II Corinthians 6:1-18
6:1 Our most productive work and prayer is done through our sincere and frank humility. Our most effective and swiftly answered prayers are those voiced or thought or plead with compassion for others. Our edification comes through what we do for others. We receive clarity, strength, wisdom, perseverance, path and purpose (all which contribute to the establishment and healthful solidification of ourselves) when our determination is for not the betterment of our own lives, but the betterment of others. Clever, no? God has ordained a circumstance in which we receive precisely only that which we give.
6:2 We must be vigilant in prayer: are our prayers a string of selfish wants and supposed needs? God knows what we want and He knows what we need; as His children, we do not have to ask or tell Him anything in order for Him to know. In your life, you are uniquely placed to be His eyes on the ground. What you report to Him in prayer should be the need of others you personally witness and observe as you live simultaneously trusting that He is supporting your life, guiding your life, filling your life, fulfilling your needs.
He knows how to take care of you and He does take care of your, perfectly, in proportion to how much trust you have in Him to do so. Sometimes, subconsciously even, we make decisions which say to God... I trust me more than I trust you, and he subsequently listens and pulls His hands out. But if you actually trust God, you do not have to worry about yourself. Your focus can be entirely on others. He's got you. Now it becomes your job to help Him help the people who do not know or trust Him.
Key words of this verse: In an acceptable time, I have heard you. No matter how quietly you said or even thought a prayer, God has heard as if you screamed it or wrote it in stone and ensures you that it will be answered. So you do not have to desperately, repetitiously recite the same wants and needs to Him. He heard it and promised to answer it... now refocus, what else can you contribute to your prayer? Who around you would benefit from being included?
6:3 The apostles live carefully but boldly. I encourage you to do the same: be focused. Focused on always ensuring that what you think, say and do are aligned in a compassionate intention. Our emotions flare quite easily in these bodies but let your soul have control over all of you. Let it ground you to your values and best intentions. Especially as an known child of God, you represent His house. He is not offensive, yet the acts of many hypocrites around the world wrongly suggest to people that He is.
6:4-6 No matter what Paul and the apostles confront and endure, they remain grounded in Spirit and compassion. They do not let tribulation provoke them. They have a constant source of strength and serenity from God.
6:6-9 Surely the apostles endured much pain and suffering. Their lives were threatened, their character was challenged, their bodies were beaten, and throughout all of it they remembered and grasped onto God's love for them. For the purpose of their work outweighed any pain an enemy could inflict.
6:10 There is disparity among humanity and it is painful. God's children are globally-informed and their natural empathy causes them to deeply feel the hurt and suffering of others. Yet thriving alongside their empathy is their strength and their persistence to constantly, boldly defend justice. We rejoice because we know the balm of sorrow and even can be the balm of other's sorrow. Even having nothing, God's children understand that all life is within them. Every aspect of life has been given to God's children and their souls are aware of their access to it.
If you have God, you have everything because you have access as well as guidance to justice, purpose, wisdom, truth, love and life. Do not confuse what you do or do not have in this life with what you have in the next. Compassionate works afford you many spiritual blessings, blessings which you may not even notice while here on earth.
6:11 Paul speaks to the Corinthians, but also to us with raw, frank sincerity. All of his life's work and efforts were done for us to have the joy and comfort of God.
6:12 The only thing or person capable of holding you back is yourself. With God, no person or barrier will block your courage and growth, your ability to endure and analyze the conditions of your life on earth. There is ample room for you to grow and rise in spiritual character, in purpose, in achievement, in compassion, in joy. Be open to it!
6:13 Purpose awaits you. Be open to it. Open your spirit, as a child, as a student, as a novice and watch your strength, purpose and character abound.
6:14 Be consistent. Every aspect of what you think, say and do need to be in sync. If your life is a vehicle, you need the fuel, the wheels and the steering wheel. You do not make much progress having 1 but not the other 2. Or even 2 without the 3rd.
6:15 Authenticity requires that you believe in what you say and do. Commit. Fully. In everything that you do, remember that you are a student in a sophisticated and complex classroom. Lesson is all around you. If you want to paint the sky, stop dipping your brush in green paint.
6:16 Let go of all the confusion and pain that rigid religion has brought to the world and humanity. God is within you. You are within God. Divinity is not an establishment but is instead a spirit. Fluid. Comprehensive. Flowing within and out from the thoughts and efforts of God's children. Let acts of justice, truth and compassion be the temple you pray in. You are the temple in which justice, truth and compassion dwell. You do not have to go to a temple or church or mosque or synagogue or any other building to worship, or to be faithful. You are that building where sacred things live and thrive and come out of into the world.
6:17 Separate yourself from the chaotic world and establish yourself boldly in spirituality. Be observant. Truthful. Perceptive. Compassionate. Just. Purposeful. Focused. Determined. While much of the world loiters around its greed, be progressive in empathy, in improving the conditions humanity is expected to live. Make a clear line between what your intention for yourself and humanity is and what contradicts its eventual, inevitable manifestation.
6:18 Creation, divinity, God is our father. We are His children. As His children, we have access to so much freedom, purpose, opportunity, joy, wisdom and truth. Utilize them all!
