For Reading and Meditation:      1 Thessalonians 5:12-28We continue meditating on the importance of looking at life "steadily and whole". I venture to suggest that people who are not Christians are unable to see life as a whole. How can they, when their thinking takes place only on the level of the natural? Natural thinking is notoriously partial and incomplete. Take, for example, the field of medicine. A generation ago doctors treated the symptoms that people presented to them, but now, with a clearer understanding of how the mind affects physical health, they have come to see that this approach was partial. One doctor said: "At long last the medical profession has discovered that the patient himself is important." Medicine is fast moving towards what is described as a "holistic" approach as more and more doctors begin to realise that it is not enough to treat the problem, we must also treat the person. They are still far from seeing that there is also a spiritual element in the person that has to be considered, but perhaps in time that will come. Christian counselling suffers from the same problem - it does not see the whole picture. I am tired of reading books on Christian counselling that give just one side of the issue and suggest that problems can be resolved by applying one special technique. Man was created as a whole person and he will never be helped back to wholeness unless every part of his being is treated - spirit, soul and body. God wants to restore His image in us: not in part of us but in the whole. O Father, forgive us that so often we settle for the half view of things rather than the whole. Quicken my spiritual understanding so that I have Your view on all things - the "whole" view. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>2 Corinthians 4:1-16</li><li>Proverbs 20:27</li><li>Ecclesiastes 12:7</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What is man primarily?</li><li>What was Paul's testimony?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (v. 23)

<blockquote>
For we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake" (<a id="verse_1632880169618643" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/2-Corinthians/4/5">2 Cor. 4:5</a>).
</blockquote>Our Father took the old fleshly life into death at the Cross (<a id="verse_1632880169571138" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/6/6">Rom. 6:6</a>). He gave us new spiritual life in Christ at the resurrection (<a id="verse_1632880169243592" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/6/4">Rom. 6:4</a>; <a id="verse_1632880169887336705" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/6/5">5</a>). As we keep our eyes upon the Cross for the old, and upon the Lord Jesus Christ for the new, all that will remain for others to see will be "not I, but Christ.""In Romans Seven, the personal pronouns 'I,' 'me','my,' are used 47 times in 18 verses. This is the way in which believers live who do not know or who do not recognize the fact of their union with the Lord Jesus Christ."To be occupied with self is to be defeated and to have failure and live in sin; but to be occupied with the Lord Jesus will mean victory. He must be the center, He must be everything to me. In Him is liberation; apart from abiding in Him is defeat and failure. Are you trying to please God, or trusting the One to whom you are united, the One who did always the things that are pleasing to Him'?" -L.L.L."In our Position (union) in Him we are made manifest to God; we are holy and complete in Him. In our Possession of Him He is manifested to men; He lives out His life through us. As we are accepted in Him, so may He be manifested in us." -N.B.H."But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us" (<a id="verse_1632880169117219" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/2-Corinthians/4/7">2 Cor. 4:7</a>).

A 365 day devotional that will help you in your Christian growth and walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.  This devotional is a collection of quotes from some of the best authors in the realm of Christian growth that has been organized by Miles J Stanford.  This devotional study is divided into 12 sections each containing 31 daily portions.

None but the Hungry Heart

 Abiding Liberation 

<blockquote>
  I proclaim not myself, but Christ Jesus as Lord and Master, and myself your bondsman for the sake of Jesus " (<a id="verse_1632877955247318" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/2-Corinthians/4/5">2 Cor. 4:5</a>, Cony.).
</blockquote>All Christians are fit for heaven, but all too few are fit for earth. One of the true tests of one's spiritual growth is in one's influence: affecting others that they not only begin the Christian life but "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (<a id="verse_1632877955580415" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/2-Peter/3/18">2 Peter 3:18</a>)."We may be separated and yet not Christ-like; we may be orthodox and yet not spiritual; we may be dead unto sin' and yet not alive unto God.' We may have cut ourselves loose from every form of worldliness but in so doing we have become critical and self-righteous. We may be loyal defenders of the faith, yea, ready even to lay down our lives for it and in so doing become bitter and unloving.""We may often have a measure of the power of the Spirit, but if there is not a large measure of the Spirit as the Spirit of grace and love, the defect will be manifest  in our work. We may be made the means of conversion, but we will never help people on to a higher standard of spiritual life, and when we pass away a great deal of our work will pass away too." -A.M."One may have a great zeal in God's service, and may be used to influence many for good, and yet, when weighed in the balance of love, be found sadly wanting. In the heat of controversy or under unjust criticism, haste of temper, slowness to forgive and forget, quick words and sharp judgments, often reveal an easily wounded sensitiveness, which proves how little the Spirit of the Lord Jesus has full possession or real mastery of the life." -A.M."We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us" (<a id="verse_1632877955360893" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/2-Corinthians/4/7">2 Cor. 4:7</a>).

 Personal Influence 

5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

For what we preach is not ourselves,<cr>1</cr> but Jesus Christ as Lord,<cr>2</cr> and ourselves as your servants<cr>3</cr> for Jesus’ sake.

2 Corinthians 4:5

 5 For what we preach is not ourselves,   but Jesus Christ as Lord,   and ourselves as your servants   for Jesus’ sake.

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 For what we preach is not ourselves,  but Jesus Christ as Lord,  and ourselves as your servants  for Jesus’ sake.

For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

 For what we preach is not ourselves,   but Jesus Christ as Lord,   and ourselves as your servants   for Jesus’ sake.

Bible Verse of the Day

December 11, 2020

2 Corinthians 4:5 NIV

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