The Second Letter of St. Paul
to
The Corinthians
Chapter
1
1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is in Corinth, including all the saints throughout Achaia:
(Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verse 1)
Oh God my Father in Your name I would also like to share these posts with all who care to listen. Even though I am a simple person a sinner whose life depends on You, You have inspired me to pray and meditate on Your Bible and share these posts online. I thank You for all the love and time that You give me in order to pursue such a holy and adventurous quest in my relationship with You. God bless all who wish to accompany us on our trip to the mount of Calvary, where our sinful self will be crucified and instead You will give us a spiritual body and the renewal of our sinful self, for one that is pure and holy Amen.
2. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolations, 4. who consoles us in all our afflictions, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.
(The Second letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 2 to 4)
Oh God, my Father it is true that only through You, we receive one consolation after another. When the soldier split Your side with the spear a river of consolation, and healing flowed on the world. However, this river of consolation is not a private affair. Those of us who receive the blessings of God are to imitate our Father and generously share these blessings with others who may have not yet received such blessings Amen. Oh, God my Father anything that Your provide us with is not for ourselves alone but to share with others Amen.
5. For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ. 6. If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering.
(The second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 5 to 6)
Oh God, my Father I thank You for both the consolations and even for the desolations that take place in my life. I thank You for making me aware that they do not happen by chance but for a good reason. When we are consoled, others share in our consolations, when others are desolate, we also share in their desolations. It is like one bag full of graces that is filled by each one of us and even consumed by each one of us meaning all the people of the world, in a way that at all times our bag of graces that are given to us by God is always full in abundance. This is like the Social security funds system. We all donate from our wages a certain amount of money that is deposited into the big bag and all those who are entitled to benefit from the bag may do so, in the mean while we all keep contributing Amen.
7. Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation.
(The Second letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verse 7)
Oh God my Father, how nice it is to have someone who understands and cares for us! Paul felt as one with the people of Corinth for they empathised and shared the same feelings and also communicated them even during moments of desolations. Amen. If people showed understanding for people, how much more can You oh God understand us and share in both our consolations and desolations Amen.
8. We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. 9. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
(The Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 8 to 9)
Oh God my Father at times the opposition is so great as in the case of Paul that it is life threatening, however this is not to displease us, for You warned us that is better for us to be approved of he who can destroy both the flesh and the soul than the flesh itself, for the soul is more important than the body and that it does not matter if we die, the most important thing is that our souls are not lost and given to the evil one.
10. He who has rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again, 11, as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
(The Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 10 to 11)
Oh God, my Father we have no other saviour but You, who always intervenes in our lives by saving us from one trap, after another even though we are not aware of such interventions and traps of the evil one. We thank You forever and ever and also intercede for others so that they also may benefit from Your love care and unlimited blessings Amen. Praise be to God.
12. Indeed, this is our boast, the testimony of our conscience; we have behaved in the world with frankness and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God-and all the more toward you.
(The Second letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verse 12)
Oh God my Father if I had to find something to boast about I would boast about the great things that You have performed in my life, the faith that You have given me, this blog and many other and not for personal accomplishments, for all I do I do in You and for You, my God and Father Amen.
13. For we write you nothing other than what you can read and also understand; I hope you will understand until the end- 14. as you have already understood us in part-that on the day of the Lord Jesus we are your boast even as you are our boast.
(The Second letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 13 to 14)
Oh God, my Father You make things so simple to us, that it is almost impossible for one not to understand. The crux of the message of the Good News is that of loving You and others as ourselves. Even though this requires us to go against our sinful nature to overcome our sinful self, and the lustful needs and desires of our body, within our souls are entrapped, with the help of the Holy Spirit in unity with that of the Saints and all the angels You can boast about our faith oh my God and Father Amen.
15. Since I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a double favor. 16. I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on to Judea. 17. Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make plans according to ordinary human standards, ready to say "Yes, yes" and "No, no" at the same time?
(The Second letter of St.Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 15 to 17)
Oh God my Father when I start using the "I" alot when speaking to others or writing to others, I feel rather insecure, for what I do, I do as the fruit of prayer and not the fruit of my will. My prayer is that if what I will is Your will my God and Father than may, it be done, but if it is not God's will it shall not. Therefore the "I" becomes a "We" because it becomes a shared decision between me and God and even the family in my case, which I also accept the decision to be according to Your will even if I do not agree with wife and daughter. Many times You speak to me by means of them Amen.
18. As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been "Yes and No". 19. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not "Yes and No"; but in him it is always "Yes". 20. For in him every one of God's promises is a "Yes". For this reason it is through him that we say the "Amen," to the glory of God. 21. But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, 22. by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.
(The Second letter of St.Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 18 to 22)
Oh God my Father You told us that we are to stick to the truth, what is 'Yes' is Yes and what is 'No' is no, there is no room for 'buts' or maybes. My principle is 'if in doubt but out', especially where sensitive issues such as our faith is concerned, for through incorrect data, or statements or even opinions many people can be hurt. At times even the truth may hurt another person let alone false impressions or statements about other's self, which can easily harm one's self-image and esteem.
23. But I call on God as witness against me; it was to spare you that I did not come again to Corinth. 24. I do not mean to imply that we lord it over your faith; rather we are workers with you for your joy, because you stand firm in faith.
(The Second letter of St.Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 18 to 24)
Oh God my Father whenever You see that I am dominating over somebody by supposing that I know more than others about You please humble me, so that I remain in my humble state and not become haughty and proud. Amen.
Oh God my Father I would like to end this first chapter of the second chapter of St,Paul's letter to the Corinthians with the following prayer:-
Oh God my Father, I thank You for Your love, care and support especially during moments of tribulation and persecution, for You were always there to save and comfort me, and protect me from making the wrong decisions, even if this meant going against my nature. Even though I do not always understand the meaning of what happens in my life, may Your will be done and not mine Amen.
2. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolations, 4. who consoles us in all our afflictions, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.
(The Second letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 2 to 4)
Oh God, my Father it is true that only through You, we receive one consolation after another. When the soldier split Your side with the spear a river of consolation, and healing flowed on the world. However, this river of consolation is not a private affair. Those of us who receive the blessings of God are to imitate our Father and generously share these blessings with others who may have not yet received such blessings Amen. Oh, God my Father anything that Your provide us with is not for ourselves alone but to share with others Amen.
5. For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ. 6. If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering.
(The second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 5 to 6)
Oh God, my Father I thank You for both the consolations and even for the desolations that take place in my life. I thank You for making me aware that they do not happen by chance but for a good reason. When we are consoled, others share in our consolations, when others are desolate, we also share in their desolations. It is like one bag full of graces that is filled by each one of us and even consumed by each one of us meaning all the people of the world, in a way that at all times our bag of graces that are given to us by God is always full in abundance. This is like the Social security funds system. We all donate from our wages a certain amount of money that is deposited into the big bag and all those who are entitled to benefit from the bag may do so, in the mean while we all keep contributing Amen.
7. Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation.
(The Second letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verse 7)
Oh God my Father, how nice it is to have someone who understands and cares for us! Paul felt as one with the people of Corinth for they empathised and shared the same feelings and also communicated them even during moments of desolations. Amen. If people showed understanding for people, how much more can You oh God understand us and share in both our consolations and desolations Amen.
8. We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. 9. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
(The Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 8 to 9)
Oh God my Father at times the opposition is so great as in the case of Paul that it is life threatening, however this is not to displease us, for You warned us that is better for us to be approved of he who can destroy both the flesh and the soul than the flesh itself, for the soul is more important than the body and that it does not matter if we die, the most important thing is that our souls are not lost and given to the evil one.
10. He who has rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again, 11, as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
(The Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 10 to 11)
Oh God, my Father we have no other saviour but You, who always intervenes in our lives by saving us from one trap, after another even though we are not aware of such interventions and traps of the evil one. We thank You forever and ever and also intercede for others so that they also may benefit from Your love care and unlimited blessings Amen. Praise be to God.
12. Indeed, this is our boast, the testimony of our conscience; we have behaved in the world with frankness and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God-and all the more toward you.
(The Second letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verse 12)
Oh God my Father if I had to find something to boast about I would boast about the great things that You have performed in my life, the faith that You have given me, this blog and many other and not for personal accomplishments, for all I do I do in You and for You, my God and Father Amen.
13. For we write you nothing other than what you can read and also understand; I hope you will understand until the end- 14. as you have already understood us in part-that on the day of the Lord Jesus we are your boast even as you are our boast.
(The Second letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 13 to 14)
Oh God, my Father You make things so simple to us, that it is almost impossible for one not to understand. The crux of the message of the Good News is that of loving You and others as ourselves. Even though this requires us to go against our sinful nature to overcome our sinful self, and the lustful needs and desires of our body, within our souls are entrapped, with the help of the Holy Spirit in unity with that of the Saints and all the angels You can boast about our faith oh my God and Father Amen.
15. Since I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a double favor. 16. I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on to Judea. 17. Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make plans according to ordinary human standards, ready to say "Yes, yes" and "No, no" at the same time?
(The Second letter of St.Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 15 to 17)
Oh God my Father when I start using the "I" alot when speaking to others or writing to others, I feel rather insecure, for what I do, I do as the fruit of prayer and not the fruit of my will. My prayer is that if what I will is Your will my God and Father than may, it be done, but if it is not God's will it shall not. Therefore the "I" becomes a "We" because it becomes a shared decision between me and God and even the family in my case, which I also accept the decision to be according to Your will even if I do not agree with wife and daughter. Many times You speak to me by means of them Amen.
18. As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been "Yes and No". 19. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not "Yes and No"; but in him it is always "Yes". 20. For in him every one of God's promises is a "Yes". For this reason it is through him that we say the "Amen," to the glory of God. 21. But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, 22. by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.
(The Second letter of St.Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 18 to 22)
Oh God my Father You told us that we are to stick to the truth, what is 'Yes' is Yes and what is 'No' is no, there is no room for 'buts' or maybes. My principle is 'if in doubt but out', especially where sensitive issues such as our faith is concerned, for through incorrect data, or statements or even opinions many people can be hurt. At times even the truth may hurt another person let alone false impressions or statements about other's self, which can easily harm one's self-image and esteem.
23. But I call on God as witness against me; it was to spare you that I did not come again to Corinth. 24. I do not mean to imply that we lord it over your faith; rather we are workers with you for your joy, because you stand firm in faith.
(The Second letter of St.Paul to the Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 18 to 24)
Oh God my Father whenever You see that I am dominating over somebody by supposing that I know more than others about You please humble me, so that I remain in my humble state and not become haughty and proud. Amen.
Oh God my Father I would like to end this first chapter of the second chapter of St,Paul's letter to the Corinthians with the following prayer:-
Oh God my Father, I thank You for Your love, care and support especially during moments of tribulation and persecution, for You were always there to save and comfort me, and protect me from making the wrong decisions, even if this meant going against my nature. Even though I do not always understand the meaning of what happens in my life, may Your will be done and not mine Amen.
Thank You God my Father
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