Daily Bread 11-16-16

2 Corinthians 11:17-21

17 That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.

18 Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also.

19 For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.

20 For if ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.

21 I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit, whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also.

ref. - Ph 3:3 - For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Gal 2:4 - And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:

2Cor 10:10 - For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful: but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.

Gal 4:13 - Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.

There was a great gift given to Paul. Not one given through education or through his own stature, but gift from God. These Corinthians had been infiltrated with false prophets. Men trying to take the people back into the bondage that they had once suffered before Christ. Problem is, the people were beginning to listen. They heard fancy speeches by men in fancy robes that had fancy titles telling them not to listen to Paul. They said, where is his robe? where is his fancy title? where is his educated speech? They said, Look at us. And the people began to doubt and were deceived into re-entering the bondage that they had escaped in Jesus Christ. Similar thing happened with the Galatians. And, Paul, not being one to say, Look at me, paused, and said, wait a minute. Not to glory in myself, but to make a comparison, the men who would like to bring you into bondage are less qualified than me if you look at the facts. He said are they bold, so am I. Are they Hebrews, so am I. Are they Romans, so am I....... He went through all of the things that those men were trying to announce to make themselves so important and showed them that he , also, had all of their big qualifications. One big difference though. Paul was not trying to stand out and be heard for who he was and how important he was. He was showing the people how to be set free in Jesus Christ! He was directing their attention away from himself and leading them towards Christ! This is why God used him in such a way that his words are written down for us to learn from every day for the rest of time! Sometimes men could stand and demand reverence for who they are and what they know, but it is the ones who spend their time leading and teaching people to find Jesus Christ that will get us through and help us to not return into the bondage that we came from. It is through their own experiences with Christ and the information put in them through the Holy Ghost that they can help us to find our way. Some could brag about their wisdom and knowledge, but instead they direct us toward Christ and lead us to worship Jesus and not themselves. In this scripture, it says that many were returning to the bondage because the false prophets had such a way about them and such knowledge, but, in turn, Paul had so much more as he held the gospel that led them to freedom and set them free!! Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. If you are not experiencing this type of enlightenment it could be because you are following a man who wants you to look at him instead of a man filled with the Holy Ghost. Seek out someone who leads you into freedom in your soul in Jesus Christ and not back into the bondage of the Old Testament. There is a reason that we have the Old Testament and a reason that we have the New Testament, and that reason is to know the difference between bondage and liberty! So let yourself be taken into the freedom that is in Jesus Christ and, even if the ones leading you do not look so fancy, take so fancy, or have those fancy degrees on the wall, listen to the ones that keep trying to help you and pushing you to go even further than you ever thought. One last note, if you only go as far as you think you can go, it is you. If you let yourself be persuaded to go even further than you think, then it's God!!! And God is gooooooodddd!!!! Have a great day!!!