SCRIPTURE UNION DISCOVERY DEVOTIONAL (USA)
Scripture Union Discovery 22nd June 2023, Thursday Devotional Message
TOPIC:Â Suffering for Christ
Opening Prayer
Lord, thank you for the example of the saints who have gone before us, and help me to aspire to their love and faithfulness.
Read 2 CORINTHIANS 11:16-33
Paul Boasts About His Sufferings
16 I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. 17 In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. 18 Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. 19 You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! 20 In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. 21 To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that!
Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?
30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. 32 In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. 33 But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.
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Scripture Union Discovery 22nd June 2023 Reflect
Consider the ways that Jesus suffered for you.
Paul reluctantly answers the boasts of the ‘super-apostles’ with boasts of his own. He does not compete on their terms, although he is more than qualified to do so. If they boasted of their Jewish racial and religious heritage, so could Paul, but he would rather boast of his sufferings. They may think that he is foolish (v 16), but Paul has told them earlier that ‘the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom’ (1 Corinthians 1:25).
We read in Acts of some of the deprivations and sufferings Paul endured for the sake of the gospel, but here he gives more details. Thirty-nine lashes and stoning were Jewish punishments, beating with rods a Roman one (vs 24,25). It seems as if everyone and everything conspires against him, but he sees suffering as a mark of his apostleship.
Most church leaders and pastors can identify with the pressures Paul felt when church members suffered. Paul’s concern for the Corinthians only adds to that (v 28).
Having to escape his pursuers in a laundry basket (Acts 9:25) could have been humiliating, but a sign of weakness becomes a boast to Paul (vs 30,31). Jesus said: ‘Blessed are you when people hate you … exclude you and insult you … because of the Son of Man … Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets’ (Luke 6:22,26).
Apply
Give thanks for the many Christians throughout the world who are suffering for their faith; look to God to provide all that they need and to use them in the lives of others.
Closing Prayer
Lord, in whatever situation I find myself, hope or threat, I will draw on your grace and strength.
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