Missionary Renegade: The Daily Guide. grow. pray. study. The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Thursday, 30 June 2016

Friday, July 1, 2016

The Daily Guide. grow. pray. study. The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Thursday, 30 June 2016 - "Comfort one another"

The Daily Guide. grow. pray. study. The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Thursday, 30 June 2016 - "Comfort one another"
Daily Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:3 Praised be God, Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, compassionate Father, God of all encouragement and comfort; 4 who encourages us in all our trials, so that we can encourage others in whatever trials they may be undergoing with the encouragement we ourselves have received from God.

5 For just as the Messiah’s sufferings overflow into us, so through the Messiah our encouragement also overflows. 6 So if we undergo trials, it is for your encouragement and deliverance; and if we are encouraged, that should encourage you when you have to endure sufferings like those we are experiencing. 7 Moreover, our hope for you remains staunch, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, you will also share in the encouragement.

Reflection Questions:
“When an eighty-five pound mammal licks your tears away, then tries to sit on your lap, it’s hard to feel sad.”[Kristan Higgins (Author)]
Dog lovers nearly always talk about their dog’s capacity to offer comfort when they are sad. If the apostle Paul had had a dog, he’d have needed a lot of caring. We know he’d been through a very trying experience (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:8-11). What’s more, the Corinthian Christians, people he’d won to Christ, had been seriously at odds with him for a time (cf. 2 Corinthians 7:7-13). As he started this letter to them, he used the word “comfort” nine times in just five verses!

Paul said God comforts us. Scholar William Barclay said, “Comfort in the New Testament always means far more than soothing sympathy. Always it is true to its root meaning, for its root is the Latin fortis andfortis means brave. Christian comfort is the comfort which brings courage and enables a [person] to cope with all that life can do.”1 When has God, or one of God’s people, given you new courage by the comfort you received? (For a look at many of the resources Resurrection, across all campuses, offers to give you comfort when you need it, visit www.cor.org/care.)
Strikingly, Paul did not describe “comfort” purely in terms of what he received. Instead, he wrote, “We offer the same comfort that we ourselves received from God….if we have trouble, it is to bring you comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is to bring you comfort.” How have you seen people use their own hard experiences to shape them into a source of comfort and courage for others? In what ways have you been able to pass on the comfort you have received?

Today’s Prayer:
Compassionate God, thank you for the times you have strengthened me and given me new courage. Make me the kind of person whose caring strengthens others. Amen.
1 William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series: The Letters to the Corinthians (Revised Edition). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1975, pp. 170-171.
-------Insights from Janelle Gregory

Janelle Gregory serves on the Resurrection staff as a Human Resources Specialist.
Every year-end of middle school, we had a yearbook signing day. We gathered in the gym and took turns passing around books to write messages like, “You’re sweet. Don’t change.” I would say that’s a silly phrase, but these were middle school girls. They could change every 30 minutes. That statement may have been less of a compliment and more of a directive. “You’re sweet at this very moment. PLEASE, I’M BEGGING YOU – DO NOT CHANGE!”
Then there were a few messages that took up half the page and carried on about how we were going to be friends forever. To be honest, when I look back on some of those now, I have to look up their picture to see who wrote it. Friends forever? Maybe not. But it makes you think, what makes a relationship stick? How is it that some friendships last longer and go deeper than others?
I like to picture people having different aspects that make them “sticky,” forming a bond between one another. There is a tiny bit of stickiness that comes from physical appearance and common surroundings. If you find someone with a similar interest, that part of you is sticky towards them, making your bond stronger. When you’re able to laugh together, that part of you is even stickier.
When we’re talking about deep and lasting bonds, those require a stronger adhesive. Often the stickiest parts of us are those that come with the most pain. Grief, fear, loss – they are extremely sticky. I think that’s how God designed them to be, knowing that we would need to stick to others and stick to God when we’re at our lowest.
When we face times when we’re hurt or scared, we don’t have to enjoy it, but we should take time to recognize that this part of us is sticky. This stickiness allows us to hold onto God in ways that we otherwise wouldn’t. Take advantage of that. God uses our sticky bond to bring beauty and restoration to His people, binding us close to the Ultimate Healer and to others walking a similar path.