William Bode

Wednesday, September 04, 2013 The gift of Satan 2CO 12:7-10 NLT even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. ------------ We've all heard it before but why didn't we recognise it for what it says. God gave Paul an extraordinary vision of heaven. It was so miraculous he's not even allowed to talk about it. 2CO 12:4 NLT that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.

Saturday, August 31, 2013 When little is a lot. 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 NLT Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity. For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem. They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do. ------ Albanian Abundance "Help if you can," is a common refrain you hear from people raising funds. But maybe it should be rephrased, "help if you want joy." It's obvious from Paul's description of the Macedonians that they had a full plate. He says they are being tested by many troubles. Turning to Jesus had a huge

Wednesday, August 28, 2013 A New Goal for a New Person 2 Corinthians 5:1-21 NLT For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from t

Tuesday, August 27, 2013 Shiny Happy People 2 Corinthians 3:3-18 NLT Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts. We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life. The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving li

Monday, August 26, 2013 When do plan to be free of all your stuff? Ecclesiastes 5:15New Living Translation (NLT)15 We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us. _____________________ I'm moving from one country to another. Moving house with a very limited removals vehicle has forced some hard decisions. Do you keep the children's school art (they've all grown up). You read that book years ago, why do you need to keep carrying it? Possessions own us! We desire them. They weigh us down. Quite literally they weigh a lot! I was looking on web sites that estimate the weight of a person's household to make sure the hired 3.5 ton Luton van with 15.5 cubic meters can safely carry the sum of my worldly possessions. My mind is loaded with thoughts on this subject. A few years ago I decided I need a new rucksack (sm day backpack) to carry my stuff for work, as well as the all important pack up (lunch), and maybe a laptop too. I decided a l

Sunday, August 25, 2013 How far will it take you? We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. 2 Corinthians 1.8.NLT (Paul the Apostle) http://bible.com/116/2CO1.8.NLT Bible.com/app There's a lot of people handing out 'encouragement' and advice that don't know what they are talking about. Some people are being told that God won't let them suffer. 1 Corinthians 10:13 NASB No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. But its obvious enough if you read what the Bible says that people who suffer (that's supposed to be everyone who follows Jesus) will sometimes feel like its too much. They'll think that the suffering is going to kill th

Friday, August 23, 2013 Another Take Philippians 2:3-4 NLT Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. Another Take When people get seriously difficult news from the doctor often friends will encourage them to "get another opinion." In life we all recognise the value of a "fresh set of eyes." So when someone comes along and offers a new perspective based on some lateral thinking we're inclined to take notice. That's what I think Paul is offering the people of Philippi. In most cultures of the world things haven't changed much, in fact even in the animal kingdom the tenancy is to look out for number one. It's a "dog eat dog" kind of a world. In fact just yesterday a quite selfless colleague of mine repeated that very motto. "You've got to look out for yourself because no one else is going to do it." Self promotion is the heart of competition, grades, ranking, manag

Death is not the grand finale! 1 Corinthians 15:54-58 NLT Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? ” For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. It's so easy to think of death as the end. And as it is a formidable enemy we may find death the winner in our epic struggle to live. But the Apostle Paul uses all of Chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians to assure us that death is not the end. And in fact death is not the winner. Jesus is the winner. Life and it's author triumph over death. And so can we. We may still feel the slap in the face but we will not be taken down for

Willie Burp Dog's Life at Bingham Park by William Bode