Sun. May 5th. 2024.
“Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Cor. 5:16-17.
We all wonder from time to time if our prayers matter. We know we should pray and not give up. We know God honours persevering prayers. But sometimes it’s easier to say, “Lord, I can’t hold on any longer. You’ll have to take it from here.” We need a new way of thinking that doesn’t drag us down. Until we see things from God’s point of view, we will continually make mistakes and may be end up quitting. That’s the point Paul makes in 2 Cor. 5:16-17. In these two verses, he explains how he changed his mind about others, Christ, and himself. If we do what he did, our lives will be changed forever.
Let’s look at each one of these three new perspectives. A new view of others. “From now on, then, we do not know anyone from a worldly perspective” (v. 16a). You learn so much by watching people. We like to judge people “according to the flesh” We divide ourselves by height, weight and skin color and ethnic background. We judge people by how rich they are (or how rich they look). We pay attention to how they dress and what sort of car they drive. It matters to us where they live and where they work and who they know. From henceforth, no more.
“Even if we have known Christ from a worldly perspective, yet now we no longer know him in this way” (v. 16b). Paul used to see Jesus as a renegade, an upstart rabbi who made blasphemous claims about himself. He came from a questionable family background, gathered a ragtag band of troublemakers around him, and tricked people into thinking he was the promised Messiah. Of course with an encounter all that changed. Finally, Paul also came to term with a new view of himself. According to verse 17. Since he is now in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, and all things are now new. Now bearing this new mind set, changes the equation about how you live. This sums up, the mystery of the new perspective to living.
FURTHER READING:
“For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” Matt. 22:50.
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Eph. 2:10.
DECLARATION:
Dear Abba Father, I thank you because You will open to me divine gates of access to new opportunities, windows of divine inspiration, insight, and revelation into righteous avenues of success and prosperity and blessness are opened to me. Father, assign warrior angels as my divine escorts and supernatural security. let them marshal the boundaries and borders of my spheres of influence. Let them dismantle and destroy satanic strongholds and dispossess satanic squatters in my heart and thoughts. Close the gates of death and seal up the doors of affliction and torment in my mind, body, and life in Jesus name.
1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Psalms. 22:1-31.
Psalms. 23:1-6.
Psalms. 24:1-10.
Psalms. 25:1-22.
QUOTE FOR THE DAY:
“Anything That Does Not Build You Up Will Pull Down What You Have Built. Choose Wisely.”
The Fortress Int’l Church, 2 Floor 10 Coker Road, Opposite Chicken Republic Ilupeju Lagos, Nigeria.
email: info@thefortresschurch.com.
