2 Cor 1:1-7

Context: Paul is one of the founding members of the Corinthian church. He spent a whole letter rebuking the once led church for sexual sins, splits over leadership and bad use of gifts. Now, he writes a second letter with a softer tone. He is explaining how his hardship with the church is for their wisdom and comfort.





2 cor 1:1-7

From: Paul, a fellow adminastrator of Jesus Christ, recruited by God
And Timothy, the brother in Christ

To: The Corinth Church of God and all people in the surrounding area of Achaia

May God grant you grace and peace as He is the Father of Jesus Christ.

Let's take a moment and give a shout to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, the father of helping out those in need and the caretaker for those who need to be cheered up. He sends a soothing and healing word when we are totally bumming out over life. Then we can be inspired to send soothing and healing words to others, like you.  This Christian life is not just about receiving hard knocks and reality checks like Christ did on the cross, we also need to accept the words of comfort that Jesus supplied so freely.

If my ministry is bugging out I want you to know it is for your ministries betterment and ease. My stress serves to teach you. On the same note, if God shares with us a relaxing and joyful moment we want you to get that as well.  My pain is your pain and my comfort is your comfort. All this for the sake of teaching you guys how to keep on keeping on in hard times.

Do not misunderstand our mission in the church, brothers and sisters. This ministry has been no cake walk. Working in Asia Ministries is hard work. We got the Roman gestapo knocking on our door, endless deadlines and the constant feeling I might not see tomorrow. The feeling of doom has been very familiar in this walk.  But we learned that we can't trust our own decisions and leadership power, but give it up to God instead. (Similar how my words stressed you out so you could rely on God). God has reached out His hand and saved us from some bad spills. We are confident he will do it in the future. We thank you for asking God for help on our behalf and we know that your prayers will lead others to see how awesome God truly is.

2 Corinthians 5:1-15

2 Cor 5:1-15
New Lease on Life

My life is like a broken and shoddy car. It is a knock off of a knock off. If that old car were to break for good I would not worry. God replaces that life with a quality, premium and choice select vehicle that has an endless warranty. This shiny new car was not ruined by 3rd rate human developers, but made by the owner of eternal life. Deep inside I desire the new quality life instead of this old one that won't work properly. The new car smell is driving me crazy. I wish just to reach out and grab it. Honestly, I would rather be found in the brand new ride instead of the broken one.  This new life is always on my mind and I know God put it there to give me a glimpse of hope. It is his spirit's lifetime guarantee.

So we are brave and tough it out even though greater things lay on the other side of this half-priced life. This is our end goal and we see it in our hopes and beliefs...not our eyeballs. We choose the new car over the old one 10 out of 10 times. But whether we are leasing this old junker or partaking in the luxury ride one thing is still top priority: God's pleasure is our aim. We will all have to kneel before Jesus as he takes command from his seat of judgement. From there we will be reviewed by how we lived this life and how we spent our time. Whether good or bad review, we will recieve it.

Therefore, since we do not take God lightly, we use our time and effort to persuade others. God sees us work at it all the time. Our work to his glorious throne is always before him. But this is not bragging and name dropping to impress you, this is to show you a community of believers that care about people like you and about what is inside your heart. We have an extreme range of emotions for our affections. If we are crazy it was for God. If we were calm and collected it was for your sake. It is Jesus' deep affections and encouragements that drive us to do good things. That love died for us and we along with it. But our death is to the old life.

1 Peter 4:1-11

DON'T CRY FOR ME OLD LIFE
Listen up, church. I got news for you. Christ Jesus suffered way worse than we ever did. His body was drained from stem to stern. So we can take a cue from his playbook. Maybe it is not such a shocker when we receive lesser maltreatment from neighbors. We should have the same outlook on life. Those who suffer internally with the stresses of this world are slowly letting the poison of selfishness drain from them.  If you feel the discomfort from this world it means you are on the right track to leave sin.

Because you are putting an axe to the bad habits of your pagan neighbors, you are choosing God's personal management over your life. Very smart move. By now you have punched your card enough times at your old job: the nasty sins of alcholism, addiction, meaningless sex, obsession with things and fight starting. Your neighbors are starting to talk and they wonder why you aren't living in the fast lane of fast cars and faster woman. They call you softie behind your back for chickening out.  Don't listen to them. Those who live in the fast lane can't see the wall at the end. That wall is God and he will make them pay the bill for their extravagant life. Dead or alive, He will get you.

But that is the difference that the good news of Jesus makes. It is a battery that brings power to those who are even already dead. Even though their body hit the bucket, their spirit is doing just fine in this new life.

God is closing the book on this dark chapter. Focus! Concentrate on God's agenda so you can have a steady flow of communication with Him. You lose focus and your prayers become muddy. And what do we focus on? Where should our braincells be firing? Love! Give someone the deepest and most wide spread love your frame can handle. Love erases the screw up, pardons the messy and spends time with the broken. Open up your house to everyone and let them use your luxuries. You have that special skill, that God given power that makes others blessed. God is investing in your skills. If your skill is speaking then fill the air with the speeches of God. If you like helping people in need than let God be your driving force to accomplish things. In this way God gets a good return on his investment in the form of praise and worship in Jesus. Jesus is glorious, powerful and eternal. Amen