2 Corinthians 3:4-6

⁴Such confidence we have through Christ before God. ⁵Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. ⁶He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Old Jewelry

After graduation from university, she received a gift from her mother, an old necklace. The mother told her daughter, “This old necklace is my gift for your graduation. Take this old necklace to a jewelry shop and ask how much they are willing to pay for it.” The daughter took the old necklace to jewelry shop, and they told her that they will pay $100.00 for it. The mother instructed, “Now, bring this old necklace to an auction for jewelry collectors and ask how much they are willing to pay for this old necklace.”

The daughter took the old necklace to an auction for jewelry collectors, and they offered $20,000.00 for the old necklace. The daughter happily went back and told her mother about it. The mother told her, “The same old necklace but different price offers. Now, take your diploma and find the company that offers the best opportunity for your career.”

Do you trust that God prepared the best opportunity for your career?

Seriously pray that God situates you where he designed for your success.

May the Lord help us memorize and internalize personally what he declares in Isaiah 48:17-18, ¹⁷This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.
            ¹⁸If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea.

How serious do you trust Christ as Lord? Do you believe that God wants you to excel and not just ordinary? The Lord prepared an opportunity for you to venture into and succeed. Have you explored his mystery, yet?

I wanted to explore what God prepared for me. So, I seriously prayed which practical step I should do. I enrolled in the seminary just to learn about God. Interestingly, I completed a Bachelor of Theology, a Master in Missiology, a Master of Divinity, and studied Doctor of Theology. Eventually, God gave me confidence serving him in local churches and in missions.

Have confidence that God designed the best career you can explore.

Together, let’s seriously reflect on Hebrews 11:1, ¹Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Exploring what God designed for us is confidence in Christ as Lord.

Confidence in Christ as Lord is practically proven when we explore what he had prepared for us. Have you proven your confidence in Christ as Lord?

1. Confidence

                        ⁴Such confidence we have through Christ before God. 

Apostle Paul and his mission team started the church in Corinth. The original attendees in the Corinthian church were loyal to Paul. After they left Corinth, some people attended the church. They were not acquainted with Paul. So, they did not recognize the authority of Paul as apostle of Christ.

The Corinthians heard several preachers, and they’re confused. They were disillusioned to behave contrary to the teaching of Christ. Apostle Paul had to rebuke them for their mistakes. He’s confident that the Corinthians listened to his rebuke so that he affirmed his love for them afterward.

Apostle Paul was confident that they’ve grown spiritually in their faith in Christ. Christ himself inspired them to listen to rebuke. Paul believed that Christ himself inspired the Corinthians to internalize what he advised them to do. But some who rejected his advice had no confidence in Christ at all.

When God transforms us, we’ve got confidence in Christ and obey him. Practically, the Lord blesses us even more when we internalize and put into practice what we heard from Christ, and we rejoice. We also rejoice when church attendees are transformed. It is great bonus for preachers.

Together, let us reflect on 1 Corinthians 1:26-27, ²⁶Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 

Dream

I know a man who had no ambition or purpose in life. He’s very shy and introvert. So, he just lived one day at a time as a good Christian, that’s all. Then one night, he dreamed of standing before a crowd. He assumed that maybe God is calling him to be politician standing before constituents.

He joined politics but never been elected. He never dreamed to be a pastor. He just wanted to serve God. He enrolled in the seminary to learn about God, that’s all. With twist and turns of events, he now preaches before you. You have observed it. I always bring manuscript when I preach because I’m nervous and forget what to say when standing before people.

May we be inspired by what Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:17.

¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Apostle Paul was a Pharisee. He had doctoral studies in Jewish laws. He was not a sweet talking preacher. He testified that he preached not with wisdom and eloquence. Christ inspired and gave him confidence to preach. Likewise, when Christ inspires us, we internalize and obey his instructions.

If listeners internalize the word of God, Christ should claim all credits.

2. Claim

                        ⁵Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 

The term “competent” is properly translated as “sufficient, enough or adequate.” Apostle Paul testified that their competence comes from the perfect, flawless, impartial, sufficient and adequate God. Paul claimed that he and his team were not competent enough, why? They were human like us, and human effort is not enough. It’s limited, partial, flawed, imperfect.

Limited effort cannot convince us to believe God. Imperfection cannot convert anyone. Head knowledge is useful, but to be effective in witnessing for Christ, our competence should come from God. The Lord inspires us to tell others how Christ transformed us. He gives the right speech and timing.

Are you hesitant to talk about Christ? Dependence on partial human effort is a factor of hesitancy to talk about Christ. Competence should come from God. He inspires clear testimony. He provides what to say and when to answers tough questions. Christ empowers to confidently testify for him. Pray for competence from God and not deceived. Reflect on 1 John 4:1.

         ¹Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Our competence in the Lord become apparent in our approach to life concerns, career, spouse, family, retirement, ministry. Prayerfully discern how the Lord guides our decisions and behavior toward life concerns.

The more frequent we seek the Lord’s guidance for essential concern of life, the more frequent our competence in Christ is practically manifested.

Are you living the best of your life? Are you at the center of God’s will? How could we know if we are situated where God wants us to succeed or not?

King Josiah

Seriously reflect on King Josiah’s decision in 2 Chronicles 35:20-24.

            ²⁰Necho king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah marched out to meet him in battle. ²¹But Necho sent messengers to him, saying, “What quarrel is there, king of Judah, between you and me? It is not you I am attacking at this time, but the house with which I am at war. God has told me to hurry; so stop opposing God, who is with me, or he will destroy you.” ²²Josiah, however, would not turn away from him, but disguised himself to engage him in battle. He would not listen to what Necho had said at God’s command but went to fight him on the plain of Megiddo. ²³Archers shot King Josiah, and he told his officers, “Take me away; I am badly wounded.” ²⁴ So they took him out of his chariot, put him in his other chariot and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.

King Josiah was considered as righteous. Josiah was eight years old when he became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem for 31 years. He died at the age of 39. Dead at 39, did Josiah had good life ever? King Josiah died young when he failed to listen carefully to God’s warning.

He may have assumed that it’s the will of God for him to fight the king of Egypt. He did not pray for guidance from God. Most often, we also fail to discern warnings from the Lord. We assume that we are following the will of  God for us. Competence in the Lord is doing his will. It includes heeding for godly warnings, especially when we assume that we are doing God’s will.

We are called to testify how Christ transformed us. We are mandated also to share the gospel of Christ. And we have to make sure that we sense inspiration of the Holy Spirit always. When the Holy Spirit empowers us, we can sense competence in God as ministers of the new covenant of Christ.

3. Covenant

            ⁶He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of   the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

What is the new covenant? It is God’s redemptive plan through Jesus Christ. It is the gospel of Christ. The new covenant offers salvation from eternal torture and eternal life in Christ. The old covenant is the command of God, how to behave perfectly before him and to punish rebellion to him.

Christ may return sooner. Will he take you into heaven? God requires perfection to enter heaven. And nobody can perfectly follow God’s laws, the old covenant. In comparison, we believe in the new covenant, the gospel of Christ. We believe that the Lord took and crucified our sins with Christ. God washed away our sins by the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. Here’s the old covenant and new covenant compared in Hebrew 9:13-14. ¹³The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

The old covenant requires animal blood for ceremonial cleansing. Ceremonial cleansing by animal blood is annual ritual. Such requirement stopped by the new covenant. We serve God as proof that we believe the new covenant by faith in Christ. We trust that the Lord had cleansed us from unrighteousness, and it’s forever. But when we sin, we should repent and trust that God forgives our sin. How do you interpret 1 John 1:8-10?

            ⁸If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

Anyone may argue, “If God has forgiven our sins in past, present and future already, why do we still need to repent again and again?”

         It’s because we sin again and again. We can only receive forgiveness from God when we repent. When we commit the same sin again and again, it only shows that we’re dependent on our self. When we totally rely upon the Holy Spirit, the Lord inspires us to avoid sinning but serve him instead.

Serving God proves that we believe the new covenant has affected us. Have you heard the Lord’s call to serve him, yet? What’s your calling?

Missionfest Manitoba

The Lord calls anyone he chooses to serve him. If God choose you to support missions by prayer or finances, it’s great! If God called you to go and serve him in missions, pray seriously. Are you called as missionaries?

Have you attended the Missionfest Manitoba? Missionaries are invited to speak during Missionfest Manitoba. There are also different Christian and mission agencies at the event who may usher potential missionaries. They also sell mission books and Christian articles.

Attend the Missionfest Manitoba to hear if you’re called missions. Certainly, Missionfest Manitoba won’t force you to serve in missions.

The Holy Spirit gives confidence and competence to obey his call.

May it be full-time or part-time in missions or church ministries, the Lord’s Supper reminds of the adventurous call to proclaim the gospel of Christ.

May the Lord raise missionaries and competent ministers among us.

May the Lord inspires more competent ministers for Christ in 2026. Amen!

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