2 Cor. 10:17

2 Corinthians 10:17 But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” (Paul reminds us not to boast about our own accomplishments that the Lord has enabled us to achieve in His work, and he uses this Scripture from Jeremiah 9:24 to remind us that those who are wise should not boast of their wisdom, that those who are strong should not boast of their strength, that those who are rich should not boast of their riches, but those who have true understanding should boast that they know the Lord, that they know Him personally, that they know Who He is, that they know He is Lord, that He is kind, that He is just, that He is righteous, and that He delights in kindness, justice, and righteousness; as we boast in the Lord today, we can boast of the work to which He has called us, we can boast of the God we serve today, of His provision, of His faithfulness, of His trustworthiness, of His mercy, of His forgiveness, of His justice, and of His great and relentless and fierce affection for us!) May the Lord richly bless you this day! Submitted by: Sally Shields

Judging By Appearances

2 Corinthians 10:7 You are judging by appearances. (the Corinthians were judging Paul's standing as an apostle by their Greek standards of eloquence and imposing appearance, important qualities in their culture, but not the criteria for followers of Christ; we often judge others by appearances both through our cultural lens as well as through our own personal experiences, giving those with status and affluence greater deference and credibility, or giving those a wider berth who set off negative signals in us because of the lens of our own past negative connotations) If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, (the Corinthians in their elevated view of themselves had misjudged Paul, being convinced by others, and themselves deceived, that Paul was not what he said because of his outward appearances and actions; as born-again believers, our confidence in Christ does not give us liberty to disparage others or their walk with the Lord by judging them by outward appearances) they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do. (rather, as Paul is asking the Corinthians to do, we need to consider others' relationships with Christ as authentic and as genuine as our own, knowing that our ability to judge is deeply limited; while we each walk out our experiences in Christ at different levels and at a different pace, our actions and attitudes need to match our words and align with His truths; no matter what others say today, we can walk in the sure confidence that our saving experience and call in Christ is no less than the mightiest apostle of Christ from the pages of Scripture; today He declares with a trumpet call that we belong to Him!) May the Lord richly bless you this day! Submitted by: Sally Shields

Protecting the Mind

The Lord Be With You Today! 2 Corinthians 10:5b . . . and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (here is a military reference that likens our thought life to breaching a city and taking the inhabitants captive; here's a point where the Lord invites us to enter the battle and to make an impact; not only do we depend on God's armor and His weapons to fight against strongholds we meet in the world or in ourselves, but we follow up by taking control of our own thinking, by using self-discipline to control our thoughts; taking thoughts captive involves the discipline of exchanging each destructive thought with truth from God; we overpower destructive attacks with the very truths of God’s Word; we replace the wrong thinking that fills our mind with truth, God’s very Word, on which we can stand in confidence; we become fully subject to the lordship of Christ and allow Him to fill our minds with truth instead of lie as we speak His truths and focus on His Word rather than on the lie) May the Lord richly bless you this day! In Christ’s love, Submitted by: Sally Shields