Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Not Stretched Beyond Measure 2 Corinthians 10:14


Paul the apostle told the church members in Corinth how he and his companions, will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God has distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you, and in chapter ten and verse fourteen of Second Corinthians, Paul shares with the church members how he and his companions would not, stretch not ourselves beyond our measure where we read:

For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you:
for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ:

The verse begins, For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: Paul began with the word, “for” which means “even as, indeed, no doubt, seeing then, verily and therefore” “we stretch” or “Paul and his companions extend beyond the prescribed bounds or overmuch” “not ourselves” which means “not Paul and his companions” “beyond our measure” or “extended and stretched inordinately above Paul and his companions' authority”, “as though” which means “like and even as” “we reached” which refers to “Paul and his companions' arrived” “not unto you” which means “not toward the church members”. Paul and his companions “extended” themselves way beyond their “authority”.

The verse continues, “ for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ:” Paul added the word, “for” which means “even as, no doubt, seeing then, verily and therefore” “we are come” or “Paul and his companions arrived, attained and anticipated” “as far as to you” which means “until and unto” “in preaching the gospel” which means “proclaiming the glad tidings of the kingdom of God soon to be set up and subsequently also of Jesus the Messiah who is the founder of this kingdom” “of Christ” which refers to “the anointed One, the Messiah and the Son of God”. Paul and his companions traveled “far enough” to “reach” the Corinthian church members.

When we meditate upon these words of Paul, we see the commitment he and his companions had toward others. The people in Corinth needed “the gospel of Jesus Christ”, and Paul and his companions were given the privilege to share it with them. Even as Paul was “not stretched beyond measure”, he decided to forgo any of his own discomfort to reach out to other. May the Lord help all who read not only to acknowledge these words, but be inspired to assist others in knowing the Lord.

Next time Paul tells the church members how he and his companions were, “not boasting of things that is without our measure”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then,

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms" in all major bookstore sites,
http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.






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