I Corinthians 4

In Corinthians 4 Paul continues to address the arrogant attitude that had caused the church in Corinth to think that they were wise and powerful and great.  He reminded them already that they had been saved by "God's doing".. not by their own wisdom or will.   Paul urges the believers to imitate his own attitude and way of life "in union with the Messiah Yeshua". 

Paul asked the believers to consider him "Messiah's servant". ( v1)

He wanted to be found "trustworthy" as a "trustee of God's secret truths". ( v2)

He would be "evaluated" not by the church but by the Lord. (v4)

They would all be evaluated individually but the Lord who would "expose the motives of people's hearts; and then each receive from God whatever praise he deserves." (v5)

Paul compared himself and Apollos and other leaders to those reading his letter.  The people were boasting of their wealth, their power, their strength, and their honor.. while the apostles and evangelists were "spectacles" - hungry, thirsty, dressed in rags, dishonored, weak, exhausted, cursed, and persecuted. 

Paul is about to confront the church in Corinth about the sinfulness that they were allowing in the church. They were worldly and arrogant. Their focus needed to change. He loved them and wanted them to walk in Truth and to fix their eyes on Jesus!  We need that same message in the world today... 

Father in heaven, open our eyes to see and our ears to hear Your Word to the church.  May we be faithful and trustworthy servants of our Lord Jesus Christ.  May we walk in humility and love.  May we recognize that You alone are the Judge of our hearts and that our lives must first and foremost please You- in all we do, say, and think.  Grant us the attitude of Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us, humbling Himself to take on the "form of a slave" and enduring the cross.  Raise up the church in America, Lord, and may the word of God spread rapidly and be glorified in our land today.  We ask this in the name of the One who holds it all.. Jesus Christ. Amen. 

I Corinthians 3

In the first two chapters of this letter Paul reminded the Corinthians that they had come to faith in Jesus Christ by "God's doing"... not by human wisdom or strength. Without the Spirit of God they would not even begin to grasp the truth.  In these next two chapters Paul confronts a major problem in the church - their worldliness.  They weren't growing spiritually.  The evidence that made this clear to Paul was the "jealousy and quarreling" among them.  They had missed the most important truth as they argued over whether Paul or Apollos or anyone else was there leader...  The Lord alone brought them to trust in Him.  He alone brings each of us to faith in Christ Jesus.  The Lord alone brings spiritual life and growth. 

Paul teaches that there is only one foundation - "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Yeshua the Messiah." ( v11)  Whatever else is added to this will be tested by fire, Paul says, and anything unworthy will be burned up.   Our works will only matter in the end if they are worthy of eternity, built on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ. 

Paul also reminds us here that we are "God's temple".  God's Spirit - God's Presence fills His temple.  It is a holy place, set apart for Him alone. To do anything that "destroys" God's temple will bring about God's judgment.  The Corinthians had not learned the importance of remaining holy - individually or as a church. They were arrogant and prideful and totally "foolish" in their thinking.  

How many of those who call themselves Christians today fall into this same sinful attitude ?   God alone defines holiness.  We cannot be holy unless He makes us holy through Jesus Christ who is LORD.  To be holy is to be set apart for God... offered to God as "living sacrifices"( Romans 12:1); being transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can "know what God wants and will agree that what He wants is good, satisfying and able to succeed." 

Father in heaven, You alone are Holy and worthy of worship.  By Your amazing grace we are made new in Christ Jesus.  As Your servants, we surrender all to You.  We don't want to live worldly and unworthy lives, but to  be holy and obedient servants of our Lord.  Bring spiritual growth to us so that we may become mature, imitators of Jesus, to whom we belong.  Forgive us for arrogance and foolish  thinking and remove all the "wood, grass, or straw"  - the worthless things from our lives.  Build us up in the beauty and precious jewels  -the riches of Christ Jesus... riches of kindness, forbearance, patience, grace, wisdom, and knowledge -  that are in Him alone.  Let Your gracious will be done in each of us today we pray. Amen. 

I Corinthians 2

I Cor. 2 - 

Paul says that he preached only "Jesus Christ and Him crucified".  The CJB version says it this way, "for I had decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Yeshua the Messiah, and even him only as someone who had been executed on a stake as a criminal."

He did not preach wisdom, strength, or power.  He did not rely on elegant words and forceful arguments. Instead he relied on the "power of the Spirit"  so that their faith would be in God alone. 

 Paul says that no one can understand the things of God except through the Spirit of God. "Now we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God, so that we might understand the things God has so freely given us." 

Paul says that his "manner of speaking" was taught by the Spirit.. "by which we explain things of the Spirit to people who have the Spirit. "  Without the Spirit of God "natural man.. does not receive the things from the Spirit of God.. Moreover he is unable to grasp them.. " 

If we cannot grasp God's truth except by His Spirit, then how can we be saved?  How can we receive the Spirit?  - Only through the gospel truth -   "Jesus Christ and Him crucified."   It is God's doing. (1:30)  He chose "what the world considers weak.. what the world looks down on as common or regards as nothing.. " (1:27-28)   Spiritual truths are divinely supernatural truths.  They cannot be understood by the human mind.  "But we have the mind of the Messiah!"  Oh, what amazing grace!  Look what our God has done! What "no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no one's heart has imagined... "  God gave to us through His Spirit. 

Father in heaven, once again we give You all honor and praise and thanksgiving, for You are God of heaven and earth and there is no other.  You have created all things and we have nothing that You have not provided, including Your Spirit, so that we might understand the spiritual truths that You have revealed to those who would believe in Jesus Christ who was crucified.  Help us to listen, to take heed of Your Spirit , to truly understand the power of the Gospel, and to obey Your Word always.  For it is in the name of our Lord Christ Jesus that we pray. Amen. 

I Corinthians 1"""

I Corinthians 1  Paul addressed this letter to the church at Corinth and to "... everyone everywhere who calls on the name of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, their Lord as well as ours."  ( v 2; CJB)  

To us!

He begins right off addressing the issue of divisions in the church.  His admonition is that they be "restored to having a common mind and a common purpose".   The Messiah, Paul reminds them, has not been "split in pieces"!  What really matters the most to all of the church is the gospel - the message of the cross. This is what unites all believers and this is our singular purpose - the Good News of Jesus!

The message of the "execution-stake" as the Complete Jewish Bible calls it, "is nonsense to those in the process of being destroyed, but to us in the process of being saved it is the power of God."  God has chosen to make the wisdom of the world "look pretty foolish".  The world cannot come to know Him by "using its own wisdom", Paul writes. "Therefore God decided to use the 'nonsense' of what we proclaim as his means of saving those who come to trust in it." 

"But God chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise;"

"God chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the strong;"

"..and God chose what the world looks down on as common or regards as nothing in order to bring to nothing what the world considers important."

"... so that no one should boast before God." 

" It is His doing that you are united with the Messiah Yeshua. He has become wisdom for us from God and righteousness and holiness and redemption as well!"  

"Let anyone who wants to boast, boast about Adonai"

We come to God our Lord, our Adonai, by grace - it is His doing!  We come to Him by faith, trusting in the message of the cross - that Jesus Christ, "God's power and God's wisdom" died to pay our ransom. 

The wisdom of people cannot grasp this truth. It is foolishness to the world, but "God's 'nonsense' is wiser than humanity's 'wisdom'".   No man can grasp salvation through intelligence, strength, or power. 

There is only one way to be saved and that is through faith in Jesus Christ!

Father in heaven, we boast of Your grace and of Your glory and of Your wisdom and power.  You alone are worthy of all praise!  Thank You for uniting us with Jesus Christ the Messiah.  He is our all in all!

In Christ we find all wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and salvation.  We fix our eyes on Jesus only!

Keep us, Your church, focused on our common purpose with a common mind - the good news of the cross of Jesus Christ our Lord. It is in His name we pray, amen. 

Deuteronomy 31-34

Moses turned 120 years old.  He died "with eyes undimmed and vigor undiminished" on Mount Nebo. These last 4 chapters ( Deuteronomy 31-34)  contain a song, a blessing, and a eulogy.  Before Moses died, he knew that Israel would not remain faithful to Adonai their God.  He knew that the land they were going to possess would eventually be left behind as they were exiled.  He had done all he could and there was nothing else that he could do.  He fulfilled the role that God had called him to do and died in the Presence of the One he loved so much. 

We all will leave a legacy behind.  The kind of life we live will affect the next generations.. for good or for evil. It must have been heartbreaking for Moses to hear that the people he had led for those 40 years would not remain faithful to Adonai.  They didn't know Him like Moses did - face to face.  Tozer wrote this, "We can never know who or what we are till we know at least something of what God is. "  It is vital that we seek to know Him.. to know that we are totally dependent on Him , that without God there is no creation - including mankind. May we leave a legacy of faithfulness and love for God, walking in the Truth of His Word. 

I pray that we will not fall away as Israel did.  They were God's chosen people and they threw it all away for dust.. for nothing.  Our world is filled with people who are choosing Self instead of God. Sin has become so common that it is considered "natural".  We need a new awakening so that God is made known as He truly is.. "See now that I, yes I, am He; and there is no god beside me.  I put to death, and I make alive; I wound and I heal; no one saves anyone from my hand."  ( Deuteronomy 32:39)

Father in heaven,  You alone are God and there is none like You. Open our eyes, circumcise our hearts, and increase our knowledge of who You are.  Fill our hearts with a hunger and thirst for Yourself. Lift our thoughts above the emptiness  of the things of this world, to see Your glory!  Help us to know You so that we can know who we are.. Your creation.. Your servants.. Your children.   May we be able to declare with great joy- "I am Yours and You are mine."  Amen and amen!

Deuteronomy 29-30

The generation of Israelites that were adults as they fled from Egypt had made a covenant with God at Sinai, but then failed to keep that covenant when they rebelled, refusing to trust Him and enter the Land of Promise.  Forty years later, they were all gone except for Caleb and Joshua.  Moses leads the surviving generation to enter their own covenant with Adonai in the land of Moab.  He has reminded them of the laws and instructions that God commanded them to obey and the promises of blessing if they continued to keep His commands.  He also reminded them of the curses and consequences for turning away from God. 

Over and over Moses emphasized that the people needed to "choose life".. chose to love the Lord their God, choose to pay attention to the Words of God, and chose to obey...  "for this is the purpose of your life"!   (Deuteronomy 30:20)

God is the One who gives understanding, who circumcises hearts, who  gives purpose for living.. if we pay attention to what He says and cling to Him with ALL our hearts and all our being!   Like Israel we have been given the Word of God.. freely.. so that we can live.  We need to keep our side of the new covenant that was provided to us through Jesus Christ our Lord. We are His people and He is our God!  (see Hebrews 8:10)

Father in heaven,  help us.. open our eyes and circumcise our hearts so that we will live fully committed and obedient to Your Word. May we cling to You and love You and know You more and more.   Fulfill Your purposes for us by the power of Your Spirit we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. 

Deuteronomy 26-28

 Deuteronomy 26-28

These three chapters  instruct Israel about the blessings that were theirs if they would listen, observe, and do the things that Adonai commanded them and the curses that would come upon them if they didn't  listen and obey His Words.  It was all spelled out for them.. the blessings were beyond their greatest wishes.. the curses where beyond their worse fears. 

This is still the truth of God's ways towards mankind.  If we choose His ways in obedience and love, our Lord will provide for us abundantly more than we can ask or imagine.  But, if we refuse, the result is our own destruction.  It is our choice. 

If we belong to our Lord fully, we will listen to His voice and obey His commands.  He promises to bless us - wherever we are, in all that we do, whenever He chooses.  But, if we go our own ways and refuse to listen to His voice and obey His Word, then the curse will cover every area of our lives also... wherever we are, whatever we are doing, and whenever He chooses. 

Deut. 28:63 tells us that Adonai took joy in doing good for Israel when they obeyed His commands, but that He would take joy in causing them to perish and be scattered for their disobedience.. " Adonai will give you there anguish of heart, dimness of eyes and apathy of spirit." (v 65). 

As believers in Jesus Christ, we have been blessed "with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ". ( Ephesians 1:3).  Our Father has "lavished upon us"  His grace. He has made known to us "the mystery of His will".  He has given us an eternal inheritance.  He has given us "wisdom and insight".  He takes joy in blessing us with hope and peace and unending love.  We, in turn, worship Him, listen to His voice, and follow Him with all our hearts. 

But, for those who refuse to believe, to listen, and to obey the Word of God.. their end is destruction.  The Word of God warns us clearly.. over and over again that the deeds "of the flesh".. those things that are against the Word of God.. must be "put to death".. "crucified"  - deliberately and thoroughly dealt with in surrender and repentance in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 5:24) 

Father in heaven,  holy and sovereign God, we hallow Your Name.  You alone are God and there is no other.  Father, I pray that You will open our eyes to Your Truth.  Remove the veil from our eyes and the apathy in our spirits.  Bring a new, fresh awareness of Your Presence and power made available to us through Jesus Christ our Lord, that we might put aside.. crucify every fleshly desire and choose Life in love and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ.  Do a new work in us.. in Your church... and in our land, we pray in Jesus' name. amen.