"Comforted Comforters" October 18 Readings: 2 Corinthians 1:1-2:13

 

Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024

This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened." Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New. 

Bible Readings: 2 Corinthians 1:1-2:13

Background:  

Paul's correspondence with the Corinthians is complicated. We have two letters from Paul to the Corinthians (1 and 2 Corinthians), but there is evidence of two others. One Paul calls his "painful letter." Some believe that the painful letter is included in 2 Corinthians, but we will never know this for certain. It is my belief that these are two other letters from Paul to the church which, while containing good advice, were not inspired Scripture and therefore were not preserved. 

This book has a defensive tone. Paul's rights and standing as an apostle have been under attack in Corinth. perhaps by some of those he wrote to correct in the first letter. He forcefully defends his standing as an apostle and God's call on his life. He has every right as one sent by God to correct and instruct them in the ways of God. 

Daily Devotional: Comforted Comforters

Not only do I have a long way to go to be like Jesus, but I also have a long way to go to be like the Apostle Paul. He suffered so much for the cause of Christ, with grace, joy, and power. In today's reading, we begin the book of 2 Corinthians, a book that contains a detailed description (in chapter 11) of the horrors inflicted on Paul in the service of his Savior.

I go into a fetal position when someone complains that one of my sermons was too long!

So many of Paul's teachings are about how God uses suffering to grow us, strengthen us, and use us in his service. Even in the midst of pain and hurt, he was looking for a way to glorify God and spread the truth of Christ. He did not whine, moan, or turn aside; he relied on the strength of God in the weakness he felt.

In 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Paul made another in his series of astounding statements.

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 affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

In the persecution, hardship, and suffering he endured, Paul sought God the Father and found him worthy of praise. He is the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort who is the One who truly comforts us when we are afflicted. These were not just cliches for Paul; it was a testimony! He had experienced that comfort when he was beaten, when he was arrested, when they attempted to put him to death. He sought God and God comforted him with his presence and power.

Paul's hope in that was not just that he would receive that comfort, but that he would pass the comfort he received from the Lord on to those who needed that same comfort. Paul was not only comforted for himself but also for those whom he could comfort as a result of what God had done in him.

This is a fundamental truth of Christianity. What God does in me is done not only for me but for those around me whom God will affect through me. God blesses me so that I will bless others. God comforts me so that I can comfort others.

Father, bless me so that I may be a blessing. Grant me your grace, your presence, and your strength so that I can be a source of your grace, your presence, and your strength in the lives of others. 

Consider God's Word:

How can you pass on your blessings, giving that which you have received from God to others?