The Word of God for wisdom:
Proverbs 23:6-8 (HCSB)
6 Don't eat a stingy person's bread, and don't desire his choice food,
7 for it's like someone calculating inwardly. "Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
8 You will vomit the little you've eaten and waste your pleasant words.
The Word of God for inspiration:
Psalm 56:3 (HCSB)
3 When I am afraid, I will trust in You.
The Word of God for encouragement:
2 Corinthians 12:14-15 (HCSB)
14 Now I am ready to come to you this third time. I will not burden you, for I am not seeking what is yours, but you. For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.
15 I will most gladly spend and be spent for you. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?
2 Corinthians 12:19-21 (HCSB)
19 You have thought all along that we were defending ourselves to you. [No], in the sight of God we are speaking in Christ, and everything, dear friends, is for building you up.
20 For I fear that perhaps when I come I will not find you to be what I want, and I may not be found by you to be what you want; there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.
21 I fear that when I come my God will again humiliate me in your presence, and I will grieve for many who sinned before and have not repented of the moral impurity, sexual immorality, and promiscuity they practiced.
My observation:
In our focal passage for today we see the shepherd's heart of the Apostle Paul. His focus was not on himself, but upon God's people in the church at Corinth. Like a loving father, Paul wanted to visit Corinth for the third time, but he feared what he would find upon his arrival.
He would have hoped for his visit to be a time that would be joyful, but he feared that because of their sins it would be a time when he would have to meet out discipline. However, even this would be an expression of his love for them.
When we mess up the best thing that we can do is to fess up.
Acts 3:19 (HCSB)
19 Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out, that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
1 John 1:9 (HCSB)
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
My prayer:
Our Father in heaven, my dear Father, I pray that you will instill in the hearts of your children a heart of compassion for others. Father, may our goal be that those who are sinning would turn from their sins, and turn to you for forgiveness and cleansing. In Jesus name, Amen.
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3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
4 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.
5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.
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