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Topic:Stick-Figure Lesson
Bible in a Year:
Nehemiah 7–9; Acts 3
What we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.
2 Corinthians 10:11
A friend of mine—okay, it was my counselor—drew a stick figure on a sheet of paper. She labeled this the “private” self. Then she drew an outline around the figure, about a half-inch larger, and named it the “public” self. The difference between the two figures, between the private and public selves, represents the degree to which we have integrity.
I paused at her lesson and wondered, Am I the same person in public that I am in private? Do I have integrity?
Paul wrote letters to the church in Corinth, weaving love and discipline into his teachings to be like Jesus. As he neared the end of this letter (2 Corinthians), he addressed accusers who challenged his integrity by saying he was bold in his letters but weak in person (10:10). These critics used professional oratory to take money from their listeners. While Paul possessed academic prowess, he spoke simply and plainly. “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,” he had written in an earlier letter, “but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:4). His later letter revealed his integrity: “Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present” (2 Corinthians 10:11).
Paul presented himself as the same person in public that he was in private. How about us?
6/17/19 This message today turned on a light for me, I love the ability of Paul, to write letters, and all my life I have loved to write letters, I seemed to be able to express myself better when I write, I feel the reader will hears, me, and after I write I can go back and examine what I have said and often change how I said it, so that I present, my words in the most beneficial manner. this message, today gave me a eye opener, I may be able to write, well, informative, and encouraging, but the question is, ” DO I PRESENT THE SAME PERSON IN PUBLIC THAT I AM IN PRIVATE.
I LOVE THE REVELATIONS OUR DAILY BREAD GIVES ME DAILY, THE KEY TO ME, THE KEY TO AFTER I WRITE A LETTER, TO SOME ONE, WHEN THEY SEE ME OR MEET ME IN PERSON, MY WORDS ARE NOT JUST SWELLING, BUT DEMONSTRATE I LIVE THE WORDS I WRITE IN MY LETTERS. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO, OUR DAILY BREAD HAS TRULY BEEN A BLESSING IN MY LIFE, I ONLY REGRET THAT I AM NOT ABLE TO CONTRIBUTE MORE TO THIS MINISTRY THAT GIVES SO MUCH TO ME IN THE NAME OF JESUS, KEEP BARBARA JUMPER IN PRAYER.
This morning I went back and read june 15th again, because since sat. I have not been able to get this out of my mind, this is one that makes me seek to know if I am in the will of God, doing all I can to be real, because I may hide for a moment from the public, but God knows and sees all, pray for me that I will keep it real what I am I private must be what I am in public, this has been a powerful message for me, and then to add the Envy message to that has been a real blessing, I thank God that all I have to do and be is what he has called me to be, equipped me to be, and by his grace and mercy reap his reward. love to all of the Daily Bread family, you are an awesome family of God.