by Stan Mitchell

"Do you not know that your body is a temple 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 body" (1 Corinthians 6:19,20).

Neil Anderson recently wrote, "you win a person to what you win him with" (Gospel Advocate, September 2003). When churches "bend over backwards to cater to their children," he explains, "the young are more often alienated than won by such tactics."

If people are brought to a church through a certain music or activity, for instance, then they will leave the church on the same basis; their departure will coincide pretty much exactly with the arrival of a bigger show across town, a more dramatic version of that program in a rival church, or a ratcheted up version of what brought them to church in the first place. The pressure will always be to outdo last year's production, or lose the "loyal" customer!

Instead of bribing them to church, maybe we should bring them to Christ. Of course, Paul declares that we have been "bought at a price," not "bought for a price!" We don't (or shouldn't) make demands on churches and on Jesus; he makes demands on us! We don't negotiate our terms of entrance into the church; he dictates them! The Lord doesn't have responsibilities to us. Everything he did -- everything -- was a gift he was not obliged to give! We have responsibilities to him!

by Don Ruhl

Read Second Corinthians Chapter One

Soak in the words of Paul,

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God (2 Corinthians 1:3,4, NKJV).

God through Jesus comforts us in all our troubles; therefore, He is the God of all comfort. When trouble immerses us, we are convinced that we shall never come out of it, even leading some to take their own lives. Yet, whether we come out of the trouble or not, our God is waiting to comfort us during those times. He does not promise to remove all trouble from our lives, but He does promise to comfort us through all our troubles.

Look back through the years, recalling the troubles you have experienced, and you will see that God was comforting you. It may not have been apparent at the time, but eventually you saw it or perhaps thinking of that trouble, you can now see that God was comforting you.

Having seen those things, then do what Paul says he did and that is comfort others. Use your troublesome times to comfort those who are struggling.

by Don Ruhl

Read Second Corinthians Chapter Two

In First Corinthians chapter five, Paul commanded the Corinthian Church to put away a certain man who was sinning and not repenting. The church did it, leading the brother to repent. However, the church continued not to have anything to do with the brother. Therefore, in Second Corinthians, Paul writes back to the church, showing them what to do next.

6 This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, 7 so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow (2 Corinthians 2:6,7, NKJV).

Excessive sorrow will destroy him, and that was not the purpose of the punishment, but rather the purpose was to save his soul. They were to continue to work to save his soul by now forgiving and comforting him when those actions were finally necessary.

Sometimes it is not easy to do these latter things, nevertheless, our Lord Jesus Christ, through His ambassador Paul, tells us what He wants done and it is up to us, as His disciples, to learn from Him and fulfill His will.

by Don Ruhl

Read Proverbs 8 and 9

Solomon personifies wisdom as a woman in Proverbs chapter eight. She cries out to us, pleading with us to possess her. In verse 14, she shows what she possesses, which she obviously wants to give away.

14 Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding, I have strength. (Proverbs 8:14, NKJV).

Are you like me in that you need all those tools for daily living? Let us listen to her that we may -- now get this -- acquire those same tools of wisdom that God used in creating the world! (Verses 22-31).

by Richard Mansel

Life is often a hurricane of trouble. Pain, stress, worries, fears bombard us daily. How do we face them with courage? What can non-Christians gain from God's plan? How can we all keep from being consumed by the stresses of this life?

Jesus said of his apostles, "they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world" (John 17:16, NKJV). The world is all that is at enmity with God. He explains, "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of this world, just as I am not of this world" (John 17:14). In John 17:17, Jesus tells them they will be set apart by the truth of Scripture.

God's will condemns the pursuit of fleshly pleasure and pride that directs our steps. God is therefore hated. When Christians take a stand with him for absolute truth, they will find the same anger.

Christians have been chosen out of the world. While Christians live in the world, they despair over the same problems and challenges everyone else faces. Jesus said, "Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" (Matthew 6:34). While God will not take away these problems, he will provide a way to overcome them.

We are to become visitors in this world. If I travel to Seattle, I will settle into my hotel room and relax. I will enjoy the room and try to maintain its neatness, but it won't be mine. I will have no interest in it, other than the service it provides. In the morning I will pick up a local paper and read the sports and national news. I will discard the local news as it has no bearing on me. It won't matter if a planned road project and its threat of a tax increase passes or fails. Since I am not a citizen of Seattle, I will be unconcerned.

When we understand we are "in, but not of the world" we develop a completely new perspective. Our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). We are foreigners and strangers in a foreign land. In a way, we have a different culture and speech than those in the world. This is illustrated by the term "church" which means "the called out."

This is God's antidote to the problems of our lives. We will have a way to let them go.

We will develop "spiritual glasses." When we see a problem, we will put on our spiritual glasses and our new perspective will change our entire mindset. While the problems will still be there, we will see that they have no effect on our soul and relationship to God. In other words, they are not as important as we once thought they were.

When temptations come we can put on our spiritual glasses and ask, "is this worth my soul?" We will develop a spiritually mature perspective with an eye to eternity.

These spiritual glasses will alter our perspective on people. We see a drunk stumbling out of a bar and falling over everything. Without our spiritual vision, we laugh and dismiss him as worthless. Donning our spiritual glasses, we suddenly see him as a soul badly in need of salvation and love.

When we are angry at loved ones, we will ask if this argument is worth our relationship and our place with God.

Our spiritual lives will change as we look out at the world with different lenses. When we see the world as God would have us to, the entire world will be brighter, more hopeful.