By the Will of God: Christian Devotional Readings from 2 Corinthians: Ordinary Believer Devotionals, #2

By Rebecca Livermore

Knowing the Will of God

Many Christians grapple with knowing the will of God. The great news is, knowing the will of God isn't rocket science. He makes it clear in the every book of the Bible. In this book, you'll discover the will of God through Paul's letter to the church in Corinth. The same lessons they learned can be applied to YOUR life today.  

Discovering the Will of God through 2 Corinthians

The book of 2 Corinthians opens with the words, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. . ."  
 
The words, "by the will of God" are important, because they indicate that Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ, not by his own doing, but by the will of God. In short this means that Paul didn't appoint himself but instead was named by God to be an apostle.  
 
We are all appointed by God to do something (or perhaps many things). When we do the things that God assigns to us, we experience many benefits.  
 
The book, By the Will of God: Christian Devotional Readings from 2 Corinthians, explores the will of God as revealed through the book of 2 Corinthians, and the benefits you'll experience as a result practicing them.  
 
Here are a few of the benefits of doing the will of God to consider:
 
God equips you to do the things He calls you to do.  
 
You may feel inadequate to do many of the things that God calls you to do. But if it’s truly a calling from God, He'll equip you to do the work.  
 
You’ll succeed when you act based on the will of God. 
 
Just because you do the will of God doesn’t mean that everything will go great for you. Paul suffered many hardships while doing the will of God -- and you will, too. But you WILL find success.  
 
You can move forward with confidence when you do the will of God.
 
Since God equips you to do His will, and since He’ll be with you every step of the way and ensure your success as you continue to follow His lead, you can move forward with confidence.  
 
Doing the willing of God blesses others.
 
When we do the will of God, God not only blesses us; He also blesses others that are impacted by the work we do.  
 
Doing the Will of God advances God’s Kingdom. 
 
You will be blessed and bless others by doing what God’s appointed you to do. But the ultimate purpose in doing the will of God is that His Kingdom is advanced EVERY time you act according to His will.  
 
If you've ever grappled with living a life according to God's will, this book is for you. 
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ordinary Believer
• Release date: Nov 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781519945181

Rebecca Livermore

Rebecca Livermore is a bestselling author, blogger, and the cofounder of Ordinary Believer, a ministry focused on helping "everyday" Christians apply biblical truths in meaningful ways. She has been married to her husband, Chuck, for more than 30 years and is the mother of two young adults who affectionately nicknamed her, "Hot Rod Mama."

Book preview

Introduction

It is an honor to write this introduction for By the Will of God: Christian Devotional Readings from 2 Corinthians. While I acknowledge a healthy bias concerning her, my wife is an excellent Bible investigator and a superb author. You likely have bought this book because you already know that, or you may be simply looking forward to discovering it for the first time. Whichever category you fall into, I’m sure you will enjoy her latest book.

The book of 2 Corinthians is said to be Paul’s most personal and pastoral of all his epistles. Likewise, it is one of Rebecca’s more personal books, one in which she bares her soul and shares several personal struggles and incidents of weakness, doubt, and ultimately triumph.

My desire is that through your reading of this book, you also will be able to triumph in your Christian walk. I want you to experience the fullness of the victory we have in our Lord Jesus. Whatever difficulty you may be experiencing, whatever trial you have to endure, or enemies you may face, because we know that our Savior will overcome them all, we can say with Paul the Apostle, ...when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10 NLT).

About the Book of 2 Corinthians

What we call 2 Corinthians, actually may have been Paul’s third and even possibly his fourth letter to the church in Corinth. Some say that 1 Corinthians 5:9 speaks of a letter written prior to 1 Corinthians. Others say the letter that caused Paul affliction, anguish, and tears (2 Corinthians 2:4) could not have been 1 Corinthians, so there must have been a third epistle between what we now call 1 and 2 Corinthians, accounting for the four epistle theory. Regardless of the actual number of letters Paul wrote to the church, we know that two are canonical and included in our Bible.

We learn from the book of Acts that when Paul and his entourage attempted to go east and north into Asia Minor, a man appeared to Paul in a dream and summoned him west to Macedonia (northern Greece). There Paul established strong churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea.

Paul was pursued and persecuted throughout Macedonia by the legalists and unbelieving Jews. So the believers shuttled Paul off to Athens, leaving Timothy and Silas behind to nurture the fledgling churches.

Athens and Corinth were in the southern Greek region of Achaia. After a cool reception from the Athenian philosophers, Paul moved on to Corinth, where he ministered for a considerable time. The letters we have from Paul to the Corinthians was his way to exhort and instruct the church after he left.

About this Book

The title, By the Will of God, is taken from the first verse. Paul uses this phrase to establish his authority before the believers and consequently establishes his right to teach, correct, and encourage them. This church, unlike Paul’s previous church plants, was not established within the Jewish synagogue system. Paul, weary of defending himself before his Jewish brethren, declared that he would turn his efforts toward the Gentiles at Corinth. This largely Gentile congregation needed to learn that freedom from sin was God’s will unlike their Jewish and proselyte counterparts, who needed to learn freedom from the law. 

The key points that are addressed in the book of 2 Corinthians are:

Comfort in suffering

Forgiveness for the repentant

The relevancy of the gospel

The importance of an eternal perspective

Holy partnerships

Generosity

Paul’s confidence and authority

Strength in weakness

Rebecca writes on each of these and much more in this book.

This Book is For You If. . .

The entire line of Ordinary Believer books is written for. . . ordinary believers. Our books are practical in nature and get to the heart of what it means to live the Christian life. While ministry professionals who have advanced theological degrees may well enjoy and benefit from our books, they were written by, and for, laity – Christians who love Jesus and the Bible, but may or may not have attended seminary, and probably aren’t fluent in Greek or Hebrew.

If that describes you, you’ll likely benefit from our books, as well as the content published on our website, OrdinaryBeliever.com.

About the Author (an Ordinary Believer)

Rebecca Livermore has been a freelance writer since 1993. She started off writing for Christian publications such as Discipleship Journal and Pray! Magazine, as well as many homeschool publications. In 2006, she shifted her writing focus to the Web, and in June of 2014 released her first Kindle book.

Her initial Kindle books focused on business and personal development topics. The middle of 2015 she felt God stirring her heart to return to her Christian writing roots. As she wrote her first Ordinary Believer Devotional, she felt like she was returning to her true calling as a writer, and while she may continue to write in a variety of genres, you can expect to see many other Christian titles among her works.

Rebecca and her husband, Chuck, founded Ordinary Believer in August 2015. They came up with the name because they are, indeed, ordinary believers. They don’t have advanced theological degrees, but simply love Jesus and the Bible. The key message of Ordinary Believer is that every believer is qualified to share the love of Jesus with others. While we each have faults and are, well, ordinary, we serve an extraordinary God that can take our sometimes messy lives and feeble attempts to serve Him, and turn them into something beautiful.

How to Use This Book

While this book is indeed a quick read, it’s meant to be read slow, and savored. There are 30 devotionals, so if you read one a day, it will take you approximately a month to go through.

The best way to get the most out of this book is to incorporate a quiet time into your daily routine. There’s no one-size-fits-all way of having a quiet time, so the suggestions below, are just suggestions. If you’re newer to quiet times, you may want to initially precisely follow what I outline below, and then tweak it to your preferences.

Step 1: Establish a time and place for your quiet time.

One of the best ways to form a daily quiet time habit is to have a set time and place for your quiet time. Many people recommend having your quiet time first thing in the morning, which is my practice. Your circumstances may require you to have