Our joy reaches past the grave and into heaven, for we have Jesus on our side. Therefore we go out and declare His great Name. It isn’t the joy of the world that makes us glad but every word of God that makes our souls happy. These words are what gives our souls new life and wills us to do things that we may not have done before. Even through the Holy Spirit we are led to people that are interested in the gospel of Christ. This is when our love for God is able to be shared and these people can also know for themselves that Jesus is God and the Savior of this world. And if you thought you have joy now, wait till you start being God’s witness to others. This joy will overflow in your life to a point that your joy will include those that come unto Christ. As Paul said, 1“my joy is the joy of you all,” you will also understand what he meant by this. Now with those that are followers of Jesus 1“we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved”. For out of sincerity do we come from God and 1“speak we in Christ.” It is God’s will for our lives that compels us to reach the lost and to fellowship with others in the faith. These new desires lead us to treat others with kindness and love. Because we love Jesus, nothing they can do would cause us to dislike them, but to more earnestly pray for their needs.
With those that are in need of forgiveness, we give it freely as God responds the same way with each of us. How are we to act any differently when we are His disciples? Therefore, when someone hurts you, you should not keep any grudges but 1“ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.” The love you show towards a person that has hurt you will truly change the atmosphere. All the anger will dissipate while God’s peace will enter the room. Therefore, 1“confirm your love toward him” that has offended you. Doing this will show that you are 1“obedient in all things” to God. That what He says is what matters most for your lives. Paul explained and said, 1“to whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ.” You see, it is our walk in Christ Jesus that leads us to live this way. This is so important because when we stop looking to Christ, bad things happen. This is when 1“Satan should get an advantage of us.” So I pray that You never lose sight of the Lord Jesus in your life. Keep Him close to your heart and seek to do His will always. This includes sharing His gospel message with others. Doing this, God will open the doors to you, that you may bless others..
Let us pray:
Oh Lord, I pray that as believers in You, that we will learn to walk in Your ways also. May we all come to an understanding to know what it means to be Your disciples. Help us all to understand the meaning of our lives, that we may live up to our potential. I know that You have great things in store for each us, it just takes a humble heart to realize it with You. So many spiritual gifts abound in us, if we but reach out to You in Your words and in prayer, in order to allow them to come to fruition. In doing this, we allow Your will to be done in our lives. This is what we need Lord. We need more people seeking You on a day to day basis, that the Holy Spirit may live inside of them and lead them in what is right. In doing this, will we become a great blessing to the lost and to others in the faith. Each of our spiritual gifts are a delight and a blessing to others we meet. This is when Your love is able to overflow inside of us and into the lives of others. And through reading Your words daily, we will understand what it means to love You and our neighbor as ourselves. This is when forgiveness is able to flow deep inside our hearts and into those that have hurt us. Instead of walls built up, Your peace will tear them down and replace them with peace. Because You are our Savior and forgives us our sins, we are so happy to do the same for others. I know that these things do come easier as we live out our faith in You. You make all things work out for the good. Thank You Lord. I love You. Amen.
Let us read the Bible:
Note: Any Numbered References, found above, are listed below.
12 Corinthians 2 (KJV)
1 But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness.
2 For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me?
3 And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all.
4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.
5 But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all.
6 Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many.
7 So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.
8 Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.
9 For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things.
10 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ;
11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
12 Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord,
13 I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia.
14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?
17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
