'Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace. For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus. Because I was confident of this, I wanted to visit you first so that you might benefit twice. I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way to Judea. Was I fickle when I intended to do this? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say both “Yes, yes” and “No, no”? For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. I call God as my witness—and I stake my life on it—that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.'
2 Corinthians 1:3-24
https://www.bible.com/bible/111/2CO.1.3-24
The Lord is the God of all comfort. I have experienced His comfort countless times. He comforts us and takes care of us so that we are free to take care of others rather than being paralyzed by our own unmet needs. This is only when we go to Him for comfort. Just being saved is not enough to accomplish this. We still must take our every need to Him and depend on Him. Not only that, but in experiencing His comfort, we learn how to comfort others in similar situations as we have been in. God often uses other people to comfort us, but as we grow closer to Him, we can get most of our comfort directly from our intimacy with Him through prayer, worship, reading His Word. This can help us to not be too dependent on others. In this way, we are better able to focus on ministering to others’ needs. This is probably why when we ask most of the older generations if they need anything or if they need prayer, many of them will say that they are doing well or not to worry about them. They have reached that point in their lives where they are mentally and emotionally and spiritually strong; at least until they can no longer take care of themselves and need our help.
Another aim of this passage is that through the suffering of Paul and the disciples, others became saved and comforted. The type of suffering this is referring to is directly related to their work for the Kingdom whether it be persecution, nakedness, sword, hunger, etc. When we are working for the Kingdom of God, we will experience hardships, but those hardships will result in the blessing of others. Although, when we choose to suffer for the Kingdom of God, we experience great peace and comfort from the Lord Himself and He will take care of us.
Paul and the disciples were very careful in all their works that they maintained a good conscience before God and man so that noone would be able to say anything bad about them. The fact that Paul often reminded the people that they acted with integrity and good conscience indicates that they had been falsely accused or treated unfairly. However, whenever people falsely accused them of anything, God had their backs, and their consciences were clear. He had no hidden motives and preached the unadulterated Word of God. He was not trying to manipulate them like they apparently thought he was doing.
No matter how many promises God makes, they are “yes” in Christ Jesus. There is not a single promise made by God that will be unfulfilled. He is able to bring every single one of them to pass even when it looks unlikely. God is not flaky and never changes His mind. He does not make promises and then turn around later and change His mind. He intends to bring them all to fruition! Hallelujah!!! Lord, I pray that we will only make promises that we know that we know we can keep and that we will not forget any promise that we make. May we bring to fruition every promise that we make. Lord, thank You so much for being a Promise Keeper!! Thank you for helping us to bless others in the same way that You bless us!!
2 Corinthians 1:3-24
https://www.bible.com/bible/111/2CO.1.3-24
The Lord is the God of all comfort. I have experienced His comfort countless times. He comforts us and takes care of us so that we are free to take care of others rather than being paralyzed by our own unmet needs. This is only when we go to Him for comfort. Just being saved is not enough to accomplish this. We still must take our every need to Him and depend on Him. Not only that, but in experiencing His comfort, we learn how to comfort others in similar situations as we have been in. God often uses other people to comfort us, but as we grow closer to Him, we can get most of our comfort directly from our intimacy with Him through prayer, worship, reading His Word. This can help us to not be too dependent on others. In this way, we are better able to focus on ministering to others’ needs. This is probably why when we ask most of the older generations if they need anything or if they need prayer, many of them will say that they are doing well or not to worry about them. They have reached that point in their lives where they are mentally and emotionally and spiritually strong; at least until they can no longer take care of themselves and need our help.
Another aim of this passage is that through the suffering of Paul and the disciples, others became saved and comforted. The type of suffering this is referring to is directly related to their work for the Kingdom whether it be persecution, nakedness, sword, hunger, etc. When we are working for the Kingdom of God, we will experience hardships, but those hardships will result in the blessing of others. Although, when we choose to suffer for the Kingdom of God, we experience great peace and comfort from the Lord Himself and He will take care of us.
Paul and the disciples were very careful in all their works that they maintained a good conscience before God and man so that noone would be able to say anything bad about them. The fact that Paul often reminded the people that they acted with integrity and good conscience indicates that they had been falsely accused or treated unfairly. However, whenever people falsely accused them of anything, God had their backs, and their consciences were clear. He had no hidden motives and preached the unadulterated Word of God. He was not trying to manipulate them like they apparently thought he was doing.
No matter how many promises God makes, they are “yes” in Christ Jesus. There is not a single promise made by God that will be unfulfilled. He is able to bring every single one of them to pass even when it looks unlikely. God is not flaky and never changes His mind. He does not make promises and then turn around later and change His mind. He intends to bring them all to fruition! Hallelujah!!! Lord, I pray that we will only make promises that we know that we know we can keep and that we will not forget any promise that we make. May we bring to fruition every promise that we make. Lord, thank You so much for being a Promise Keeper!! Thank you for helping us to bless others in the same way that You bless us!!