FIRM CORRECTION BRINGS RESULTS

My Dear Precious One,
  In Paul's second letter to the Christians in Corinth, he truly had conflicting emotions.  His first letter contained many, many stern chastisements relating to the believers in the church there because of their believing false prophets and some people even returned to worshiping idols.  His complaints were the most complaints that he had for any of the churches that he established.  
   However, in his second letter Paul was almost apologetic to them for being so stern in the first letter.  He explained that he had been treated so badly in his missionary trip to Asia in which he barely escaped with his life so his disgust for the people in the Corinthian church for their leaving the truth of the Good News of the Gospel and returning to their old lives of pagan and religious rituals was more disappointing than he could take.  He stressed, though, in the second letter that his sternness in the first letter was justified in order to impress upon them the importance of repenting and returning to their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ which had enriched their lives so much, making them victorious over evil.  He was grieved that some of them had left the Truth and settled for lies.
    In defense of himself, Paul told the believers in Corinth to please keep a place in their hearts for Timothy and him.  He wrote that they had not injured anyone in the first letter or ruined anyone or exploited anyone.  He was pleased that they did not blame anyone for the stern rebuke because they were still firmly planted in his heart.  He told them, "Together we live and together we die."  He expressed his pride in them because they had corrected some of the problems so his joy was overflowing.  He wrote that even if they were distressed by the rebukes in the first letter, he did not regret his sternness because their suffering led to their repentance.  (II Corinthians 7:8-9)  He said that their suffering was the kind that I approve, which meant that they changed for the better because of his complaints and he wrote to them no more complaints in his second letter.  Then he told them that to suffer as the world knows suffering brings death.  Even though his writing to them was stern, they were still eager to see him after justice was done by them in correcting some of their mistakes.  (II Corinthians 7:11-12) 
    Even though Paul worked to promote his ministry, to all of the churches that he established in Europe he appealed to them to be generous in their giving to others.  He reminded them that Jesus had been so very rich in heaven yet he came to earth and became poor for their sake, to make them rich out of His own poverty.  (II Corinthians 8:9-15)  He told them not to make things difficult for themselves in their giving but, instead, to give out of their surplus in order to meet the needs of other churches.  He encouraged them to be cheerful givers, writing that when they supplied generously the needs of the saints that it resulted in more thanksgivings to Me for meeting the needs of the poor and those people in the ministry. (I Corinthians 9:13-14)
    Paul appealed to them by the gentleness and patience of Christ relating to other things.  He identified himself as the man who was so humble when he was with them, but he became a bully when he was distanced from them.  He said that he did not want to have to bully them again when he came face to face with them if he observed them eating food sacrificed to idols and if he observed them celebrating feasts in order to receive My favor when they had already become the new creatures that the feasts prophesied My children becoming new creatures in Christ.  He said that they, even though they lived in the flesh, the muscles that they fought with were not flesh.  He reminded them that their weapons of warfare are mighty and strong, through the power of My Holy Spirit in them, in order to demolish human fortresses that come against them in the form of temptations.  He named their enemies as human wisdom which is arrogant and resists My spiritual knowledge.  He said that part of the warfare of My children is that they must capture every negative thought and cast it out, bringing every thought into obedience to Christ when they are empowered to punish every disobedient thought.
    Tempting, evil thoughts are the strongholds of the devil.  Once you have established your obedience to Me, you are powerfully prepared by the power of My Holy Spirit to punish any disobedient thought that exalts itself against My wisdom and knowledge.  (II Corinthians 10:1-6)
   In his humility, Paul said that he was not boasting, but instead he was humbled by his own writings.   He knew that they came from Me, knowing that his discerning of the works of evil for the people in the Corinthian church in the first letter did the work in them of causing repentance to take place. 
    Paul wrote that if anyone wants to boast, that he or she should only boast in the things that I have done for him or her.  (II Corinthians 10:17-18)  All good and perfect gifts come from Me. (James 1:17)
   Your Father of Light