SYNOPSIS: Don’t treat your body like a rental house from which you’re about to be evicted. If there is momentary remorse as you stand before the judgment seat of Christ in eternity, it will likely be how for you treated your body while you were on earth. The Apostle Paul called our physical being, “the temple of the Holy Spirit.” That itself should alert us to pay better attention to how we care for them! Do you treat proper “temple care” as optional; opting instead for excess eating, under-exercising, and over-indulging your selfish desires? Have you  nurtured your spirit, pampered your emotions, and fed your intellect while neglecting your body? However you may answer those questions, from this day forward, as a way to honor the Creator of you, make a commitment to care of the holy bod!

Project 52 – Weekly Scripture Memory // 2 Corinthians 6:19-20

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

I don’t quite understand how things will play out when we as believers stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Maybe it will have nothing to do with the negative image the word “judgment” conjures in our mind. Perhaps the judgment will only be a positive experience, as when an arbitrator renders a favorable judgment on our behalf.

However, the Apostle Paul speaks of the believer having to give account at that moment for the deeds done while living in the body—whether good or bad. (See 2Corinthians 5:9-11) It is hard to imagine feeling any remorse when you’ve permanently planted your foot in heaven for the first time, but it could be that we will feel some momentary remorse at that moment over wasted opportunity to grow into Christlikeness or failure to trust God to a greater degree or the lack of effort to extend his kingdom while we were on Planet Earth. I say “momentary remorse” because I can’t imagine anything but sheer joy that we, unworthy sinners saved only by grace, will get to spend eternity in God’s heaven.

If there is momentary remorse, one of the areas of disappointment for many Christians in our day will surely be how we have treated our physical bodies. The Apostle Paul called them “the temple of the Holy Spirit”, which should have alerted us to pay better attention to how we cared for them. Yet we have treated proper “temple care” as optional; opting instead for excess eating, under-exercising, and over-indulging our own selfish desires. We have loved on our spirits, pampered our emotions, and fed our intellect, but our bodies—we have treated them like a rental house from which we are about to be evicted.

However, Paul says that we are to honor God with our bodies. Why? They are not ours—they really belong to God. We are driving his car, so to speak, and it is not a Yugo, it is a Lamborghini. He created our physical bodies, designed them in his very own image, put the Breath of Life into them, then after we had irreparably corrupted them through sin, he redeemed them at a very costly price to himself. Our bodies belong to God, and one day we are going to turn them back in to him. So we really ought to give careful thought to how we treat them between now and then.

So what should be we doing with these “holy bod’s” that have been loaned out to us? Let me suggest three things:

First, treat them physically as if God himself were living inside—which he is. Watch what you eat—and how much, get the proper amount of rest and exercise, give them the best appearance you can—without over indulging, and keep them untainted by immorality and other kinds of impurity.

Second, use them to serve God. The Holy Spirit inhabits your body, and he has placed within certain of his gifts, unique to you. Make sure you are exercising those gifts to his glory by serving others.

Third, offer them as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. After all, in light of his creation—and recreation—of them, it is the least you can do. As Paul urged in Romans 12:1 (The Message), “Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.”

Yeah, you’re walking around at the moment in a holy bod! So remember, you’re going to turn it back in some day!

“The body is a sacred garment.” ~Martha Graham

Reflect & Apply: Write out an improvement plan for your use of “the temple” in the following three areas: 1) Your physical habits—how you can eat, rest and exercise more consistently. 2) Your spiritual gifts—how and where you can serve in the Body of Christ. 3) Your sacrificial worship—how you can turn your physical life into a daily offering to God.

Our suffering for the cause of Christ, even the inner pain we feel at our own failures, weaknesses and shortcomings, is our only basis for boasting. When we are able to live in victory and accomplish great kingdom advance through faith, still our spiritual accomplishments have been enabled only as God empowered us in our flawed humanity and revealed his strength in our deep brokenness. Make no mistake, on our best day, we accomplish nothing through our own charisma, ability and power. And on our worst day, it is God who reveals his strength in us.

“ If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. —2 CORINTHIANS 11:30

A Simple Prayer for God’s Strength in My Weakness:

The truth is, Christians are under attack—but the real assault comes from an invisible enemy. Satan is bombarding our faith, targeting our homes, putting our churches in his crosshairs. We see his devastating barrage in broken marriages, ruined families, moral filth, widespread anger, pandemic depression, spiritual anemia, divided congregations, and the list goes on and on. It’s time to wake up, armor up, pray up and take him on. Yes, it’s time…the battle is on!

“ We are familiar with Satan’s schemes. —2 CORINTHIANS 2:11

A Simple Prayer for Doing Battle:

Reflect:
II Corinthians 9:81

“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

As is usually the case with some of the great “promise verses” in the Bible, there are surrounding verses that set the conditions for fulfillment of God’s committed favor. Such is the case here, where we are told that God will bless us at all times in every way with every thing we need for life, joy and success.

What are the conditions of such an amazing promise? Paul has been teaching the Corinthian Christians for two whole chapters now about the ministry of giving. Of course, God gave to us first, so our giving to him doesn’t initiate his giving. Our giving is simply a thankful response to what he has already done, yet our liberality is also a catalyst for a continued, if not even greater flow of divine favor into our lives. Here is how Paul says it:

“Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (II Corinthians 9:7-8)

Paul gives some pretty clear guidelines as to how God desires for you to give in order to bless you with greater abundance:

First, you are to give authentically. No one should tell you how to give or how much to give—not even the preacher. “You are to decide” about giving, Paul says. You need to dig way down deep and come to grips with the ministry of giving, until it is a value that drives your stewardship.

Second, you are to give eagerly. Give because you really love God and want to demonstrate your love with a tangible expression of your devotion to him. Don’t do it because it will make you feel better, ease your guilt or make you look good. Don’t do it just because you feel pressured to give, “not repulsively or under convulsions,” as the little boy who misquoted the verse said. Rather, “each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give.” You are to give because it’s just the right thing to do. Give because it is the nature of love to give. Give because it is consistent with Christian character. Give from a convinced heart. If your gift doesn’t send the message of genuine desire, it won’t count as love.

Third, you are to give delightfully. Why? “For God loves a cheerful giver.” Truly authentic and heartfelt givers will enjoy giving the gift. They don’t think giving as a loss or a requirement or a burden, rather they think of the joy it brings and the love it communicates to the recipient. That’s what Hebrews 12:2 says about Jesus, our example of joyful generosity: “For the joy set before him, he endured the cross.” Now that was the ultimate act of joyful giving!

Fourth, you are to give expectantly. Paul teaches that when you give in a way that is pleasing to the Lord—authentically, altruistically, joyfully—God will make sure that you will always have plenty to give away: “And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.” As someone has wisely pointed out,

“Give according to your income, lest God make your income according to your giving.”

What a privilege it is to give back to God. When we get giving right, God takes it upon himself to makes sure that we will abound in every good work.

“Since much wealth too often proves a snare and an encumbrance in the Christian’s race, let him lighten the weight by ‘dispersing abroad and giving to the poor’, whereby he will both soften the pilgrimage of his fellow travelers, and speed his own way the faster.” ~Augustus Toplady

Reflect and Apply: Offer this prayer to your Heavenly Father: “Lord, you are the Supreme Giver. You gave your best, you gave your all, you gave yourself. From the depth of my heart, I thank you. It is now my honor and joy to give back to you. May the sacrifice of my offerings be acceptable worship pleasing to you.”

Reflect:
II Corinthians 4:1-6:2

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (II Corinthians 5:21)

What an amazing exchange that took place when Jesus hung on the cross as the sacrifice for sin!

• Jesus became sin so that I could become saved.
• Jesus was abandoned and I was embraced.
• Jesus received God’s wrath and I received God’s righteousness.
• Jesus got what he didn’t deserve and I got what I didn’t deserve.
• Jesus didn’t get what he deserved and I didn’t get what I deserved.
• Jesus got what I deserved and I got what Jesus deserved.
• Jesus went through hell so that I could go to heaven.
• Jesus endured hatred and I was showered with love.
• Jesus died so that I could live.

Redemption is such a lopsided transaction, but such is the love of God. I got the far better deal in this exchange, and for that I will never cease to be grateful.

“At the heart of the story stands the cross of Christ where evil did its worst and met its match.” ~John W. Wenham

Reflect and Apply: All you can say in response to what God has done for you is “Thank you!” All you can do in response to what God has done for you is to offer your life as an extended thank offering. That is your assignment: Start thanking, in word and deed.

Reflect:
II Corinthians 12:9

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

Do you ever wonder why God allows you to struggle with certain things? Perhaps there is a physical limitation from which you have asked God time and again to heal you, but to no avail. Maybe there is a limitation in your ability to learn or speak or a lack of confidence in interacting with others that holds you back vocationally or relationally, and you have desperately sought for God to give you victory over it, but to no avail. Perhaps there has been a struggle with a particular sin over the years, and you have agonized in prayer that God would remove it, but your prayers seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

The Apostle Paul had something like that going on in his life, too. He called it a “thorn in my flesh”. He saw it as a direct assault from Satan. And he prayed intensely that God would deliver him from whatever it was. There has been speculation as to what the thorn in the flesh actually was. Many think it was a physical malady. Tradition tells us that Paul had plenty of physical limitations. Some think the “thorn” was a person who was opposing Paul and his work. Then there are a few who surmise that it was a temptation to which Paul was particularly susceptible. Who knows for sure, but what we do know is that it was really bugging Paul—to the point that he felt frustrated enough to get really serious before God about it.

One of the things I appreciate about Paul is his ability to gain an eternal perspective on things. He was able to re-theologize the negative circumstances in his life to where he could see the mighty hand of God aligning things for his benefit. Such was the case here. If God saw fit to leave this pesky thorn in Paul’s side, then God must have a purpose. And the purpose in this case, he finally figured out, was to keep him from conceit, since throughout his ministry he had been given so many unusual experiences in the supernatural dimension that it would have been easy to become spiritually prideful. Paul needed a little humility, and God gave him a thorn to keep him weak, and therefore humble, in a particular area.

But it wasn’t just humility for humility’s sake that Paul needed, God wanted Paul to come into a much more important understanding of how the Kingdom of God works. God wanted Paul to have a firsthand experience of grace. Paul was the Apostle of grace, so through this experience where all he could do to survive was depend on God’s unmerited favor, he learned to hang on to grace for dear life. Paul learned one of the most important lessons a Christian can ever learn: Through grace, our weaknesses are parlayed into God’s supernatural strength, which enables us to achieve kingdom success that result in all the credit going to God.

That’s why Paul could be grateful for his weakness. That’s why he could tolerate his thorn. That’s why he could turn his disadvantage into an advantage. Satan afflicted him with a thorn, but God watered it with grace and it budded into a rose. Charles Spurgeon wrote,

“Soar back through all your own experiences. Think of how the Lord has led you in the wilderness and has fed and clothed you every day. How God has borne with your ill manners, and put up with all your murmurings and all your longings after the ‘sensual pleasures of Egypt!’ Think of how the Lord’s grace has been sufficient for you in all your troubles.”

God’s grace is sufficient—always. It was sufficient for Paul. And because God is the same yesterday, today and forever, and because he loves you just as much as he did Paul, God’s grace will be sufficient for you! Start looking at your thorn from a different perspective. It might hurt a little—or a lot—but God is going to use your present struggle to achieve an eternal glory that will far outweigh any discomfort you feel in the present.

In that sense, go ahead and glory in your weakness, for when you are weak, God is strong.

“To all who find their days declining, to all upon whom age is creeping with its infirmities, to all whose strength seems steadily to ebb…God seems to take our last things, and as it were, pack them up for our journey. These are tokens that you are approaching land. They are signs that the troubles of the sea are almost over.” ~Henry Ward Beecher

Reflect and Apply: Do something a little unusual today: Thank God for you weakness. Then reimagine that weakness as an avenue for you to receive his strength! Once you have done that, allow God to reveal his grace in your “thorn in the flesh”. Finally, do a little boasting that in my weakness, you are being made strong in God’s strength. This exercise might seem a bit weird, but you are in good company—it’s what Paul did!

Reflect:
II Corinthians 2:14

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.”

What a great promise: God always leads us in triumphal procession! In other words, we are marching in Christ’s victory parade. He has taken us captive and we are happily his trophies of grace in the Victor’s procession. Wherever the parade leads, we are giving off the smell of victory!

That sounds a bit ethereal, but in reality, what that means for you is that in every turn of the path, good or bad, smooth cruising or rough road, not only have you already won, even better, your winning is a witness to the triumph of Jesus Christ. Whatever comes your way—it doesn’t matter—in the end, you win. Since you are in Christ’s victory parade, you are a victor!

Now in reality, the road you are on may seem like anything but a parade. But if what the Apostle Paul wrote is true—which we confidently accept by faith—then in a practical sense, we never need to be discouraged in this journey by unknown outcomes. Perhaps you can’t see the twists and turns in the road ahead, but God knows them, and that’s all that matters. He is steering you to the finish. So travel with confidence! It is really a victory parade you are in, and Christ is leading it.

Moreover, don’t be intimidated by the either the impossibility or the length of the journey. It could be the road you are traveling is difficult, even treacherous, and with no end in sight. In truth, the path to victory always is, so get used it. You are only walking where the greats have trod! And since the path is really the parade route, take courage, Christ is leading you to victory.

As a follower of Jesus, the Bible promises that your current journey is in reality, a victory parade. And at every turn in your spiritual path, good or bad, smooth cruising or rough road, not only are you already victorious, more importantly, your victory is a witness to the triumph of Jesus Christ. Now it may not seem like much of a victory parade at times, but that doesn’t matter because in the end, victory is guaranteed. So since the outcome has been predetermined, walk through life like it is a victory lap—soon enough it will be!

Finally, don’t get disturbed by delays. Perhaps you feel like you have bogged down in the journey, but remember, you are in a victory parade. Don’t allow your faith to rise and fall on the empirical evidence of right now. Patiently trust in spite of delays, because soon enough, the procession will take you by the final grandstand. Others have already finished the parade, they’ve stood in the winner’s circle, they’ve received the victor’s crown. Now they are waiting for you in the cheering section at the finish, urging you on to victory.

And best of all, so is the One who has led you in this triumphal procession all this way. Once you see him, what seems like a difficult journey now will appear in reality then as nothing more than a victory parade.

So let me say it again: this journey you are on is really a victory procession, and Christ is leading you in triumph. So act like it is a victory lap—soon enough it will be!

“To choose what is difficult all one’s days, as if it were easy, that is faith.” ~W. H. Auden

Reflect & Apply: Is there a fear or discouragement impeding your faith journey at the moment? Rethink it—Christ has already won your victory and is leading you in triumphal procession. Allow that truth to make a difference in how you walk.

Reflect:
II Corinthians 12:9-10

“‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Do you ever wonder why God allows you to struggle with certain things? Perhaps there is a physical limitation from which you have asked God time and again to heal you, but to no avail. Maybe there is a limitation in your ability to learn or speak or a lack of confidence in interacting with others that holds you back vocationally or relationally, and you have desperately sought for God to give you victory over it, but to no avail. Perhaps there has been a struggle with a particular sin over the years, and you have agonized in prayer that God would remove it, but your prayers seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

The Apostle Paul had something like that going on in his life, too. He called it a “thorn in my flesh”. He saw it as a direct assault from Satan. And he prayed intensely that God would deliver him from whatever it was. There has been speculation as to what the thorn in the flesh actually was. Many think it was a physical malady. Tradition tells us that Paul had plenty of physical limitations. Some think the “thorn” was a person who was opposing Paul and his work. Then there are a few who surmise that it was a temptation to which Paul was particularly susceptible. Who knows for sure, but what we do know is that it was really bugging Paul—to the point that he felt frustrated enough to get really serious before God about it.

One of the things I appreciate about Paul is his ability to gain an eternal perspective on things. He was able to re-theologize the negative circumstances in his life to where he could see the mighty hand of God aligning things for his benefit. Such was the case here. If God saw fit to leave this pesky thorn in Paul’s side, then God must have a purpose. And the purpose in this case, he finally figured out, was to keep him from conceit, since throughout his ministry he had been given so many unusual experiences in the supernatural dimension that it would have been easy to become spiritually prideful. Paul needed a little humility, and God gave him a thorn to keep him weak, and therefore humble, in a particular area.

But it wasn’t just humility for humility’s sake that Paul needed, God wanted Paul to come into a much more important understanding of how the Kingdom of God works. God wanted Paul to have a firsthand experience of grace. Paul was the Apostle of grace, so through this experience where all he could do to survive was depend on God’s unmerited favor, he learned to hang on to grace for dear life. Paul learned one of the most important lessons a Christian can ever learn:

Through grace, our weaknesses are parlayed into God’s supernatural strength, which enables us to achieve kingdom success that result in all the credit going to God.

That is why Paul could be grateful for his weakness. That is why he could tolerate his thorn. That is why he could turn his disadvantage into an advantage. Satan afflicted him with a thorn, but God watered it with grace and it budded into a rose. Charles Spurgeon wrote,

“Soar back through all your own experiences. Think of how the Lord has led you in the wilderness and has fed and clothed you every day. How God has borne with your ill manners, and put up with all your murmurings and all your longings after the ‘sensual pleasures of Egypt!’ Think of how the Lord’s grace has been sufficient for you in all your troubles.”

God’s grace is sufficient—always. It was sufficient for Paul. And because God is the same yesterday, today and forever, and because he loves you just as much as he did Paul, God’s grace will be sufficient for you! Start looking at your thorn from a different perspective. It might hurt a little—or a lot—but God is going to use your present struggle to achieve an eternal glory that will far outweigh any discomfort you feel in the present.

In that sense, go ahead and glory in your weakness, for when you are weak, God is strong.

“Never pray for an easier life—pray to be a stronger person. Never pray for task equal to your power—pray for power equal to your tasks. Then doing your work will be no miracle—you will be the miracle.” ~Phillip Brooks

Reflect & Apply: Offer this prayer, “Lord, thank you that in my weakness, I receive your strength! Thorns may pierce me, but they drive me to you, and into a deeper experience of your grace than I would have known without them. In my weakness your sufficient grace is revealed, and I am strengthened to overcome. You bring victory out of defeat in such a way that all the credit goes to you. Therefore I will boast all the more that in my weakness, I am strong in your strength.”

Today’s Reflection:

“We are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.” (II Corinthians 2:15-16).”

Smell, like all of the senses, is quite mysterious really. What may be a pleasing aroma to me may stink to you, to put it bluntly. You may enjoy Aqua Velva; I prefer Burberry Brit. You may enjoy the fragrance of a freshly cut rose, but the smell I enjoy more than anything is fragrance of cedar. Weird, huh! You may find the smell of popcorn cooking in the microwave oven mouthwatering; I can’t stand it. It causes my throat to close up. So if you invite me over to your house for movies, ditch the popcorn and let’s have some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies—which I’m convinced is the modern day equivalent of Old Testament manna.

The Bible reminds us that as Christians, we, too, have a smell. We carry around the fragrance of Christ. We can’t help it; it just naturally exudes from our being—or at least it should. Paul tells us that the fragrance of Christ upon us rises up to God as a sweet scent—he just loves the smell. And to others who also wear the Christ-fragrance, it is an aroma redolent with life.

But to those who have rejected Christ, frankly, we stink. I don’t know how to put it more graciously than that. When they smell Christ on us, it reminds them of something bad. It reminds them of the guilt they carry around from being hostile toward God. It reminds them of the way of death by which the Bible says they travel. It reminds them of the foolishness of the cross and the sheer lunacy of salvation by grace apart from works. It reminds them of the boatload of spiritual truth they find unbelievable, narrow, unsophisticated and offensive. And because of the aroma of Christ you they may not want to in your presence.

Don’t let it shock you if people have to hold their nose around you every once in a while. And when that happens, just remember: You smell “real good” to God.

So wear the fragrance of Christ boldly and proudly—you’re wearing the most expensive perfume known to God.

Something To Think About:
“How was it that, even in the common tasks of an ordinary life, Jesus drew the praise of heaven? At the core of His being, He only did those things which pleased the Father. In everything, He stayed true, heartbeat to heartbeat, with the Father’s desires. Jesus lived for God alone; God was enough for Him. Thus, even in its simplicity and moment-to-moment faithfulness, Christ’s life was an unending fragrance, a perfect offering of incomparable love to God.” ~Francis Frangipane

Today’s Reflection:

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (II Corinthians 5:21)

What an amazing exchange that took place when Jesus hung on the cross as the sacrifice for sin:

Jesus became sin so that I could be saved.

Jesus was abandoned so that I could be embraced.

Jesus received God’s wrath so that I could receive God’s righteousness.

Jesus got what he didn’t deserve so that I could get what I didn’t deserve.

Jesus didn’t get what he deserved so that I wouldn’t get what I deserved.

Jesus went through hell so that I could go to heaven.

Jesus endured hatred so that I could be showered with love.

Jesus died so that I could live.

Redemption is such a lopsided transaction, but such is the love of God. I got the far better deal in this exchange, and for that I will never cease to be grateful.

Something to Think About

“At the heart of the story stands the cross of Christ where evil did its worst and met its match.” ~John W. Wenham