2 Corinthians 7
You are a gift. When people open their hearts to you, they will receive from that gift. If their hearts are closed, they won’t receive what God can do through your life. The same goes for other people that God brings our way. Paul asks the Corinthians in verse 2 “Do open your hearts to us again [enlarge them to take us in].” What if someone says or does something we don’t agree with? People aren’t perfect. It’s important to major on the majors and minor on the minors. There’s a saying, “Eat the hay and spit out the sticks.” When a horse eats hay and finds a stick, the horse spits the stick out; the stick doesn’t stop the horse from eating the hay. Satan wants to get us to a place where we close our hearts to one another. He wants us to harden our hearts from receiving from others, especially our pastor or teachers. How does he do that? One way is to whisper in our ears, pointing out their flaws, finding fault in these gifts. Another is to tempt us to pick up an offense against that person, breaking trust, closing off our hearts. Instead, I think of opening the door when I have company over, inviting them in. We can do the same thing with our hearts, opening our hearts wide, allowing people to speak into our lives.
Proverbs 28-29
Proverbs 28:5 “Evil men do not understand justice, but they who crave and seek the Lord understand it fully.” God is the definition of what is right and just. When people are far from God, they get their own ideas of what is right and just, or they only what concerns their own advancement. The world will often call right as wrong and wrong as right. However, when we are pursuing God and His ways, what is right and just will come from Him.
#covertocoverwithmelanie #covertocover #growchurches #bible #biblecommentary #melaniestone #readthebible #readingthroughthebible #biblereadingplan