QuickThoughts: Paul Prefers Texting
Even Paul preferred having difficult conversations via text rather than in person. 😂
📘 For this reason I am writing these things while absent, so that when present I need not use severity, in accordance with the authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.
2 Corinthians 13:10 LSB
In all seriousness, he just wanted to be able to enjoy his time with his beloved spiritual children when he visited again, and not have to lay the smack down a third time:
📘 This is the third time I am coming to you. BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY MATTER SHALL BE CONFIRMED. I have previously said when present the second time, and though now absent I say in advance to those who have sinned in the past and to all the rest as well, that if I come again I will not spare anyone,
2 Corinthians 13:1-2 LSB
This entire letter (as well as the first one) are so full of Paul’s love for the Church, and this one in particular. He is such a shining example of how we are to love one another.
QuickThoughts: Live the Christian Life Today
📘 Finally, brothers, rejoice, be restored, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.
2 Corinthians 13:11 LSB
To this I also implore you all: encourage one another, build up and do not tear down! Mourn with those who are mourning and rejoice with those who rejoice!
Pray for opportunity to give generously and to care for the poor and sick, for an opportunity to share the Gospel of hope with someone.
Forgive the one who has wronged you and seek forgiveness from those you have wronged. In all you do today, both online and off, do it all for the glory of Him who died to rescue you from the power and penalty of sin!
To God be all the glory forever. Amen!
QuickThoughts: The Futility of Evil
A lesson on the futility of evil, from Psalm 52:
📘
Psalm 52:1-4 LSB
Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?
The lovingkindness of God endures all day long.
Your tongue devises destruction,
Like a sharp razor, O worker of deceit.
You love evil more than good,
Falsehood more than speaking what is right. Selah.
You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.
How prevalent is this today?! From wicked world leaders, to abortionists, to twisted “influencers” who deceive young minds, to parents who mutilate their children, there is no shortage of those who love evil more than good.
But God is neither blind nor impotent:
📘
Psalm 52:5 LSB
But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent,
And uproot you from the land of the living, Selah.
While it may seem that the wicked prosper now, their day of judgment IS coming!
His destruction of evil men will be witnessed by those whom He has called, by those who love Him. And we will rejoice in the justice of the Lord:
📘
Psalm 52:6-7 LSB
So that the righteous will see and fear,
And will laugh at him, saying,
“Behold, the man who would not set God as his strength,
But trusted in the abundance of his riches
And was strong in his destruction.”
As strong as the world’s armed may be, they are no match for the power of our God. As Paul Washer once said, though all the armies of the world ally themselves together against God, “they would have no more strength than a mite beating its head against a piece of granite.”
We, however, will rejoice:
📘
Psalm 52:8-9 LSB
But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.
I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it,
And I will hope on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your holy ones.
How gracious is our Savior?? But for the grace of God, we would be counted among the damned!
If Christ has rescued you, give thanks to Him today. Praise His holy Name and rest in the truth of His lovingkindness. You have passed from death unto life and are sealed in Him by the Holy Spirit!
And if you have not yet repented of your sins and put your faith in Jesus Christ, today is the day of salvation. Do not tarry, but kneel before the cross of grace and cry out to the Lord to have mercy on you, a sinner.
QuickThoughts: Paul’s Thorn
The description Paul gives of his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7) is fairly well-known. There is actually a lot to learn through just these few verses (vv. 7-10), though. Let’s take a look at each verse in turn!
📘 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!
2 Corinthians 12:7 LSB
Three key questions to seek answers to here:
- What is the “thorn in the flesh?”
- The thorn was “a messenger of Satan,” a demonic spirit. This was a supernatural, evil entity that had come upon Paul. Since, however, the Holy Spirit would not allow a demon to take up residence with Him in a believer, this demonic influence had to come from an outsider. Someone Paul had regular contact with was being controlled or highly influenced by this messenger of Satan.
- Where did the “thorn in the flesh come from?”
- The thorn was given to Paul by God Himself! Just as Satan Himself needed God’s approval (or command) in order to afflict Job (Job 1:6-12), this demonic spirit was likewise sent to Paul.
And, as with Job, this demon’s mission was given by God for a specific reason and it was actually a good thing for Paul!
- The thorn was given to Paul by God Himself! Just as Satan Himself needed God’s approval (or command) in order to afflict Job (Job 1:6-12), this demonic spirit was likewise sent to Paul.
- Why was the “thorn in the flesh” given to Paul?
- The thorn was given to Paul to keep him humble, to keep him from exalting himself; it had a sanctifying effect on Paul’s heart, keeping him from sinful pride!
Though Paul knew in hindsight while writing this letter that the thorn was for his good, he still had prayed for the Lord to take it from him:
📘 Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me.
2 Corinthians 12:8 LSB
We may never know the reason for our suffering and tribulations (after all, Job was never given a reason for his nor told of the discussions between Himself and Satan), so we are well within our rights as Christians to reach out to the Father through our Savior and ask Him for help. He may grant our request or refuse, as he did with Paul. Quite often, our suffering is a necessary “evil” that is working for our good (Romans 8:28).
📘 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”
2 Corinthians 12:9a LSB
Regardless of the trials and tribulations we face, as children of the King, we need to remember that it was ultimately sent to us by our sovereign Creator and His grace is sufficient for us to endure. Paul boasted of his weaknesses, including this “thorn,” because he knew that it served for showcase the power of Christ!
📘 Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions and hardships, for the sake of Christ, for when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9b-10 LSB
We are surrounded today by “messengers of Satan,” hurling insults, mocking and threatening us. Yet we need to be content, leaning on the Holy Spirit’s indwelling power to sustain us and guide us to perseverance.
Besides, these trials should not surprise us, as Jesus Christ Himself told us they would come and that the world would hate us because of Him:
📘 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you.”
John 15:18 LSB
Let us all be like Paul today and rejoice in the work of our Lord God, even in our suffering. His grace is sufficient!
QuickThoughts: Paul’s Suffering
📘 2 Corinthians 11:16-33
Between his conversion and his second letter to the church at Corinth, the Apostle Paul truly suffered for Christ.
He had been…
- Imprisoned many times
- Beaten exceedingly
- Lashed 39 times by the Jews on 5 separate occasions
- Beaten with rods 3 times
- Stoned
- Shipwrecked 3 times, left adrift for a full day before rescue in one instance
- Often left without shelter, food, and water
He had been in constant danger of death in the cities, the wilderness, and at sea from…
- Rivers
- Robbers
- His own people and Gentiles
- False believers
On top of all of this, he had the immense personal responsibility of stewarding the churches he planted, rebuking false teaching, and addressing sin and immorality in the church.
Paul’s Christian life was an arduous, dangerous, and humiliating one! By all accounts, he appeared very weak to the world, always on the defensive, mocked and scorned at every turn.
And yet he had reason to boast! Not in his strength, but in his weakness. It was this weakness that showcased the strength of God; through all of Paul’s apparent failures, the gospel message was continuing to spread like wildfire, hearts were being changed, and multitudes were coming to repentance and faith in Christ!
Brethren, be not discouraged by your weakness and apparent lack of success. Be faithful to our Lord’s command to go and make disciples. Sow; He will reap His harvest.
📘 These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 LSB
Rejoice in your suffering and, like Paul, be content:
📘 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions and hardships, for the sake of Christ, for when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:10 LSB
QuickThoughts: Knowing God’s Word
When God gave Adam instructions concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He said “you shall not eat from it; for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17).
The serpent, however, twisted these words and asked Eve, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” (Gen 3:1)
Eve’s response holds many implications:
📘 And the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God said, ‘You shall not eat from it, and you shall not touch it, lest you die.’”
Genesis 3:2-3 LSB
Not only had God not said what the serpent asked Eve, He also had not said what Eve told the serpent.
The implication is that either Adam failed to accurately relay God’s instructions, or Eve had not paid very close attention.
In either case, I am sure Eve’s response greatly emboldened Satan; Eve did not know God’s Word. It is this failure on her part (and Adam’s) that allowed her to be deceived so easily. After all, if she got one part of the instruction wrong (“you shall not touch it”), perhaps she was wrong about death as a consequence…
Satan had his “in.”
Likewise, we are susceptible to the lies of the enemy when we do not know God’s Word. The devil is crafty; he seeks those who are weak in the knowledge of God’s word and will devour them as a lion devours its prey.
His lies are everywhere today, having thousands of years to learn human nature and perfect his deceptions.
📘 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. In addition to all, having taken up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, also receive the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
Ephesians 6:13-17 LSB
We must know the truth in order to detect and defend against the lies.
📘 … “If you abide in My word, then you are truly My disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
John 8:31-32 LSB
QuickThoughts: False Teachers #1
False teachers are not deceived. They are not victims of Satan’s lies, but they are his servants, parroting the devil’s lies to prey on others!
📘 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 LSB
Anyone who preaches a Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11), spirit (Romans 8:15), or gospel (Galatians 1:6) other than what Paul and the other Apostles recorded in Scripture, is a wolf.
Masquerading as “ministers of righteousness,” they, like Satan, are seeking whom they may devour.
📘 Therefore, beloved, since you are looking for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and consider the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest you, having been carried away by the error of unprincipled men, fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
2 Peter 3:14-18 LSB
Amen indeed!
QuickThoughts: All For The Glory of God
📘 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31 LSB
I often see this verse shared on its own, without any if the surrounding context. While this verse has plenty of application by itself, and is indeed something to apply to every aspect of our daily lives, there is more to it than that.
Paul is specifically instructing believers on how to behave in such a way as to not unnecessarily offend unbelievers and fellow believers.
The Christian life is simple, but it is not always easy. Nor is it always simple to decide what to do in a complex situation.
In 1 Corinthians 10:23-33, Paul is positing a specific scenario:
📘 If one of the unbelievers invites you [to eat] and you want to go…
1 Corinthians 10:27a LSB
An unbeliever in Corinth may possibly be serving meat sacrificed to idols as a part of the meal. Paul tells us to eat freely, but to not ASK if the meat had been sacrificed:
📘 … eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’ sake.
1 Corinthians 10:27b LSB
As Christians, we have the liberty to eat anything we want, “For the earth is the Lord’s, as well as its fullness” (v. 26).
We should employ that liberty and eat in ignorance whatever the unbeliever serves us, so as not to offend them.
However, if we are made aware that the meat has been sacrificed to idols, we have a greater consideration.
📘 But if anyone says to you, “This is meat consecrated to idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience’ sake. I do not mean your own conscience, but the other person’s. For why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience?
1 Corinthians 10:28-29 LSB
The “one who informed you” is another believer, perhaps a weaker brother or sister whose conscience is offended by eating such things.
In that case, it is better to offend our unbelieving host than to offend our brethren and cause their conscience to judge us for it.
Even if we are giving thanks to God for the meat, we are in danger of sinning against our brethren and our God:
📘 If I partake with gratefulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?
1 Corinthians 10:30 LSB
Here we finally come to Paul’s main point: that whatever we choose to do, whether eating the meat or abstaining, we are to do it to God’s glory, by not offending anyone, if possible:
📘 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31-32 LSB
So, how do we not offend ANYONE in a scenario like this? This passage can be challenging to fully interpret (at least it is for me), but I believe a level of “plausible deniability” is involved here.
If we are about to take part in something that we DO have the freedom to do sinlessly, but that might possibly cause another brother to stumble, we should give up our freedom for their sake.
Seek to please all men in all things, but do not be afraid to offend unbelievers if it means you are loving the brethren and giving glory to God.
📘 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved.
1 Corinthians 10:33LSB
Scripture is amazing, friends. Don’t just read it; dig deep, meditate, ponder, and love it. It is the only gateway to knowledge of our Lord and Savior!
QuickThoughts: Our Eternal Bodies
📘 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.
2 Corinthians 5:5 LSB
My friends, whatever you may be going through, know this: if you have been purchased by the blood of Christ, you are secure in Him and may have rest.
One day, He will destroy your earthly body and build you a new, eternal, perfect, physical body. Just as Christ was given a glorified body at His resurrection, so to shall we! In fact, as Paul says, it is the very purpose for which we were created: to dwell with Him in perfect unity for all eternity!
If you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you, it is a pledge, a promise from God Himself, that He will finish the good work He began in you. Fear neither pain nor death, for all we see is temporal, “but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor 4:18)! One day, we will have “a house not made with hands,” but an eternal building from God (2 Cor 5:1)!
📘 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
2 Corinthians 4:16 LSB
Introducing: QuickThoughts
As I began my transition away from social media (primarily Twitter/X), I was hesitant to abandon it too quickly as I often used the platforms to briefly share my thoughts on my scripture reading of the day, speculations regarding the Bible, and other “quick thoughts” I hoped might have value to others.
With my blog, I had been under the (false) impression that I was obligated to only post longer, well-researched, and fully fleshed out articles (not that I had always adhered to that made-up rule). However, in so limiting my blog activity, I would end up posting here so rarely that I started to wonder why I had a blog at all.
As a compromise, I have decided to combine both methods of sharing my thoughts into this one location. Thus, “QuickThoughts” was born.
I will begin posting some off-the-cuff remarks, comments, random thoughts, etc. under the title of QuickThoughts to differentiate from more focused topical articles. The QuickThoughts should be seen as just random things I wanted to talk about, Scripture that stood out to me that day, etc. Often when posting QuickThoughts, I may not have the time to lookup cross references, Hebrew/Greek definitions, or research everything a passage might mean in the context of the full counsel of God’s Word.
If you do choose to follow along with the QuickThoughts posts, please take that into consideration; I may misinterpret things in the moment or choose to focus on a very narrow understanding of the text at times. My hope is that this will not detract my readers from digging in deeper for themselves (in fact, that is a primary goal of mine: open your own Bibles, friends!).
The Unworthy Prodigal 