{"id":17567,"date":"2021-09-19T22:00:11","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T05:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2corinthians-6_11-18-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-09-17T11:59:29","modified_gmt":"2021-09-17T18:59:29","slug":"2corinthians-7_1-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2corinthians-7_1-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Say You\u2019re Proud of Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 Corinthians 7:1-7 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Corinthians 7:1-7.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

2 Corinthians 7:1 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 1:\u00a0\u00a0What \u201cpromises\u201d is Paul referring to?\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s the promises that Paul quotes at the end of chapter 6 in the context of not being yoked with unbelievers: \u201ccome out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you\u201d and \u201cI will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Because God promises to receive us and promises a close father-child relationship with us, Paul encourages his \u201cdear friends\u201d the Corinthian Christians, as an act of worship (\u201creverence for God\u201d) to purify themselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit (including being yoked to unbelievers) so that they can grow in holiness.<\/p>\n

Salvation (being forgiven of your sins) takes only a moment.\u00a0\u00a0But sanctification (growing more like Christ) takes a lifetime.\u00a0\u00a0Though we will never get it perfect on earth, out of reverence for God we want to seek to become more like Jesus every day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2 Corinthians 7:2-4 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I do not say this to condemn you; I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I have great confidence in you; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 2-4:\u00a0\u00a0Paul felt that the Corinthians had closed their hearts to him, especially after the conflicts they had gone through and the criticisms that some in their congregation had made of him.\u00a0\u00a0Paul here is once again reaching out to the Corinthians, assuring them that he has acted properly toward them (v2), and affirming how much they mean to him (v3).\u00a0\u00a0In verse 4, Paul reiterates how proud he is of the Corinthian church and how much joy they give him.<\/p>\n

Likewise,\u00a0parents, your children need your encouragement.\u00a0\u00a0They need to hear how much you mean to them, that you are proud of them, and much joy you have because of them.\u00a0\u00a0Leaders, same thing.\u00a0\u00a0Those on your team need to hear your heart for them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2 Corinthians 7:5-7 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn–conflicts on the outside, fears within.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 5-7:\u00a0\u00a0In verses 5-7 he recalls how when he was in Macedonia and facing many troubles, God brought him so much joy and comfort to hear from Titus that the Corinthian Christians were still thinking of him, missing him, and feeling sorrow for the ways they had gone astray.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0One of the big themes of 2 Corinthians is that God is a comforter.\u00a0\u00a0Just as God used Titus to comfort Paul, God wants to use you to bring comfort to others.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0(See 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.)<\/p>\n

God, thank You for receiving, for being my Father, for calling me Your own, and for being my Comforter.\u00a0\u00a0Like You, may I not be afraid to express my heart for those in my care.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Corinthians 7:1-7.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

2 Corinthians 7:1 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.<\/p>\n

On verse 1:\u00a0\u00a0What \u201cpromises\u201d is Paul referring to?\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s the promises that Paul quotes at the end of chapter 6 in the context of not being yoked with unbelievers: \u201ccome out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you\u201d and \u201cI will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Because God promises to receive us and promises a close father-child relationship with us, Paul encourages his \u201cdear friends\u201d the Corinthian Christians, as an act of worship (\u201creverence for God\u201d) to purify themselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit (including being yoked to unbelievers) so that they can grow in holiness.<\/p>\n

Salvation (being forgiven of your sins) takes only a moment.\u00a0\u00a0But sanctification (growing more like Christ) takes a lifetime.\u00a0\u00a0Though we will never get it perfect on earth, out of reverence for God we want to seek to become more like Jesus every day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17569,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17567"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17584,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17567\/revisions\/17584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}