First things first # 1 – Thank you Lord Jesus Christ!
In dark times like these, we might feel very small, or helpless at times, some people might suffer from an inner void and don’t know how it can be filled in a proper purposeful way. As last year’s numbers are in and the statistics are reflected upon, there were some surprises which might point to grand opportunities for this year…. Thank you Lord Jesus Christ!
So let’s remind ourselves about the following passage in the word of god and read it in context:
2 Corinthians 8:9-15
And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago.
Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which all of you have.
For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man has, and not according to that he has not.
For I mean not that other men be eased, and all of you burdened.
But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their lack, that their abundance also may be a supply for your lack: that there may be equality.
As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.
Note: Quoted from the “Updated King James Version” UKJV, since the rights to the base text of the King James Version (1769) of the Holy Bible (also known as the Authorized Version) are held by the Crown of England and the author of these lines doth not know, which bureaucratic waiting line needs to be joined proper, in order to ask for permission to cite from the original King James Version (1769) KJV for this article and website online.
Since thou hast read the lines from the UKJV bible translation above in context, let’s now reflect on what this passage might mean in the bigger context and in practical terms in our daily lives in Christ by reading some abstracts of the free non-commercial Kingcomments below:
Why did the Lord Jesus want to endure this terrible poverty? That is said in the next part. It was “that you through His poverty might become rich”. He did it all for you who was so incredibly poor – poor through sin. And now you have become so rich, “blessed … with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly [places] in Christ” (Eph 1:3), “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Rom 8:17), with a dwelling place in the Father’s house (Jn 14:1-3). They are too many to enumerate and to be listed. You should stop and think for yourself all that you have received thanks to the poverty of the Lord Jesus. Then you will say: ‘What unspeakable riches have I received!’ Against this background, will it be difficult to give away some of your material wealth? Surely not.
2Cor 8:10-12. Paul says it is ‘profitable’ for the Corinthians that he shares his opinion in this way with them. And it is profitable for you also. A year ago the Corinthians began to do something for the poor brethren in Judea. They did not simply do it; they desired to wholeheartedly involve themselves in this act. You can give something without knowing why and what for you do it. But it was not so with the Corinthians. But there was something more: they had to finish their task.
You can have the intention to regularly lay aside a certain amount for the Lord’s work or for someone who has a need. You might make a good start but after some time you can be slack or careless. There could be all sorts of justifiable reasons. At first you are impressed about a certain need. After some time your willingness diminishes and finally it dissipates into nothing and you stop your giving. Therefore you must be reminded of your original plan and of the good start you made.
It is about what you have. Your giving is acceptable if you have the eagerness, the desire to do according to what you have and not according to what you do not have. “Acceptable” means your gift is accepted with great joy. This joy is with God and those who receive your gift.
2Cor 8:13. In this passage you are not compelled to give more than what you have. Paul is quite sober. The idea is not that you give beyond your capacity to the welfare of others and then beg for your own needs. No, it is about an equal distribution of possessions. From your wealth you give away the superfluous to others to help meet their basic needs. Then there will be equality.
Things must be different with us as believers than in the world. The reason for the unequal distribution of wealth among the nations is man’s self-centeredness. While people die of hunger tons of food are destroyed to create an artificial demand and to keep the prices high.
2Cor 8:14. Your abundance may serve the lack of your fellow believers. This act of yours will prompt others to stand by you when you are in need. This happens as something normal in the church of God. This equality is not a kind of communism. Communism says that everything that belongs to you also belongs to me. In communism one enriches himself at the cost of others. In the church of God it is the other way around. In the church of God one enriches the other at his own cost saying everything that belongs to me belongs to you also. Think again of the example of the Lord Jesus.
2Cor 8:15. To illustrate the principle of equality Paul points to the example of Israel in the manner they collected the manna in the wilderness (Exo 16:18). Every morning the manna was available in abundance as food for the day. There were Israelites who gathered much and there were those who gathered less. Some collected more than they could eat, while others could use some more. What did they do? Whoever collected more than he could eat, gave the superfluous to him who had less. They shared….
Cited in part from the free non-commercial Kingcomments. Thou might read the Kingcomments in full length by installing the Xiphos bible software on your computer from here, or, on a Debian based Linux system, by typing the command “sudo apt-get install xiphos” on the command line (CLI) and then selecting and installing the bible translation of your choice via Edit > Module Manager, once thou hast installed and started the Xiphos bible reading software. Thou can also insert the other bible references mentioned above (for example: Exo 16:18, etc.) into the search bar of the Xiphos bible program to jump to the respective passage in the word of god and read the passage in context, directly. Feel free to get in touch via the contact form if thou art unsure how to install the bible translation of your choice in Xiphos. Please respect the terms and conditions mentioned here and here before getting in touch. Thank you!
Since there are brothers and sisters who doth believe in our Lord Jesus Christ since quite a while and doth have the impression, that it’s not too late to jump on board, do repent and start to believe and walk through live in our Lord Jesus Christ from here on out, like sister Clare from Kingdom Faith in the UK explained, let’s have a look what she hath to say, not so long ago….
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Hath this article lightened your heart? Please share this article with everybody whom you want to experience the same! The https://open-fab.org team is happy, to make thou happy!