Bible devotion - Faith Under Fire - 2 Corinthians 6:2b

2 Corinthians 6:2b     I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

            I have always admired the Apostle Paul, not just because of his wonderful epistles, but because of the hardships and struggles he underwent and endured. Whenever I hear a fellow pastor or someone else disparaging Paul because of something he wrote that they don’t agree with, I tend to ask whether or not that person has ever experienced anything similar to Paul.  It’s easy to be armchair theologians and cozy cloistered critics; it’s an entirely different thing to be constantly harangued, unfairly attacked, and frequently abused for what Paul ardently believed.

            Take today’s partial verse, for instance:

‘I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.’

On the surface, this appears to be a wonderful scriptural promise, connected to God’s love, favor, and blessing. It reads like an amazing gift of God’s goodness and a surplus of God’s generous grace, but Paul follows up on this verse with a staggering list of hardships, drawbacks, and attacks that he personally experienced and endured. Paul was conveying to his letter readers this one hard-to-accept fact: having faith in Christ is a beautiful gift, but it can also cause us a lot of pain, difficulty, and suffering. Truthfully, for faith to be really effective, it needs to be tried and tested in serious situations and unhappy circumstances. Fair-weather faith has no lasting value; however, faith under fire has the ability to grow, deepen, and mature.

For the Apostle Paul, God’s favor was found in a fearless faith, and the day of salvation could even be experienced in times of turmoil and trouble. Perhaps the questions we should be asking ourselves are these:            Is my faith actually real? Has it been put through a crucible?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, thank You for allowing us to believe in You. Deepen our faith, so that we may remain loyal to You, especially in times of hardship, suffering, and trial. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to ask questions or make comments about today’s message, please send him an email to traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is one of John’s bulletin covers, based on Psalm 30. If you would like to view a larger version, please click this link: Psalm 30.

Daily Devotions: Restoring Hope - Psalm 71:20

Psalm 71:20    Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.

This is one of those verses that makes the Book of Psalms such great scripture to read during troubled times. Each of us goes through bitter moments in our lives that make us question God. We languish in emotional wildernesses of sadness and regret, which causes us to wonder what life is all about.

During those morose moments, we turn to God to comfort our spirits and refresh our faith. We see in Christ’s suffering a God who is not distant and alienated from our troubles, but who is at the heart of our pain and anguish. He seeks to restore our lives through His love and lifts us up from the depths of our despair. We may temporarily lose our grasp of God, but He never loses His hold of us.

Perhaps you are experiencing a time of sadness or fear; maybe you are undergoing a very trying time. Hold on to hope and receive the blessings of this verse. Claim it as your prayer each day and allow God, through Christ, to restore balance and blessing, faith and favor to your life. Remember, you are precious in His sight and He wants His goodness and love to overflow in your heart and mind, your life and experiences. God will restore your life again; from the depths of the earth He will again bring you up.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, you alone fully know what goes on in our hearts and minds. You understand the burdens that we carry and You are aware of the heartbreaks in each of our lives. Allow Your Holy Spirit to come down among us and lift us up to God’s love. In Your Sacred Name, we earnestly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is one of John’s latest Knoxville featuring the two city bridges in downtown Knoxville at dawn. You can see a larger version of the drawing at the following link: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/4823079492_0bca604219_b.jpg

(John has prints available of this drawing. Contact him by email if you are interested in purchasing one. The cost for an 8x10 inch signed print with an 11x14 matte is only $20.)