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.

Q3. (2 Corinthians 5:21) In what sense did Jesus "become sin" on our behalf? God made Him to be sin to represent us because we are human and we are weak. We won't be able to stand up to satan on his terms, but Jesus Christ can and He has conguered satan. Aleluia. Praise God for all eternity. In what sense do we "become righteousness" ? "... be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ --the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith." (Philippians 3:9)

Q2. (2 Corinthians 5:18-20) How have we humans been reconciled to God? We have to accept Christ 100% and ask for forgiveness 100% for us to be reconciled to God. What did God do so that reconciliation could take place? To reconcile, we have to let GOD take what is broken and ment it. In what sense are you an Ambassador of the Kingdom of God? God has given us the message of reconciliation and it is our responsibility to care it out to those who have not receive Christ as their personal Savior. In what sense are you a Minister of Reconciliation for Jesus Christ? We do the will of God and obey His commandments and love Him dearly.

Q1. (2 Corinthians 5:16-17) What does verse 17 teach us about the nature of a new believer? 17 “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (5:17) “Paul calls them "a new creation." "Creation/creature" is ktisis, "the result of a creative act, that which is created." What changes in a person when he puts his faith in Christ? When we truthfully and 100 percent placed our faith in Christ, we become a new creation. Everything starts, your sins are all paid for. Start a new fresh live. “The New Testament uses several other words to describe this, including: Born again/anew/from above (John 3:3, 5; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 3:9; 5:18) Made alive, quickened (Ephesians 2:5; John 5:24; 1 John 3:14) Regenerated, rebirth (Titus 3:5) Washed (1 Corinthians 6:11; Ephesians 5:26; Titus 3:5) Renewed (Ephesians 3:10) Sealed (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30)“ We Christians believe that when Jesus saves us and puts his Holy Spirit in our hearts that a life-altering change has taken place. A new life has been formed by the Creator, which is being nurtured by the Holy Spirit.” Why don't old habits disappear immediately if everything has become new? http://www.joyfulheart.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1095 When you live become new as in a new creation, everything takes time. It is a process and patience is part of God's plan. We have to cooperate work with God: continuously praying and hoping in new faith.

Q4. (2 Corinthians 5:10-11a) How does Paul's mention of the Judgment Seat of Christ fit the context here? For every actions, thoughts, and words we ever did, God knows about it and these will be accounted against us on that day when we will be judged by GOD himself. And by accepting Christ as our personal Savior and Redeemer, all things will be erased, since Christ has paid for our sins: paid in full.... How should our belief that we Christians will appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ to be judged for our works affect (1) our desire to please him? All people in the world have a day of reconing. The day which we will be all judged by our LORD CHRIST himself. And if we believe and have faith in Christ, we will each receive our rewards according to what we sow while we are still alive. (2) Our motivation to persuade people to receive Christ? Be Christ-like. We should be very happy about serving the LORD CHRIST, after-all, He created us and give us the live that we think it is our own.

Q2. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8) How do Paul's words comfort you when you consider your death? A sense of security and confidence becomes ours to harness. Before I come to the LORD and make Him as my personal Savior, death is something that I do not want to be part of. It is a very scary event for me. It makes me think of how am I supposed to stand up in front of the LORD and justify for all those bad things I have done throughout my entire life. But after accepting our LORD JESUS CHRIST as my personal Savior and just letting Him take control of my life and have faith in Him, I am not scared of being dead for I have confidence in Him. I can confidently be like Simeon in Luke 2:25-32 "25Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 29 “Lord, now you are letting your servantd depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” What do Christians believe happens when we die? Christians believe that "when you die, your spirit immediately goes to be with God. It is with him that you will enjoy the time between your death and the resurrection." What will happen to us if we die before Christ returns? When we die in faith, our spirit immediately goes to be with God and start fellowship and worshipping God eternally. Our judgement starts. What will happen to us when Christ returns? Those of us who died in faith will rise first to meet Christ in the clouds when He returns. And those who are still living who have faith in Christ, will follow.

Q1. (2 Corinthians 5:1-5) In what sense are our bodies like tents? The tents in accordance with our reading are something temporary, and so as our body. We are just visitors to this earth who will someday go back and reside with the Father GOD if we believe and have faith in Jesus Christ 100 percent. If we were to truly look forward to our "house not made with hands," how would it affect our daily lives here? When we hope for something better than what we have today, our feelings are just perfect. To become Christ-like is something that is incomprehensible. No comparison to what GOD has in store for each person who is faithful and follows God's commandments. It affects are daily in a sense that it provides security and a feeling of appreciation in each person who is faithful and just believe in our Savior as his/her personal Savior.

Q1. (2 Corinthians 5:1-5) In what sense are our bodies like tents? Our bodies are like tents for they are temporal (temporary). Our real home is with our Father in heaven, who have promised to come soon and take us to be part of His kingdom where no pain and no sadness will be part of our eternal lives. If we were to truly look forward to our "house not made with hands," how would it affect our daily lives here? Joy, faith, happiness, gladness, a person might jump to the ceiling of his house knowing he/she is truly saved. His/her salvation is quaranteed.

Q3. (2 Corinthians 4:7) What truth is Paul seeking to communicate by this analogy of a treasure in a pottery jar? Paul is seeking to communicate to us that we are nothing and God is everything. Without God on our side, we are just “dust in the wind”. He is our creator and we should abide by all His laws and show our love to Him by loving everyone including those who are our neighbors. What does the clay jar represent? The clay of jar represent us. What does the treasure represent? The treasure represents the word of God in each believer. What's the paradox here? It is not us and without GOD's power in each believer, we are nothing.

Q2. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) Since Satan has blinded people's eyes to the truth, is there any hope for them? There is hope for those souls who are lost, and it is us Christians who needs to preach to them. But we have to let GOD do His work. If they listen with their hearts, they can accept Christ to become their personal Savior in order to gain salvation. What strategies must we use to overcome spiritual blindness? First, we must approach the sinful man, pray with them. And tell them about CHRIST JESUS. And let GOD takes over. The sinner has to accept CHRIST fully. How many people are likely to find Christ without intercessory prayer? None. But we need to pray for those who are still around and who souls are lost.

Q2. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) Since Satan has blinded people's eyes to the truth, is there any hope for them? There is hope for those souls who are lost, and it is us Christians who needs to preach to them. But we have to let GOD do His work. If they listen with their hearts, they can accept Christ to become their personal Savior in order to gain salvation. What strategies must we use to overcome spiritual blindness? First, we must approach the sinful man, pray with them. And tell them about CHRIST JESUS. And let GOD takes over. The sinner has to accept CHRIST fully. How many people are likely to find Christ without intercessory prayer? None. But we need to pray for those who are still around and who souls are lost.