only God can cleanse me from my sin. There is nothing I can do myself to make my sins right. It is only by accepting God’s cleansing that my sin can be forgiven.
  • It is only by recognizing that without God I am broken that I can be healed.
  • Any true joy that I will experience is a gift from God.
  • Once God has cleansed me and healed me, I have an obligation to teach others about His grace. This is not to show them how much better than them I am (because I’m not), but to show them how they too can be cleansed and healed.
  • There is nothing I can give God that He needs, what He wants from me is for me to recognize how much I need His grace.

The only way that I can please God is by surrendering control over my life unto Him. I have failed God repeatedly. I ask Him to fill me with His Spirit and take control of my life so that I may serve His will. I strive time and again to give God control. I ask that He take that control and use me to bring glory to His name.

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Proverbs 22:24-25

     It is dangerous to hang out with those who do not control their temper because we may learn to behave in the same way.

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Daily Bible Study

September 7, 2012 Bible Study

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

Magrat

Song of Solomon 5-8:14

     Today the Song of Solomon continues. Elements of today’s passage indicate that these two lovers are going to be sexually active with each other. However, there are also elements which suggest that they had remained chaste until they had found the person they would share the rest of their life with. In addition, there is a passage that advises young men to guard their sister’s virtue:

We have a little sister,
And she has no breasts;
What shall we do for our sister
On the day when she is spoken for?
“If she is a wall,
We will build on her a battlement of silver;
But if she is a door,
We will barricade her with planks of cedar.” (NASB)

Immediately after this the bride in this song tells us that she was a wall. This passage places the human sexual drive into its proper context, between a man and a woman who have made a lifelong commitment to one another. One of the reasons that I have trouble connecting with the Song of Solomon is that, even though I see in it an echo of how I view my wife, I do not find many of the metaphors used by the young man for his lover particularly attractive. For example, I find the image that the following metaphor draws up in my mind rather unappealing: “Your hair falls in waves, like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.” I like my wife’s hair, but when I think of a flock of goats, I think of something that smells rather offensive. My wife’s hair smells of cleanliness. I am quite sure that the writer of the Song of Solomon had no intention to conjure up the odor of goats with that metaphor, but that is the image that is conjured up for me.

Magrat watches

2 Corinthians 9:1-15

     Paul writes to the Corinthians that he is sending Titus and a couple of others ahead of him so that the Corinthians have time to make sure that they have collected the funds that they had said they would. I think there are two things to be taken away from this part of this passage. The first is that we should be sure to follow through on ideas that we sell to the larger body of believers. It was the Corinthians who first had the idea of a collection to meet the needs of the believers in Jerusalem. The second thing is that those who find themselves leaders in the Church should gently remind people of the plans they have initiated and prod them to follow through, as Paul is doing here.
     Paul tells us that if we give generously and cheerfully we will always have enough to meet our needs with enough left over to share with others. Take note however that he does not say we will have enough to meet our wants with enough to share with others. I pray that God will help me to discipline myself to match the level of giving that I have felt called to.

Tabitha watches

Psalm 51:1-19

     I call out to God along with the psalmist for God to have mercy on me, for I am a sinner. If God will purify us we will be clean of our sins and there is no other manner in which this can be accomplished. I praise God that He has done so through bringing me to faith in Jesus Christ. I pray continually that He will create within me a clean heart. I am broken and frail upon this earth and I seek His healing for my brokenness. I thank God that he has done so and continues to do so. He gives me joy in His salvation. I continue to pray that He make me ever more willing to obey Him. I pray that He will give me the words to reach those who have yet to accept Him so that they might turn to Him and be saved. God does not desire sacrifice. He desires that we acknowledge how far we have fallen short of His standard and that we are powerless to keep His commands without His help.

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Proverbs 22:24-25

     Today’s proverb tells us that we should be careful about spending too much time with people who do not control their temper. That it is too easy to be influenced by such people to not control our own temper. Elsewhere he has laid out the dangers of failing to control one’s temper. Here he touches once again on the fact that our behavior is influenced by the behavior of those we spend time with. We should spend our time with those who behave in the manner that we desire that we should behave.