II Corinthians

A Meditation on Psalm 121

February 21, 2022 by Tim Sherfy

What do you do when worry overtakes you? Where do you turn? The author of Psalm 121 knew the answer. He lifted His eyes towards Heaven and knew His help came from the Lord (Psalm 121:1-2). We must never forget this truth when the troubles of life threaten to overwhelm us. The very One who made all of Heaven and the earth is an ever-present help in our times of need and distress (Psalm 46:1-3).

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God never leaves or abandons us (Deuteronomy 31:6). If God is for us, no person or circumstance can stand against us (Romans 8:31-32). Jesus defeated death itself on our behalf (2 Timothy 1:10; John 11:25; Hebrews 2:14-15; Revelation 1:17-18). There is no longer a reason to fear anything. It’s difficult to feel overwhelmed when you are fearless!

The Omniscience of God

February 17, 2022 by Tim Sherfy

The omniscience of God is not something we talk a lot about. But this attribute of God is one of His most awesome. The fact He knows everything at all times is beyond our comprehension. We understand the theory of it. God knows everything. Simple enough. But to dwell on what that means is truly breathtaking.

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There has never been anything God didn’t know, and there never will be something that He doesn’t already know. There is nothing God will ever learn because He already knows all things. What He knows, He never forgets. Everything that has been, will be, or is now, is all known at this moment to our majestic God. Remember that next time you feel at all impressed with yourself.

The Practice of Sin

February 10, 2022 by Tim Sherfy

You can’t be a disciple of Jesus and willfully continue to live in sin. Sin will repulse a regenerated heart. The apostle John had much to say about this in his first epistle. He defined sin as practicing lawlessness (1 John 3:4). Another way to say this might be that we sin whenever we rebel against God’s laws. Continuing on a few verses later, John makes it clear if we are born again (born of God), we will not make a practice of sinning (1 John 3:9).

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We can’t do that because God abides in us and sin is abhorrent to Him. As human beings, we will sin. We’re not perfect. But as followers of Jesus, we won’t make a habit of sinning. When we sin, we will immediately be horrified by our failure and repent of it.

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Everlasting Hope

January 6, 2022 by Tim Sherfy

With everything that’s going on in the world today, it’s easy to become discouraged, and perhaps feel as if things are becoming a bit hopeless. Spend over sixty seconds watching or listening to the news, and I’ll almost guarantee you will feel worse than before you began tuning in. The powers and media of this world do not exist to encourage you.

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It appears their sole function may be to incite fear and division to control the masses. But, thanks be to God, we don’t have to live under such depression and despair. We have a great hope that the powers of this world can not diminish. God has given us a new birth and everlasting hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (1 Peter 1:3)!

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Devoted to Christ

November 22, 2021 by Tim Sherfy

There is a word in the Bible that causes much controversy these days because of its modern English connotation. The word is “slave” and depending on what translation you read may also be translated as servant or bondservant. Given the tensions of our day, the term servant is more palatable than the word slave, but we must recognize when the Bible uses the word, it often does not mean the same thing as it does to us today. For example, in Philippians 1:1, Paul refers to himself and Timothy as slaves of Christ.

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This is not to be construed as anything negative, but as something to which we should all aspire. The Greek word for slaves here is δοῦλος (douloi), which means “pertaining to a state of being completely controlled by someone or something”¹. Given that definition, I definitely want to be a slave to Jesus. I want my life to be devoted to Christ.

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1
Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 471). New York: United Bible Societies.).