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2 Corinthians 3 Devotional – Day 3

ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness

GOD DOESN’T NEED CREATION FOR ANY REASON No one can give God anything that he didn’t first give them. God did not create out of need. 

Acts 17:24–25 – “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything” .

Job 41:11 – God asks Job, “Who has given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine”.

Praise God that He Does Not Need
Praise him that he created you and he wants you. Praise him that he will never be weak or tired. Praise him that he is self-sufficient. Praise him that he is the source of joy and goodness.

CONFESSION: Confess your sins to God and receive his continued mercy.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

THANKSGIVING: Giving thanks to God for his specific blessings in our lives.

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100

SUPPLICATION: Bringing our requests to God.

  • Bring your personal prayer requests to God.
  • Continue to pray for college students training in Salina
  • Pray for people overseas who will be receiving the students. Pray that the countries that students are going to would remain open.
  • Pray for opportunities to share the gospel.

SCRIPTURE READING:

2 Corinthians 2 New Living Translation

Are we beginning to praise ourselves again? Are we like others, who need to bring you letters of recommendation, or who ask you to write such letters on their behalf? Surely not! 2 The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. 3 Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.

4 We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. 5 It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. 6 He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.

The Glory of the New Covenant
7 The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. 8 Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? 9 If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! 10 In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. 11 So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever!

12 Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away. 14 But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. 15 Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand.

16 But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:

The Old Covenant was not “bad” but it did reveal our great need. We are unable on our own to keep it. The New Covenant in the blood of Christ was “kept” for us by Jesus. Now as we place our faith(confidence) in him and as we live by ongoing faith in him we experience in increasing fashion the kind of life that God has originally designed for us to live. This experience of new life will be “already/not yet.” Already we do get to have hope, joy, purpose, and relationships that are meaningful…but we do not yet get to experience all this in consistent fullness. If you are sometimes confused as to whether you are supposed to “keep” the 10 commandments or not or whether they still “apply” or not the answer is “yes” and “no.” Yes, the ethical commandments of the Old Testament represent God’s character and they point the way to a life well lived. So, to keep the intent of the law of God is good. But we cannot do this perfectly and so we cannot rely on our ability to do good in order to be good. Our confidence is in Christ and his finished work. From the strong position of relationship with him we are able to more and more do, both in heart and habit, what God wants us to do.

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