bruceerobert

The "thorn in the flesh" was given to Paul as a example of what humans can bear. Whoever has faith in God will be tested by Satan to the maximum power. But with God on our side, we will be assured that God will always win. No matter how hard and all the tricks in the world that he does and did, God already won. By allowing His only begotten Son to became our representative on the cross, He has paid for all our sins. We will be afraid of Satan at times, but with God on our side, we will persevere.

Q4. (2 Corinthians 11:23-28) How do Paul's sufferings help authenticate his claim to be an apostle? What do these sufferings tell us about Paul's commitment? How does this account inspire you -- or convict you? How will you be different from having pondered it? All the suffering that Paul received was for the glory of God. His confidence and willingness to face all consequences showed that he was ready and has prepared himself by his faith in Jesus Christ. The sufferings tells us that his commitment to God is real and we can face similar sufferings, but have confidence that our faith can help us be in heaven when Christ returns. What Paul has gone through gives me convicts me to glorify God in all the right doings and my faith for Christ.

Q3. (2 Corinthians 11:7-9) Why do you think Paul refused to require the Corinthians to support him? How did this help his ministry? How did it contribute to them taking him for granted? How can we honor Christian workers, clergy and lay, who give of their time sacrificially to minister for Christ? How will Christ honor them? Paul understand that GOD has plans for him and that HE will reward him in heaven. When we give everything to God for he was the one who created everything including us, the reward shall be great. Paul knows that the Corinthians will boast about giving him things and supporting him because that is how humans are. And those without the faith will always boast about helping others even if they know that the person does not feel like it. Christ will reward those who are faithful to Him when he returns... Keep on praying and reading your Bible daily,

Q2. (2 Corinthians 11:1-5) What does it feel like when a congregation loses its pure devotion to Jesus Christ, and instead takes on other motivations for its religious observance? In what ways is this like the church at Ephesus losing its "first love" (Revelation 2:4)? How can this purity of devotion be restored? We all need to keenly study the word of God in order for each of us to know how to obey and glorify HIM by lifting HIM up. If the congregation does not devote themselves to GOD, that means that congregation is not worshiping and giving glory to GOD the creator. We each soul have to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and really repent in truth and not by only on our lips but in our heart.

Q1. (2 Corinthians 10:3-6) Why does Paul liken his dealing with his opponents in Corinth with reducing a city wall by siege and then taking its citizens captive? Satan is a clever spirit and always looking for ways to separate us from God. The fight we are facing is not of this world, but of the spirit and God is the only one who can help us conquer satan. Is Paul talking about a victory by the use of incisive logic or is there a spiritual stronghold here, one that derives its power from Satan’s kingdom? Paul is definitely talking about the victory of God's people when we 100% placed complete trust and faith in God to help us.

Q3. (2 Corinthians 9:10-11) According to these verses, what is the purpose of God increasing your "store of seed"? This is common sense. When you have more, you can share with others because you have more. But even when you have less, you should really share what God has blessed you with. So by having more, you may give more to the poor. Just like Peter when was asked for money at the gate, but instead he tells the good news to the beggar. How do greed and generosity differ from each other? Greed is always thinking about himself and does not concern about others. Generosity is a good behavior that you share what you have even if you think it would not be enough for you and your family. You give freely when asked and no complains or any negative feelings. What is God's promise here to generous givers? God promises that when you give, you give freely. And when you give more, you will be rewarded highly and greatly. This reminds me of throwing a ball into the air. The more higher you threw it up in the air, the more pain you may feel when you catch it.

Q2. (2 Corinthians 9:7) Why do you think pastors or other church leaders use guilt to try to compel people to give more? So whoever is giving can give more eventough they are not required to give. Can greed be behind their pressure? Yes Why is pressure incompatible with worship? No one can force you to worship because it is not God's way. What does cheerfulness while giving say about the condition of a person's heart? The person is gladly giving without any remorse or any kind of pressure. They happily give all they have without any condition.

Q1. (2 Corinthians 9:6) Does the Scripture teach that material blessing results from giving generously to God's work? Answer: Yes. God gave us his only begotten son so we ought to give generously. Why are we so careful to reinterpret this as referring mainly to spiritual blessing? Because God delights in those giving generously. If you compared your own actual giving to God's work to a tithe (10%) of your income, would it look generous? No, eventough it may be okay with you, you must give GOD everything you have before He could give back to you.

Q4. (2 Corinthians 8:21-22) What is the balance between living our lives wholly before God without being men-pleasers, and doing what is right in the sight of men? Everything in the world has an equal. While there is good, there is also evil. It has to be balanced so that we may learn from what it presents. If we don't see or experience evil, then we could not figure it out if it was evil. So we have to live a holy live and just understand that there is evil waiting to conguer us so we really need God's help to move us forward.

Q2. (2 Corinthians 8:4, 7-9, 19) What does grace have to do with giving? John 1:16 quotes, "From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another." Grace and giving starts from God because he gave us first. He giveth our lives with grace and blessed each and everyone of us. What does giving look like when it isn’t accompanied by grace? A duty = when a person gives because it is required of him/her, that is not grace. What does it look like when grace prompts your giving? When Christ died for us on the cross, that is full giving. He gave his life because of our sins. And so we have to give back to Him.

God created us and give us the responsibilities of tending his blessing and sharing among our fellow brothers and sisters. So everything we have is His. There is nothing on earth that we own. We must give him everything and ask that he blesses us with what we give Him. And we must give Him with humility and honesty. When we give all that we have to God happily, He is also happy.when we give with our open hearts and happiness and we give all we have. When we give all we have, he blessed it and give back to us according to our needs. I remember couple of months ago, the church I attended had an occasion where we need to bring food and give to those who came to visit. We had our last meet that I told my wife to fix and get somethings to add. And our last $10.00. So made a basin of food and took it to the church. At first, my wife complains that how we would be meat and other needs till Wednesday which is several days. I told her that we need to pray and let God take care of things. We came back home and did not have anything in the house regarding food. That evening, two of my aunties called and ask us to come their homes. One auntie has a sack of 20 lbs rice that she gave us and the other auntie has meat to share. So we got our food share that lasted us till Friday of that week. We praise our LORD for this. And this build our faith stronger.

Q3. (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1) What kind of separation is Paul calling the Corinthians to? Paul calls the Corinthians and us to holiness. What he is saying is from God and Christ to become a living example to the world in living a holiness live. How can they strike a balance between separating themselves from sinful practices that mess up their spiritual lives while at the same time maintaining friendships with pagan neighbors and co-workers? Be their friends for you have to tell them about Christ boldly. Pray each time you go to see your unbelieve friends. Tell them about Christ and what he has done for you and what He can do for the others.

Q2. (2 Corinthians 6:14-18) What are the reasons Paul gives us – both in his letter and by quoting Old Testament scriptures – that we should live holy lives? We should not yoked ourselves to unbelievers. We are the temple of God for the Holy Spirit leaves in each one of us. "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him" (Col. 3:12-17). What kinds of temptations did the Corinthians face in their notorious city. Idolarity and sexual immorality were among those given in the text. And it is much more these days.

Q1. (2 Corinthians 6:3-13) Why do you think Paul shares so much about his various struggles with the Corinthians? He wants them to know that they are not alone in their struggles. Even Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR went through the same things that we went through, but HE nevers sin.... Amen How does this help them accept his apostleship as authentic? He talks about the sufferings he had and also his characters. He also shares how he suffered and what he was accused of. And then he appeals to the Corinthians to open their hearts to the message of GOD. Have you ever complained about what you’ve had to put up with in your ministry? Sometimes. How does it compare to what Paul faced? What sufferings I have learned and experienced is not comparable to what Paul has gone through, but at least I know that Christ suffers same like me and I praise Him for it. He is LORD and yet he experienced the same sufferings like us, but He is LORD. Thank you Jesus.....

Q4. (2 Corinthians 5:18-6:2) If you, then, are called to be an urgent agent of reconciliation, how is this likely to affect your daily life? If we praise God daily in our lives, then we should tell others the good news gosbel so others may come to the LORD in their faith and be saved. When we accept Christ as our personal Savior, our lives are affected. People start seeing GOD in those who have the faith. How will it affect how people perceive you? Adversaries is always there and he will do all he can to make you ran astray. He will give you thoughts that you are not worth a thing. Those who don't have the faith will criticize you and curse you, but be faithful and follow Jesus. How will it affect how God perceives you? There is only a time when Christ is really happy: this is when a person realizes that he cannot stand on his own and must depend on God for all eternity. When a person admits that he/she is at fault and comes to Christ for forgiveness, all the angels and our LORD CHRIST stands up in ovation.