Power Struggles

God Instructs the People of God

God's People Learn from Prosperity:

God Protects

2 Corinthians 1:16-20

The Message

 ^15-16Confident of your welcome, I had originally planned two great visits with you—coming by on my way to Macedonia province, and then again on my return trip. Then we could have had a bon-voyage party as you sent me off to Judea. That was the plan.
 ^17-19Are you now going to accuse me of being flip with my promises because it didn't work out? Do you think I talk out of both sides of my mouth—a glib yes one moment, a glib no the next? Well, you're wrong. I try to be as true to my word as God is to his. Our word to you wasn't a careless yes canceled by an indifferent no. How could it be? When Silas and Timothy and I proclaimed the Son of God among you, did you pick up on any yes-and-no, on-again, off-again waffling? Wasn't it a clean, strong Yes?
 ^20-22Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God's Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete

For Reflection
Corinth was difficult.  Many completed for leadership.  Corinthians criticized Paul saying his letters were difficult to understand and he didn't follow through with his plans. But Paul understood the real issue.   Is the church driven by charismatic leaders or by the gospel?

Proper hospitality required that the Corinthians made preparations which were now wasted on a no-show.  Paul points out that the plans of men are sometimes changed, but the proclamation of God's promise is unchangeable.  The fulfillment of the gospel is not dependent on a single visit, or for that matter, a single individual leader.

Pray
a grand response to God's yes.  Pray that the Church follows the Holy Spirit.  Pray for trust in the truth that is in the God's promise.