The Light of the Gospel

I hope this pre-Thanksgiving week finds you blessed and safe in Jesus Christ.  Remember that I'm always interested in any reader's life and if you need prayer don't hesitate to message me (Grady Milligan) on facebook or at grady.milligan@gmail.com.  Without further ado, let's jump into what the Word has to say.

"Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."       2 Corinthians 4:1-6

As cliche as it may seem to the jaded reader, the reoccurring theme of dark vs. light is so evident in the scriptures.  I suppose you could say the Bible is the realest version of that theme, if you believe it to be the true account of God's story with man.  The passage from 2 Corinthians 4 is such an example of those two forces in opposition.  

First I want to remind myself and anyone reading that we are far from hopeless.  In the Light of Jesus, and the turning away from our old ways, we are given strength to take the Gospel to the world.  I'll say it enough times in this post to sicken you probably, but we must believe that we're in a winning battle.  More accurately, WE ARE IN A BATTLE ALREADY ONE!  Jesus has defeated darkness in the past, present, and future and (being the Eternal God, not even bound by time) He has given us victory over sin and death.  But, as we experience daily, this knowledge does not whisk us away from all troubles in the day-to-day walk of Christian life.

Each new morning, we are presented with the opportunity to live, as Paul hopes in his letter, in such a way that the open-handed nature of our honest and sincere love for others would show them the sincerity of the Gospel.  Not only that, but by relying on Christ as the source of life and wisdom, we have the power to be in relationship with the saved and lost alike and do so in such a way that we are above reproach and even our enemies struggle to bring negative accounts of us to mind.  However, it is never so simple a thing to see quick or immediate freedom blooming in those we encounter and minister to, and that is largely due to hold that sin and the enemy have on an individual's life. I don't mean to sound overly dramatic or cliche, but it is critical to understand that we are LITERALLY in a battle with powerful forces when we do ministry.

The enemy, as Paul observes, actively blinds the eyes and minds of those that have not been reborn through Jesus Christ.  It's critically important to remember that the struggle for our souls is not passive and not just due to our sin (though that is ultimately the biggest part in my opinion), but the spiritual death we live in prior to Christ is encouraged by the plots and temptations of the enemy.  And maybe the most important thing of all to remember is this:  the darkness has absolutely no chance in the face of the Light.  Though we exist in a broken world of our making, and our old lives fight to make us disobey, the Lord is not threatened by the power of the evil one in the slightest.  As we can easily observe, humans are not proficient in the art of living in righteous obedience and are quickly blinded by darkness.  But with Christ, the sight and life we receive is eternal, complete, and saving.  Though we must grow into that identity each day and repent (turn away) of the old life, it has no eternal or lasting power of the Lord in us.  And we MUST believe that that is God's hope for the other lost ones around us.  We must live and love with the purpose of seeing the trapped enemies of God become God's friends through the blood and resurrection of Jesus!  I DON'T CARE IF IT'S CLICHE, it is, as I understand it, the very point of my continued life.

And just like in the creation of the world (whether you subscribe to the 6 day understanding or slow and evolutionary understanding of God's meticulous and beautiful creation), the Lord has all the power required to bring Light our of the darkest souls. We have a responsibility, not for our own name's sake and whether we believe in a select number of invitations or an open-ended one (in regards to who can be saved) to speak and act out the Gospel for the glory of God and the resurrection of the dead that He calls to Himself.

Greater Glory in The Spirit

"Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory."(2 Corinthians 3:7-11 ESV)

 WE SHOULD BE SO STOKED ABOUT THIS PASSAGE!  It's probably unprofessional to use the word "stoked" in generally serious blog about scripture, BUT SO WHAT?!
(all caps is a problem too...)

If the glory that made Moses' face so overflowing with God's presence that the Israelites couldn't look at him was incredible (and of course it was), then what kind of awesome holiness are we dealing with here?  What do we do with the knowledge that Jesus, in His resurrection and new covenant, is doing a work of even greater glory than the giving of the Commandments or splitting the Red Sea?????

WE CELEBRATE WITH CHRIST!  Jesus Christ poured out His Holy Spirit and the magnitude of that ministry is too big for man to comprehend, and it's too big for the darkness to overcome!

The one comparison that REALLY BLOWS MY MIND is when Paul says that the glory of righteousness and the Spirit is so overwhelming that it not only SURPASSES the ministry of death and condemnation but it makes the former glory look like NOTHING!

A believer's heart should fill with joy, knowing that God has invited us (and even used us) to show the universe how great and glorious He is.  He never weakens or shrinks in magnitude. You could say that God only ever seems BIGGER AND BETTER as He continually reveals His plan and love for His children.   AWESOME!

One last thing that I think is worth mentioning:  this passage reminds that there WAS in fact glory in the older ministries of the Law.  The wording of "ministry of death" can be a bit off-putting, but we need to remember that the Law did reveal how bad we are at following God's commands (and that essentially equals a death sentence, and rightly so).  Humanity had no right to forgiveness and death and condemnation were wholly within God's righteous judgment of a wicked people.

BUT EVEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT God showed His unparalleled Grace and constantly forgave the Israelites.

So if God was doing a mighty and wondrous thing then, how much more so must the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus rock the very core of reality?

GOD IS MIGHTY, GOD IS JUST, GOD IS LOVING, AND HE IS THE MOST GLORIOUS THING IN, AROUND, AND ABOVE ALL REALITIES!

Give Him the Glory and praise Him today people!  HE'S DOING MASSIVE STUFF AND YOU'RE A PART OF THAT MINISTRY!

Commended by Christ

Blessings in the name of Jesus Christ! I pray this post finds you well and joyful. And if you find yourself in a time of struggle, I pray that the Spirit of God empowers you with all you need for the battle.

For today's meditation, please read and examine the following passage from Paul's second letter to the Corinthians:

"Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God," (2 Corinthians 3:1-5 ESV) 

If you're like me you may have found yourself exposed and convicted by this chapter's opening question.  Are we commending ourselves as believers?  I would hope not.  I believe God wants His children to delight not in pride or praise of self, but in the Christ-centered testimonies of God's miraculous fruit that He is growing and displaying in the lives of those around us. I do not mean to put too much emphasis on the works of others either, since glory given to anyone other than Christ is misplaced. But I do think we should be confident in Jesus acting through His body, and that DOES include all of us and our imperfections.

So it's about celebrating the beautiful grace that trades our insufficiency for the ULTIMATE SUFFICIENCY that the Spirit of God empowers us with to spread His Truth.  Even more, we are a letter written BY the Spirit to transform hearts as ours have been made new through  His love.

He is our advocate and all the recommendation we need, and in turn, He makes us a living decree of His goodness for the world.

Build Unity Through Forgiveness: 2 Corinthians Chapter 2 stuff

I want to write a little bit about appropriate church discipline and forgiveness, as demonstrated in the second chapter of 2 Corinthians.   So read these verses to start:

2 Corinthians 2:5-11 (ESV)

"Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs."

First off, in a strange way, there's a strange sense of connection when I read this passage for one big reason: THE EARLY CHURCH WAS NOT PERFECT OR DRAMA-FREE!

I don't mention that to condone sinful actions or make light of problems within a church, but sometimes I think we need to remember that (though our technology and culture changes) humans aren't that different from age to age. We're not any worse or any better than the people that made up the early church in Corinth. We have victories, struggles, healing, and hurting alike, and we must surrender to Jesus' leadership.

In light of those observations, Paul speaks to the church about how to appropriately deal with a(n) individual(s) within the congregation that causes harm. And in the interest of not typing a overly long devotional, I think this passage of scripture boils down to one word: FORGIVENESS.

How do we punish the one that hurts us?  WE FORGIVE THEM! Even if you're new to this Jesus business, the old "turn the other cheek" idea is probably burned in your brain. GOOD! I am convinced, based on many of the toughest struggles I've been through with brothers in Christ hurting me, there is nothing that speeds healing and mending like FORGIVENESS.  Seriously, it opens floodgates of healing into a broken moment.

Now, forgiving an offender in our family does not mean we act stupid and don't learn from the experience and put measures in place to prevent repeat offenses, but it does mean we grant him or her the SAME STANDING OF GRACE as God gives us when He forgives us.  As a matter of fact, God tells us that He demands forgiveness when asking for forgiveness.  So holding sinful grudges while wanting God's forgiveness for our own many mistakes doesn't cut it.

I've already typed too much (I really am trying to make short devotionals, dang it), so just remember that forgiveness, especially within the Body of Christ, is not just so we all get along, FORGIVENESS TEARS DOWN THE PLOTS OF THE DEVIL.  The enemy hates the Church like he hates Christ, so let's not give satan any help when it comes to tearing a church apart.

If the Spirit is alive and active in the hearts of your church brothers, then the conviction from God will do most of the disciplining. After taking the appropriate measures to rectify whatever wrong was done, FORGIVE, FORGIVE, FORGIVE, and move on as a family moving towards Jesus Christ.

Reaffirm your love for your brother after his moment of attack and don't treat the person like he's any less of a believer (you'll want the same forgiveness and mercy when it's you screwing up later).

Love and peace guys,
-Grady

Confidence in Our Conscience: 2 Corinthians 1:12, 1:21-22, and 12:9

Meditate, if you will, on these three passages of scripture:


"For this is our confidence: The testimony of our conscience is that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, with God-given sincerity and purity, not by fleshy wisdom but by God's grace."     ----  2 Corinthians 1:12

"Now it is God who strengthens us, with you, in Christ and has anointed us. He has sealed us and given us the Spirit as a down payment in our hearts"  ---- 2 Corinthians 1:21-22

"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."  --- 2 Corinthians 12:9

I challenge both myself and the reader to stop and evaluate ourselves.  When we think of our daily walk and ministry, do we have a CONFIDENCE OF CONSCIENCE?  Next, if we do in fact feel confident, WHO ARE WE CONFIDENT IN?  Do we draw a sense of peace and security from our approval of our own works, or do we grasp the magnitude of His humbling grace and guidance?

Having grown up in church life and teachings, it's easy for me to immediately equate the word CONFIDENCE with a much more sinful one: PRIDE. But there is a vast difference between  humble confidence in the power of God's Spirit guiding our every moment and foolish hope in our own strength.

The passages from 2 Corinthians call the believer to rise up in Christ's power and live "with God-given sincerity and purity" and love the people around us without fear of our sinful weakness.  EVEN MORE, Paul said that he would "boast all the more gladly of (his) weaknesses" because Jesus is made EVEN MORE evident when contrasted with human failure.

THINK ABOUT IT!  How excited and fearless (while still humbly) should we live knowing that EVEN WHEN WE'RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH Jesus will be glorified through His own confident authority within us.  How fantastic is that?!

The "down payment" that is His world-creating/life-changing/sickness-healing Spirit gives us the anointing to go and do His good works.  THERE IS NO OTHER STRENGTH NEEDED, the power of the MAKER is inside of the believer.  

So no matter where you've been recently in your walk, or how adequate you feel, pray that God would encourage you with grace to walk boldly, humbly, and CONFIDENTLY in the power to minister that He's given you through Jesus.  It isn't with your strength that hearts are changed, so don't worry about how strong you feel.  Be bold in weakness and conduct yourself above reproach so that the world would know Jesus is alive and strong to save!