Finally my brothers and sisters, let me close with these words. Rejoice, change, encourage each other, and walk in unity. Then the God of peace and love shall be with and keep you.
(2 Cor. 13:11)
Have you experienced this before? I think most have. You need to buy something and you’ve had two people present you with a product that interests you.
The first person completes his presentation and then gives you the price—a pretty good one at that. Then the second person makes his presentation, but he knows you’ve already seen his competitor’s product.
Therefore, he decides to spend more time and energy in an attempt to convince you that his product is better—and worth more—than the other one you just looked at.
All the while, you are sitting there impatiently thinking, “Come on, just give me the bottom line. How much is it?”
Cutting To The Chase
We live in a bottom-line society. USA Today and CNN news have based their entire news distribution processes upon the premise of quickly getting to the bottom line. We only seem to want the facts—and we want them fast.
We move through many things quickly, probably too fast. People move in and out of relationships to quickly—we just want to get to the bottom line (sex) even though that avenue is totally contrary to God’s Word.
In business, relationships, conversation, or whatever, most people just want the bottom line, “Come on, let’s get to the point” as quickly as possible.
The Apostle Paul closed out his second epistle to the church of Corinth thinking of the bottom line. In the scripture verse above, he begins to close by saying, “finally my brothers and sisters let me close with these words…” What was he saying? He was saying, “Let me give you the bottom line.”
Foundational Principles
What were his bottom line words of counsel? They were powerful words that when meditated and expounded on by the Holy Spirit can become foundational principles that will greatly help you. His words were this. “Rejoice, change, encourage each other, and walk in unity. Then the God of peace and love shall be with and keep you.”
His first bottom-line word was “rejoice.” There are hundreds of reasons in God to rejoice but one comes to mind that I think is outstanding. It has to do with the Psalm 25:8 which says, “Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.”
Why should we look at that as a point of rejoicing? Here’s why.
This verse is saying that God will take someone who is doing something wrong and doesn’t know how to do it right and teach them how to do it right. That is a promise to you always. No matter what it is that we do not know how to do, if we seek God, He will instruct us in His ways—in what we need to know.
Secondly the Apostle Paul says, “change.” You may hate change but change is good. It doesn’t always mean a totally different way of doing something. It’s more likely to mean that you can continue to improve upon who you are as a person while you improve upon what you are doing in life.
Second Corinthians 3:18 says, “As we learn to reflect the Lord’s glory, we are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” This means we are the same person but as we let the Spirit of God work in us, we are forever changing to be more like and to reflect the image of God!
Next, Paul said, “encourage.” We all need encouragement. Let me say this again. We all need encouragement and we need it constantly. We get tired of meaningless “ra-ra” and hype.
What we all desire is a true source of promise and encouragement. That is the promise of God’s Word. It’s the only true source of encouragement that is supernatural and life changing. On top of that it’s anointed and has the power to break the lies and deceptions of Satan.
That means we have to put that encouragement from God (His promises) in our heart each day and then share those promises that bring encouragement with others.
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
(1 Thess. 5:11)The Lord God has given me his words of wisdom so that I may know what I should say to those who are weary.
(Isa. 50:4)
Finally, the Apostle Paul’s bottom line word is unity. Whoever it is you’re relating to—your wife, your children, your boss, or your employees—get on the same page and work as a team. Have zero tolerance from yourself for division and strife. Demand from yourself that you lead with thoughts, words, and actions of unity and preferring one another.
Slam the door shut on division and strife. It’s a back door to Satan’s devices. James 3:16 says, “For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.” That means you’ve created a playground for the devil.
Psalm 133:1,3 says, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity…For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.” God is in unity. It is the river and flow of where God’s blessing is that will expedite the journey to where you want to go!
These are the Apostle Paul’s bottom line principles that we should live our life from daily.
- Rejoice. God will teach you the way!
- Change. Continuous improvement is a God plan!
- Encouragement. Sharing the real source of encouragement—the promises of God—are the breath of life you need and others need from you!
- Unity. Walk in unity. It’s the flowing river of blessing to expedite where God wants to take you!
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Timothy Burt is a pastor, author, and writer. He is best known as the author of Fresh Manna, a daily devotional and online Bible study.
Pastor Tim became a part of the leadership team at Living Word Christian Center in 1984 and was an Associate Pastor from 1989 until May 31st, 2017. He and His wife Renee, also a Pastor at Living Word, resigned after being a part of Living Word for 33 years on May 31, 2017. They felt impressed by God to pursue the tremendous growth of their ministry "Fresh Manna," as well as teaching conferences and seminars and increasing their involvement in the mission field through Tim and Renee Burt Ministries. Tim has a Bachelor of Theology degree and is a Christian blogger who has been writing a daily inspirational and teaching devotion three days a week called "Fresh Manna" for the past 22 years. It has been read in over 227 countries (official countries and territories). Tim was named one of the top 55 blogging Pastors. He is one of the top Social Media influencers in Minnesota with a strong presence on Twitter at https://twitter.com/TimBurt with over 187,000 followers. Between Tim's Fresh Manna Devotional and Twitter influence, he virally averages reaching over 4 million people daily with the gospel of Jesus Christ and the love of God.
Prior to working at LWCC, he worked at Northwest Airlines for 13 years. In 1985 he founded and was President of American Infant Care Products which marketed his patented invention, the first fold-down commercial infant changing table now used worldwide in public restrooms.
In their tenure at Living Word, Timothy Burt and his wife Renee created a Small Group Ministry when the church was about 800 people in size. Under the leadership of Sr. Pastors Mac and Lynne Hammond, the church grew to over 10,000 people. Pastor Tim and Renee led a diverse Small Group Ministry of over 200 groups. Tim also led weekly men's groups and a monthly Men's Breakfast of 250 plus men called Manhood for 27 years. Tim's responsibilities also included oversight over the Visitor and Member Relations Department, Leadership and Volunteer Development, and the Pastoral Care Department. Pastor Tim was also the Minnesota State Director of Christians United for Israel from 2006 thru 2017.
Tim and Renee are the parents of four children and have seven grandchildren. Tim loves to write, golf, run, and walk, and is a master gardener. He is a five-time marathon finisher. He is also a three-time award-winning gardener winning the Grand Prize in his city for his beautiful home garden and is a Master Gardener for the University of Minnesota's Master Gardener Extension Program.