And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness.

2 Corinthians 11

And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.  It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. v14-15

On the heels of Paul's reminder that we are fighting with God on our side and that the weapons we fight are not just different than those of the world but the same power that raised Jesus from the grave, we must remember WHO we are fighting and there IS a battle.  There is sin, temptation, idols, and false teachers - we must remember.

Paul reminds us how Satan works - he "masquerades as a servant of righteousness" and Piper writes that " [i]n his sovereignty, God considered it wise, as part of his curse on the world after the fall of Adam and Eve, to give Satan a huge power in this world."

For more, John Piper penned this article that provides background on the "Fall of Satan and the Victory of Christ".

Satan may be real but we have God on our side:

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Colossians 2:9-15

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who - while You have allowed Satan to have some power - has dominion and authority over all and who defeats Satan and sin for all believers - thank You Jesus for giving me freedom over sin, eternal life - and abundant life!  I am grateful!  Yet I am undeserving I know.  My sin is great.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. v4-5

Drawing contrast to unbelievers who wage war with earthly weapons that cannot match God's might, Paul emphasizes how the Holy Spirit, prayer, and scripture provide divine power to "demolish strongholds".  All of us fight strongholds of sin in our lives and we have the same power that raised Jesus from the grave.  It is for us to be transformed by the renewing of the mind to "take captive every thought" for Christ.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves us and who provides us with power to demolish strongholds of sin - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such love and blessings.  I am selfish and I struggle with sin daily - please forgive me Jesus for falling short and help me turn from and overcome sin - help me turn towards You. Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

2 Corinthians 9

You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. v11

Paul continues (see also post from 2 days ago) to encourage us to be generous, with the frequently cited verse 7 which focuses on our desire to be a "cheerful giver".  He also reminds us that as a result of our cheerful giving "in all things at all times" God will bless us abundantly and provide for our needs so that we will "abound in every good work" (v9). 

Bottom line: we are blessed abundantly so that we can bless others abundantly and God is glorified.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are a great God who loves us and who blesses us abundantly - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such blessings - my sin is great and often overwhelming.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”

2 Corinthians 8

Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.” v13-15

Paul's message on giving and generosity (which continues into chapter 9), starts with an acknowledgement of the Macedonian church of their rich generosity that "welled up" from their "extreme poverty" (v2).  Paul seeks for the church in Corinth (and all of us) to give generously as a cheerful giver.  In v15, he references Exodus 16, where in the desert, Moses instructs the Israelites to gather only enough manna to last a day, to depend on the Lord for their sustenance, and to ensure others' basis needs are met. 

We must also recognize that all that we everything we have in our possession comes from the Lord, it belongs to Him, and that we are to be good stewards of what He provides for us.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are a great God who loves me and who provides for ALL of my needs - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of the many blessings You pour out for me.  I neglect my relationship with You and I have many other sins - daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

2 Corinthians 7

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. v10

Paul writes the church in Corinth expressing some level of regret over a previous letter - a "severe" letter where Paul points out their sin - addressed to them (see also 2 Corinthians Background and Setting - MacArthur Bible Study Commentary (for purchase)). While he might have had some level of regret, he is more concerned over the Corinthians spiritual state and he was glad to hear of their repentance (v9).

Paul then makes a distinction between Godly and worldly sorry - writing that "earnestness, eagerness to clear yourselves, indignation, alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done"(v11).  It is an utter distaste of sin - as God hates sin so should we and this should drive us to pursue holiness.

John Piper helps us further understand this distinction.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who seeks to mold me to be more like You - thank You Jesus for Your patience and compassion for me...and Your concern for me.  I am not deserving of such love.  I am selfish and often neglectful of my relationship with You Lord.  Please forgive me!  Help me turn from such sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.

2 Corinthians 6

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. v14

In writing the church in Corinth (v1-10, 14-18) and to Corinthians in general (v11-13), Paul seeks to encourage believers and non-believers regarding his earnest desire to save everyone.  He pleads with Corinthians to be honest in their assessment of both him and their own sin. He then speaks directly with believers in Corinth and warns them not to be "joined, linked or united" with unbelievers (v14).

We can associate with unbelievers (as friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc.) - for how else can we reach them - yet we cannot be "yoked" with them in the sense that we build up a relationship with them to the point where we allow them to negatively impact our attitudes and behaviors regarding God and our relationship with Him.

See other posts on influence of others.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God and You have provided many Godly influences in my life and blessed me with others that build me up and bring me closer to God.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such blessings.  I am selfish and I have other sins...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. v20-21

Paul continues to encourage us to focus on the eternal and on rewards in Heaven for those who believe (v1-10), and then he describes how Jesus provides the ministry of reconciliation (v11-20).  We then get to v20-21 where Paul crystallizes for us how we exist solely for God that we can bring glory to Him and in so doing, bring others to Him.

I am SO grateful that God provided His one and only Son so that I be united with God, have forgiveness of sin and eternity in Heaven!  Thank You Jesus!

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who gave me His Son so that I could be reconciled to God, have forgiveness of sin, the Holy Spirit, and eternity in Heaven.  Thakn You Jesus!  What amazing gifts!  I am clearly not deserving - I am selfish and I have many other sins.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.