8 day plan

Hope in a Time of Disaster

Day 8 of 8

CSB

2 Corinthians 1:3-5

The God of Comfort

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. 4He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

Reflections: God is with us and is our source of comfort and support. It isn’t always easy to accept this. It isn’t always easy to feel or believe this, but it is a truth that has been attested to throughout the ages. It is the promise of the Word of God. It is the stuff of faith and something that we should strive to be mindful of at all times.  We can honestly share our struggles with doubt and faith but in the end, choosing to stand on what we know to be the promises of God is an important aspect of our witness to others as disciples.  In these difficult days, may we honestly lament before God, but then may we stand firm and look to him for peace in the present and hope in the future.

Prayer:

Spirit,
God,
Christ,
You are always with us,
Whether we perceive it or not.
You are always working for our good,
Whether we know it or not.
You are always there for comfort and help,
Whether we call on it or not.
You are always calling us onward in hope,
Whether we listen or not.
You are always the giver of compassion and comfort,
Whether we accept it or not.
You are not the cause of our troubles or sufferings,
Whether we believe it or not.
In all things and at all times your hand is on our lives,
Whether we feel it or not.
You are God,
Leading us to our better selves and working to redeem all people and all things,
Whether we have faith or not.
This simply is, and so shall it always be.
Amen.

© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers

Days

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Suggested Plans

14

Known by God

14

Encountering the Risen Jesus

2 Corinthians 1:1-24

Greeting

1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Timothy our brother:

To the church of God at Corinth, with all the saints who are throughout Achaia.

2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The God of Comfort

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. 4He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6If we are afflicted, 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 that we suffer. 7And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort.

8We don’t want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of our affliction that took place in Asia. We were completely overwhelmed — beyond our strength — so that we even despaired of life itself. 9Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. 10He has delivered us from such a terrible death, and he will deliver us. We have put our hope in him that he will deliver us again 11while you join in helping us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gift that came to us through the prayers of many.

A Clear Conscience

12Indeed, this is our boast: The testimony of our conscience is that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, with godly sincerity and purity, not by human wisdom but by God’s grace. 13For we are writing nothing to you other than what you can read and also understand. I hope you will understand completely —  14just as you have partially understood us — that we are your reason for pride, just as you also are ours in the day of our Lord Jesus.

A Visit Postponed

15Because of this confidence, I planned to come to you first, so that you could have a second benefit, 16and to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and then come to you again from Macedonia and be helped by you on my journey to Judea. 17Now when I planned this, was I of two minds? Or what I plan, do I plan in a purely human way so that I say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18As God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes and no.” 19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you — Silvanus, Timothy, and I — did not become “Yes and no.” On the contrary, in him it is always “Yes.” 20For every one of God’s promises is “Yes” in him. Therefore, through him we also say “Amen” to the glory of God. 21Now it is God who strengthens us together with you in Christ, and who has anointed us. 22He has also put his seal on us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.

23I call on God as a witness, on my life, that it was to spare you that I did not come to Corinth. 24I do not mean that we lord it over your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy, because you stand firm in your faith.

© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers