Welcome to this Daily PBJ devotional. Read Joshua chapter 4, Jeremiah chapter 29, and 2 Corinthians 11 today. This devotional is about 2 Corinthians 11. I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness. But you are already doing that. I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, for I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the one you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it very easily. I consider myself in no way inferior to those super-apostles. Although I am not a polished speaker, I am certainly not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every way possible. Was it a sin for me to humble myself, in order to exalt you, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by accepting their support, in order to serve you. And when I was with you and in need, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have refrained from being a burden to you in any way, and I will continue to do so. As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do. But I will keep on doing what I am doing, in order to undercut those who want an opportunity to be regarded as our equals in the things of which they boast. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions. I repeat, let no one take me for a fool, but if you do, then receive me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. In this confident boasting of mine, I am not speaking as the Lord would, but as a fool. Since many are boasting according to the flesh, I too will boast. For you gladly put up with fools, since you are so wise. In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you, or exploits you, or takes advantage of you, or exalts himself, or strikes you in the face. To my shame I concede, that we were too weak for that. Speaking as a fool, however, I can match what anyone else dares to boast about. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking as if I were out of my mind. I am so much more, in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea. In my frequent journeys I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers. in labor and toil, and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst, and often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from these external trials, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with grief? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus. who is forever worthy of praise, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus, the governor under King Artus secured the city of the Damascenes in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped his grasp. This is God's word. Yesterday, as we read chapter 10 of 2 Corinthians, we saw how concerned Paul was about having to confront somebody within the church at Corinth. Judging from what Paul wrote at the end of chapter 10 and here in chapter 11, the person or people he was concerned about were heavy self-promoters. We saw that in chapter 10, verse 12, and chapter 10, verse 18, and then here in chapter 11, verse 5 and 21. In today's reading, Paul was quite emotional about how effectively these people had ingratiated themselves within the church and, it seems, how they had marginalized Paul and his ministry. You can look at verse 12 for more about that. While Paul was concerned about these personality conflicts, he was more concerned about the false doctrine these personalities were bringing. We saw that in verse 4 and verse 13. This chapter is one of several in Paul's letters where he reviewed his personal history as a servant of Christ. He did that reviewing here in verses 21 through 33. Not only did Paul suffer much for the gospel throughout his ministry, he also suffered much for the benefit of the Corinthians directly. You can see verses 12 through 17 for more about that. Yet the Corinthians seemed unmoved by how much Paul had done for them and had sacrificed for the Lord. To them, Paul was an inferior speaker, as we see in verse 6, and others were deserving of equal status and respect to Paul, according to the Corinthians. You can see verse 12 and verses 19 through 20 for more about that. What Paul was saying in this chapter extends into chapter 12 as well. So we'll see next time when we read that chapter. But the problem Paul addressed in this chapter continues today. It is the myth of the greener grass. The idea that what I'm getting now isn't as good as what I could get from someone else. I've seen this repeatedly in my adult life and in the ministry. Dr. So-and-so from out of town is a great speaker, a godly man, someone whose opinion isn't inspired and infallible, but almost so. Meanwhile, faithful elders, patient pastors, and good bosses, giving spouses, or others are taken for granted. This isn't to say that Dr. So-and-so isn't everything they claim him to be. It may be that he really is a godly man and a great servant of Christ. Or he may be a false teacher who is really persuasive. Verse 4 talks about that. The point is that people, by nature, get used to what they have and become bedazzled by the new thing. The author they just learned about, for instance. The new church in town. Or the girl that caught their eye today. New things are exciting. Because they're new. But the newness wears off eventually. Do we recognize and appreciate the good things in our lives that have been there for a long time, consistently serving us well? The church in Corinth was started by Paul at great personal cost. That's described in verses 7 through 9 here, but also in Acts 18, verses 1 through 11. Paul was willing to do hard things to purify this church for the glory of Christ, as verse 2 indicates. And Paul was tormented with concern for them, even when he was doing God's work in other cities. That's described in verses 28 and 29. Yet the church never seemed to appreciate Paul very much, and constantly negatively compared him to others. There is probably some realm in your life, or some point in your past, where you did something similar, too, where you took for granted someone who was faithfully and deeply devoted to you, and then you negatively compared that good person to someone who hadn't done anything for you except maybe to collect your money when they sold you a book or a seminar. Look, I'm guilty of this as well, and just in case you were wondering, I'm not talking about myself here. This passage just reminded me of something that I've seen more than a few times in my life. Whether we recognize it or not, all of us have benefited from others who served us consistently and without complaint. Let's be careful to appreciate and to be thankful to the Lord for people like that, instead of being quick to point out their flaws when compared to others. Whether you realize it or not, You probably have it better than you think you do. So be thankful for the contribution other people have made to your life for God's glory. And if this devotional was helpful to you, I would encourage you to sign up by email to receive it every day in your email. Go to dailypbj.com slash subscribe and enter your email address there. Then starting tomorrow, you'll receive an email from me every day containing a link to the audio video and a transcript of these devotionals. as well as a link to the daily scripture readings. 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