Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” Romans 8:26, NIV

We’ve all had those days when what we are facing is so beyond our thinking that it has paralyzed our being, putting all our emotions on hold, as we fall to your knees in weakness over the news or circumstance.  The shock literally overwhelms us. As a believer, we instinctively know who to call out to, but we cannot come up with the words.  Words fail us.  Only the groans from our inner being can be felt and heard.

Paul has had days like this which included whippings and beatings, being jailed, and watching others he loved be maimed for believing in Jesus.  But in times like these, Paul draws his strength from his intimacy with His Master, Jesus.  God’s Holy Spirit intercedes in times that overwhelm Paul with a language of spiritual words through Paul, in the Name of Jesus.  It is in these times, between God and His beloved, that this intimate, loving relationship with God grows into a deep, holy awareness of the Holy Presence of God within us.    

Paul warns believers that this holy intimacy is not for show.  It is for intimate communion with God alone as we grow in His love that is embedded so deep within us that nothing can come between God and us.  “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39, NIV

Hard times come and go but God’s love stays, never fails, never gives up and is unmovable! 

1 Corinthians 14, The Message

^1-3 Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it—because it does. Give yourselves to the gifts God gives you. Most of all, try to proclaim his truth. If you praise him in the private language of tongues, God understands you but no one else does, for you are sharing intimacies just between you and him. But when you proclaim his truth in everyday speech, you’re letting others in on the truth so that they can grow and be strong and experience his presence with you.

^4-5 The one who prays using a private “prayer language” certainly gets a lot out of it, but proclaiming God’s truth to the church in its common language brings the whole church into growth and strength. I want all of you to develop intimacies with God in prayer, but please don’t stop with that. Go on and proclaim his clear truth to others. It’s more important that everyone have access to the knowledge and love of God in language everyone understands than that you go off and cultivate God’s presence in a mysterious prayer language—unless, of course, there is someone who can interpret what you are saying for the benefit of all.

^6-8 Think, friends: If I come to you and all I do is pray privately to God in a way only he can understand, what are you going to get out of that? If I don’t address you plainly with some insight or truth or proclamation or teaching, what help am I to you? If musical instruments—flutes, say, or harps—aren’t played so that each note is distinct and in tune, how will anyone be able to catch the melody and enjoy the music? If the trumpet call can’t be distinguished, will anyone show up for the battle?

^9-12 So if you speak in a way no one can understand, what’s the point of opening your mouth? There are many languages in the world and they all mean something to someone. But if I don’t understand the language, it’s not going to do me much good. It’s no different with you. Since you’re so eager to participate in what God is doing, why don’t you concentrate on doing what helps everyone in the church?

^13-17 So, when you pray in your private prayer language, don’t hoard the experience for yourself. Pray for the insight and ability to bring others into that intimacy. If I pray in tongues, my spirit prays but my mind lies fallow, and all that intelligence is wasted. So what’s the solution? The answer is simple enough. Do both. I should be spiritually free and expressive as I pray, but I should also be thoughtful and mindful as I pray. I should sing with my spirit, and sing with my mind. If you give a blessing using your private prayer language, which no one else understands, how can some outsider who has just shown up and has no idea what’s going on know when to say “Amen”? Your blessing might be beautiful, but you have very effectively cut that person out of it.

^18-19 I’m grateful to God for the gift of praying in tongues that he gives us for praising him, which leads to wonderful intimacies we enjoy with him. I enter into this as much or more than any of you. But when I’m in a church assembled for worship, I’d rather say five words that everyone can understand and learn from than say ten thousand that sound to others like gibberish.

^20-25 To be perfectly frank, I’m getting exasperated with your childish thinking. How long before you grow up and use your head—your adult head? It’s all right to have a childlike unfamiliarity with evil; a simple no is all that’s needed there. But there’s far more to saying yes to something. Only mature and well-exercised intelligence can save you from falling into gullibility. It’s written in Scripture that God said,

In strange tongues
    and from the mouths of strangers
I will preach to this people,
    but they’ll neither listen nor believe.

So where does it get you, all this speaking in tongues no one understands? It doesn’t help believers, and it only gives unbelievers something to gawk at. Plain truth-speaking, on the other hand, goes straight to the heart of believers and doesn’t get in the way of unbelievers. If you come together as a congregation and some unbelieving outsiders walk in on you as you’re all praying in tongues, unintelligible to each other and to them, won’t they assume you’ve taken leave of your senses and get out of there as fast as they can? But if some unbelieving outsiders walk in on a service where people are speaking out God’s truth, the plain words will bring them up against the truth and probe their hearts. Before you know it, they’re going to be on their faces before God, recognizing that God is among you.

^26-33 So here’s what I want you to do. When you gather for worship, each one of you be prepared with something that will be useful for all: Sing a hymn, teach a lesson, tell a story, lead a prayer, provide an insight. If prayers are offered in tongues, two or three’s the limit, and then only if someone is present who can interpret what you’re saying. Otherwise, keep it between God and yourself. And no more than two or three speakers at a meeting, with the rest of you listening and taking it to heart. Take your turn, no one person taking over. Then each speaker gets a chance to say something special from God, and you all learn from each other. If you choose to speak, you’re also responsible for how and when you speak. When we worship the right way, God doesn’t stir us up into confusion; he brings us into harmony. This goes for all the churches—no exceptions.

^34-36 Wives must not disrupt worship, talking when they should be listening, asking questions that could more appropriately be asked of their husbands at home. God’s Book of the law guides our manners and customs here. Wives have no license to use the time of worship for unwarranted speaking. Do you—both women and men—imagine that you’re a sacred oracle determining what’s right and wrong? Do you think everything revolves around you?

^37-38 If any one of you thinks God has something for you to say or has inspired you to do something, pay close attention to what I have written. This is the way the Master wants it. If you won’t play by these rules, God can’t use you. Sorry.

^39-40 Three things, then, to sum this up: When you speak forth God’s truth, speak your heart out. Don’t tell people how they should or shouldn’t pray when they’re praying in tongues that you don’t understand. Be courteous and considerate in everything.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

The Corinthian believers were so impressed by the glitz and wonder of spiritual gifts that they lost their perspective and forgot the purpose of these gifts.  Spiritual gifts glorify God and build up the body of Christ. Gifts should never be misused, envied, or cause division.  Paul is teaching us that this gift of speaking in prayer language is equal to all of God’s gifts to us. Not one gift is more important than another. 

IT’S PERSONAL

I have not had the experience where my intimacy with God included speaking in a language of words I did not know.  But I have had times of shocking circumstances that brought me to my knees.  I didn’t know what or how to pray so I merely sat in silence before God. Only the groans from the depths of my being could be heard.  God had my full attention.  Then God spoke into me, reminding me of His love for me.  He spoke words of peace in ways that are hard to describe.  The circumstance did not change in that moment but the way I was to react toward it was transformed.  Each encounter, calling out in Jesus Name, was different as all of me waited on all that God had to say.  I would rise with more strength, more love and awe, as the Presence of God was seen and felt in and all around me.   

I asked my friend, a fellow respected believer, who did speak in this prayer language about her encounter with God in this way.  Her reply helped me to understand the most important part—intimacy with God alone.  She said;

“When I cannot come up with the words to say, it is usually in times of deep despair over circumstances beyond my normal understanding and give me great sadness. So, I go to my “prayer closet” for a private time to speak to God.  I know with a doubt He will meet me there by His promise to always be with us.  At first, there is silence.  Then the Holy Spirit intercedes with words that flow from my lips to God’s heart.  This is a very intimate time with God where I know He knows and understands.  I trust Him to bring healing, wisdom, care, and restoration for my broken heart. The words cease and then I am at peace, the kind of peace that only Jesus delivers.” 

She went on to say, “If I did this during a gathering of believers, it would not be very useful for others, and even more importantly, she felt it would minimize the awe of her personal intimacy with God.”

We must prayer for discernment consistently.  God will answer.

MOST IMPORTANTLY…

God Gives.  We thank Him in grateful praise, honoring God alone, privately and corporately, in an attitude of awe for the Giver!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16, NIV

All because He loved us first!  (1 John 4:19)

The fundamental Truth is Jesus died and rose again so that we could have eternal life with Him.  Believe, repent in surrender, and be saved forever!

Lord,

There are so many things that hinder, disrupt, distract, us from the work of salvation you are doing in and through us as your church.  Lead us not into temptations but deliver us from evil and evil’s schemes to destroy or faith in You. We pray for discernment, your leading and guiding, for we need you every hour of every day.

In Jesus Name, Amen

I love red cars!  I love this fried chicken; no wonder it’s called, “marry me chicken”!  I love how you make your kitchen shine!  I love this place on the beach!  I love those clothes you’re wearing today!  I love you—could you help me with this?! 

How many times a day do we use this word called “love” without realizing the shallowness of our way of using it?  No wonder our relationships become shallow based on the way the world perceives love.

The church at Corinth were fighting and arguing over the trivial things of life.  They were competing for importance by putting down others doing their part given by God as His gift to each one.  Instead of being who God wanted them to be, they sought to be who others were.  Envy, jealousy, followed by bitterness and arguments became the norm.  This “unwholesome talk” and subsequent behaviors were destroying loving relationships.  Led by God’s Holy Spirit, Paul writes to the people with God’s love in his heart.  It grieves Paul’s heart, like it does God’s heart, for people to be unloving and rude to each other.  If we will remember, Paul’s words at the end of chapter 12 were, “But now I want to lay out a far better way for you.”  This far better way is a lesson on love—God’s love.

Dubbed the “love chapter” and used as a reading over the years in weddings.  But 1 Corinthians 13 is for all who believe Jesus, repent in His name with a surrendered heart and who want to love like Jesus loves us.  This is how to love in the most excellent way…

1 Corinthians 13, The Message

The Way of Love

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

² If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

^3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

^8-10 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

¹¹ When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

¹² We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

¹³ But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

These words surely convict our hearts for we can always do better in loving God by loving each other daily in all circumstances of life.

To love extravagantly means to hold nothing back with no limits.  Do we love like that?  Can we trust in the love of God in us to love in ways they challenge and stretch our faith? 

Pause to prayerfully consider the word of this chapter.  Read it again. Read it daily, meditating on the words.  This “far better way” to live is how we develop our loving, intimate relationship with God and each other and is the pathway to growing the characteristics of God in us!  It’s not just for weddings!  These words of love for Life!

Love . . . is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. —1 Corinthians 13:4–5

We are all guilty and in need of forgiveness for making lists—all the things people have done to us or said about us—it’s all there on the list!  God says to stop making lists, in fact, get rid of all the lists mentally, emotionally, and physically with God helping us, because it is affecting and infecting our spiritual health.

Max Lucado, “Encouraging Word Bible” writes—

“Couldn’t we all make such a list? You’ve already learned, haven’t you, that friends aren’t always friendly? Neighbors aren’t always neighborly? Some workers never work, and some bosses are always bossy?

You’ve already learned, haven’t you, that a promise made is not always a promise kept? Just because someone is called your dad, that doesn’t mean he will act like your dad. Even though they said “yes” on the altar, they may say “no” in the marriage.

You’ve already learned, haven’t you, that we tend to fight back? To bite back? To keep lists and snarl lips and growl at people we don’t like?

God wants your list. He inspired one servant to write, “Love does not count up wrongs that have been done” (1Co 13:5 NCV). He wants us to leave the list at the cross.

Not easy.

“Just look what they did to me!” we defy and point to our hurts.

“Just look what I did for you,” he reminds and points to the cross.

Paul said it this way: “If someone does wrong to you, forgive that person because the Lord forgave you” (Col 3:13 NCV).

You and I are commanded—not urged, commanded—to keep no list of wrongs.

Besides, do you really want to keep one? Do you really want to catalog all your mistreatments? Do you really want to growl and snap your way through life? God doesn’t want you to either. Give up your sins before they infect you and your bitterness before it incites you, and give God your anxiety before it inhibits you. Give God your anxious moments.”

Lord,

Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls with your new mercies for today, remove our mental lists that infect our love.  Restore the joy and peace of your salvation at work within us to produce your love flowing through us.

In Jesus Name, Amen

We all do it.  We are enjoying our road trip, listening to the radio, and joyfully singing along.  But then suddenly we are forced to take a detour.  We must now watch closely,  seeking the right way to go.  We lean forward into the steering wheel as we turn down the radio so we can see better!  Wait, what?!  Why do we instinctively turn down the radio?  We hear with our ears and see with our eyes! 

It’s all about focus and attention!  When we are challenged with the unfamiliar and unknown on our journey we need ALL our senses functioning properly and working together in our body so that we can maneuver the obstacles of life.  When all the parts of our body are working in sync; life is doable and better. Our mere intelligence is not enough, hearing is not enough, seeking is not enough, walking and talking still not enough.  But when all the parts work together for one purpose, we thrive.

Paul teaches us that it is the same with God’s church lead by God’s Holy Spirit.  We are all parts of one Body—the Body of Christ—working together for His glory and our growth in His character.

1 Corinthians 12, The Message

Spiritual Gifts

^1-3 What I want to talk about now is the various ways God’s Spirit gets worked into our lives. This is complex and often misunderstood, but I want you to be informed and knowledgeable. Remember how you were when you didn’t know God, led from one phony god to another, never knowing what you were doing, just doing it because everybody else did it? It’s different in this life. God wants us to use our intelligence, to seek to understand as well as we can. For instance, by using your heads, you know perfectly well that the Spirit of God would never prompt anyone to say “Jesus be damned!” Nor would anyone be inclined to say “Jesus is Master!” without the insight of the Holy Spirit.

^4-11 God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful:

wise counsel, clear understanding, simple trust, healing the sick, miraculous acts, proclamation, distinguishing between spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues.

All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.

^12-13 You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.

^14-18 I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, “I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,” would that make it so? If Ear said, “I’m not beautiful like Eye, transparent and expressive; I don’t deserve a place on the head,” would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.

^19-24 But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn’t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?

^25-26 The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

^27-31 You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything. You’re familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his “body”:

Apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, helpers, organizers, those who pray in tongues.

But it’s obvious by now, isn’t it, that Christ’s church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It’s not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. And yet some of you keep competing for so-called “important” parts.

But now I want to lay out a far better way for you.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

This “part” of Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth is a precursor to the next passage that will follow about God’s love in us being the “far better way” for us to live and thrive together.  But this passage is no less important that the “love chapter” that will follow. 

We learn that all the gifted parts of His Holy Spirit come directly from God.  God assigns what we do as part of the Body of Christ.  We trust and obey as the parts.

No part is more important than another part.  No competitions for the parts!  No comparisons between the parts.  No rank and file.  Each part is significant with a specific purpose from God.

“You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this.”

Nothing significant happens until God’s Holy Spirit leads us. 

Sometimes we need to turn down the noise of the world so we can see Jesus more clearly!  Each part needs to focus on the significance of our contribution to the Body.  We must work in tandem with the others parts of Christ’s Body to remain focused and attentive the will of God! 

The Body of Christ must always seek God’s will.  All comes from God.  All is about God.  The Body, knowing this, pulls all the parts together so that our prayer of Your Kingdom come, Your will be done is accomplished! The Body comes together with unity of purpose to achieve His plan.  When this happens, we grow in all ways in the Body. A healthy, growing Body gives all glory and honor to God through Jesus, His Son. 

“For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever!” (Romans11:36). The breath you just took? God gave that. The blood that just pulsed through your heart? Credit God. The light by which you read and the brain with which you process? He gave both.  The instinct to turn down the radio so you can concentrate on what lies ahead—all from God!  (Smiling gratefully)

Everything comes from God and exists for Him. We exist to show who God is as He displays His glory working in and through us as parts of His Body! We serve as canvases for his brush stroke, papers for his pen, soil for his seeds, glimpses of his image as He creates masterpieces of all His creation.

Each one of us is unique. God created us to show His glory.  May we never forget what Jesus did so that this relationship with God is possible.

Lord,

Thank you for the opportunities you give to serve you and others with the parts of the Body of Christ!  It is you who guides us with your specific plan for the Body who is made up of many parts.  Help each one of us to do our part well, in the most excellent way—by Your Spirit with Your love in our hearts.

In Jesus Name, Amen

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”—Jesus, Matthew 28:19-20, NIV

Are we? Do we realize that Jesus’ Holy Presence is with us—always? Are we doing what Jesus commanded us to be and do when He says to do it?  Unfortunately, we believers in Jesus are not perfect in all our ways.  “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Paul reminds us. (Romans 3:23)

Examine our motives—great advice from Paul!  When we honestly examine ourselves, we might notice that when we are physically weak and unusually tired, hard-pressed by problems, stressed by life, or merely confused over the actions of others and assume the worst; we become spiritually weak and easy prey for the enemy’s attack.  If we do not do what Jesus did; go the Father and ask for His wisdom and will, direction and strength we fall for the enemy’s schemes.  The enemy of Jesus, (and our enemy, too), jumps into our thinking and with his limited power.  He does his best to distract, deceive, disillusion, divide us and deconstruct what we believe with efforts to destroy our faith.  He works overtime to hinder the work Jesus commanded us to be and do—Go and make disciples, baptize, and teach—all in the Holy Name of Jesus.

Paul has gotten word that the Corinthian church is making a mockery of the Lord’s Supper which dishonors Christ and is destroying relationships with each other.  In this passionate part of his letter, he addresses the issue and reminds them of the authority of Jesus who is the Head of the Body of Believers.

1 Corinthians 11, The Message

To Honor God

11 ^1-2 It pleases me that you continue to remember and honor me by keeping up the traditions of the faith I taught you. All actual authority stems from Christ.

^3-9 In a marriage relationship, there is authority from Christ to husband, and from husband to wife. The authority of Christ is the authority of God. Any man who speaks with God or about God in a way that shows a lack of respect for the authority of Christ, dishonors Christ. In the same way, a wife who speaks with God in a way that shows a lack of respect for the authority of her husband, dishonors her husband. Worse, she dishonors herself—an ugly sight, like a woman with her head shaved. This is basically the origin of these customs we have of women wearing head coverings in worship, while men take their hats off. By these symbolic acts, men and women, who far too often butt heads with each other, submit their “heads” to the Head: God.

^10-12 Don’t, by the way, read too much into the differences here between men and women. Neither man nor woman can go it alone or claim priority. Man was created first, as a beautiful shining reflection of God—that is true. But the head on a woman’s body clearly outshines in beauty the head of her “head,” her husband. The first woman came from man, true—but ever since then, every man comes from a woman! And since virtually everything comes from God anyway, let’s quit going through these “who’s first” routines.

^13-16 Don’t you agree there is something naturally powerful in the symbolism—a woman, her beautiful hair reminiscent of angels, praying in adoration; a man, his head bared in reverence, praying in submission? I hope you’re not going to be argumentative about this. All God’s churches see it this way; I don’t want you standing out as an exception.

^17-19 Regarding this next item, I’m not at all pleased. I am getting the picture that when you meet together it brings out your worst side instead of your best! First, I get this report on your divisiveness, competing with and criticizing each other. I’m reluctant to believe it, but there it is. The best that can be said for it is that the testing process will bring truth into the open and confirm it.

^20-22 And then I find that you bring your divisions to worship—you come together, and instead of eating the Lord’s Supper, you bring in a lot of food from the outside and make pigs of yourselves. Some are left out, and go home hungry. Others have to be carried out, too drunk to walk. I can’t believe it! Don’t you have your own homes to eat and drink in? Why would you stoop to desecrating God’s church? Why would you actually shame God’s poor? I never would have believed you would stoop to this. And I’m not going to stand by and say nothing.

^23-26 Let me go over with you again exactly what goes on in the Lord’s Supper and why it is so centrally important. I received my instructions from the Master himself and passed them on to you. The Master, Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, took bread. Having given thanks, he broke it and said,

This is my body, broken for you.
Do this to remember me.

After supper, he did the same thing with the cup:

This cup is my blood, my new covenant with you.
Each time you drink this cup, remember me.

What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt.

^27-28 Anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master irreverently is like part of the crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death. Is that the kind of “remembrance” you want to be part of? Examine your motives, test your heart, come to this meal in holy awe.

^29-32 If you give no thought (or worse, don’t care) about the broken body of the Master when you eat and drink, you’re running the risk of serious consequences. That’s why so many of you even now are listless and sick, and others have gone to an early grave. If we get this straight now, we won’t have to be straightened out later on. Better to be confronted by the Master now than to face a fiery confrontation later.

^33-34 So, my friends, when you come together to the Lord’s Table, be reverent and courteous with one another. If you’re so hungry that you can’t wait to be served, go home and get a sandwich. But by no means risk turning this Meal into an eating and drinking binge or a family squabble. It is a spiritual meal—a love feast.

The other things you asked about, I’ll respond to in person when I make my next visit.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Gossip, lying, mocking, thinking the worst not the best of each other that causes divisiveness and often brokenness within the church body must be addressed and the Body cleansed.  These sinful responses to each other while making a mockery of the sacredness of partaking in the Lord’s Supper that reminds of what Jesus did to save us “is like part of the crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death.”  Yes, friends, our behaviors matter to God!  Instead, may we encourage each other as we honor God together.

Paul has already told us that when we hurt a friend, it is the same as hurting Jesus!  (1 Corinthians 8:12)!  Extract the gossip gene!  What we think is fun to say, while making us feel superior for a moment as others laugh at the expense of others is unholy and dishonoring to God/Jesus/Holy Spirit who lives with us. Yes, this is serious.  Words kill and maim what Jesus died to save us from—our sin nature.

Lay down the mockery even when nervous in new situations. Remember what Jesus has done to save us as we drink the “cup” and eat “bread,” His blood shed and Body broken.  Take up the cause of Christ by consistently and humbly giving Him all the glory and honor that is due to our Savior and the Lord of our lives as if our lives depended on it—because it does! 

His Presence is always with us—turn to Him!  He will help us in our responses back to Him and to each other.  That’s who He is and what He does—and that’s why I love Him!

O soul are you weary and troubled
No light in the darkness you see
There’s light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace

His word shall not fail you he promised
Believe him and all will be well
Then go to a world that is dying
His perfect salvation to tell…

(Songwriter:  Helen Lemmel)

Lord,

May we truly turn our eyes upon you and realize the depth of love you have for us.  Help us to love each other like you love us.  May we honor you in all we think, say, and do. Help us to be grow in your character as we respond to each other with your love, kindness, gentleness, mercy, and grace. Thank you for teaching us that they way we respond to each other is the same as responding to you.  I love you, Lord, with all that is in me.

In Jesus Name, Amen

I’m forgiven because you were forsaken
I’m accepted, you were condemned
I’m alive and well
Your spirit is within me
Because you died and rose again

Amazing love, how can it be?
That you, my king. would die for me
Amazing love, I know it’s true
Its my joy to honor you
Amazing love how can it be?
That my king would die for me
Amazing love I know it’s true
Its my joy to honor you
In all I do
I honor you

(Songwriter: Billy Foote; Sung by Newsboys)

Should I go to the party my friends at school are having at their house?  I’m a church kid who is a believer who tries to stay out of trouble.  So, what do I do?  Since I was a kid, I asked God for help in relationships.  I was taught by parents and grandparents to ask God about all of life.  I read that God actually delights in the details of our lives and is always ready to help us.  I am so glad for this training and wonderful demonstrations of thinking and living this way.  I am immensely grateful for God’s Holy Spirit who gave me discernment in decision making.  Throughout middle and high school, invitations were dealt with by asking God what He thought. 

We pass on seeking God’s gift of discernment when we train our children to ask God before jumping to conclusions, leaping into temptations, or leaning on their own understanding about life.  In all things of life, we must ask; Will what I am about to think, say or do be pleasing to God and give Him glory?

We cannot rely on our fleeting feelings that change hourly. We cannot rely on our own wisdom for we only see what is in front of us. Only God can see what lies ahead and knows the hearts of everyone around us.  It’s “common sense” then, as Paul says, to rely on God’s help, who loves to give us exactly what we need when we need it. 

“Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.”

1 Corinthians 10, The Message

^1-5 Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God’s fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. But just experiencing God’s wonder and grace didn’t seem to mean much—most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased.

^6-10 The same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we never get caught up in wanting our own way as they did. And we must not turn our religion into a circus as they did—“First the people partied, then they threw a dance.” We must not be sexually promiscuous—they paid for that, remember, with 23,000 deaths in one day! We must never try to get Christ to serve us instead of us serving him; they tried it, and God launched an epidemic of poisonous snakes. We must be careful not to stir up discontent; discontent destroyed them.

^11-12 These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.

¹³ No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.

¹⁴ So, my very dear friends, when you see people reducing God to something they can use or control, get out of their company as fast as you can.

^15-18 I assume I’m addressing believers now who are mature. Draw your own conclusions: When we drink the cup of blessing, aren’t we taking into ourselves the blood, the very life, of Christ? And isn’t it the same with the loaf of bread we break and eat? Don’t we take into ourselves the body, the very life, of Christ? Because there is one loaf, our many-ness becomes one-ness—Christ doesn’t become fragmented in us. Rather, we become unified in him. We don’t reduce Christ to what we are; he raises us to what he is. That’s basically what happened even in old Israel—those who ate the sacrifices offered on God’s altar entered into God’s action at the altar.

^19-22 Do you see the difference? Sacrifices offered to idols are offered to nothing, for what’s the idol but a nothing? Or worse than nothing, a minus, a demon! I don’t want you to become part of something that reduces you to less than yourself. And you can’t have it both ways, banqueting with the Master one day and slumming with demons the next. Besides, the Master won’t put up with it. He wants us—all or nothing. Do you think you can get off with anything less?

^23-24 Looking at it one way, you could say, “Anything goes. Because of God’s immense generosity and grace, we don’t have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster.” But the point is not to just get by. We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well.

^25-28 With that as a base to work from, common sense can take you the rest of the way. Eat anything sold at the butcher shop, for instance; you don’t have to run an “idolatry test” on every item. “The earth,” after all, “is God’s, and everything in it.” That “everything” certainly includes the leg of lamb in the butcher shop. If a nonbeliever invites you to dinner and you feel like going, go ahead and enjoy yourself; eat everything placed before you. It would be both bad manners and bad spirituality to cross-examine your host on the ethical purity of each course as it is served. On the other hand, if he goes out of his way to tell you that this or that was sacrificed to god or goddess so-and-so, you should pass. Even though you may be indifferent as to where it came from, he isn’t, and you don’t want to send mixed messages to him about who you are worshiping.

^29-30 But, except for these special cases, I’m not going to walk around on eggshells worrying about what small-minded people might say; I’m going to stride free and easy, knowing what our large-minded Master has already said. If I eat what is served to me, grateful to God for what is on the table, how can I worry about what someone will say? I thanked God for it and he blessed it!

^31-33 So eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you—you’re eating to God’s glory, after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do everything that way, heartily and freely to God’s glory. At the same time, don’t be callous in your exercise of freedom, thoughtlessly stepping on the toes of those who aren’t as free as you are. I try my best to be considerate of everyone’s feelings in all these matters; I hope you will be, too.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Ask God, He will deliver an answer that produces His character in us to grow.  Cultivate through tilling the good soil of our souls to grow “God-confidence” for daily living.

Paul taught the Corinthians about the dangers of idol worship and petty arguments using lessons from history and faith.  In everything that we do, whether we relate to each other or worship, we ought to give glory to God. Though mindful not to offend other Believers in Jesus, we should be focused on bringing praise to God.  Jesus must be at the center of all we think, say, and do.  To do this we must BE with God and give Him all of who we are for all of who He is in us. 

Be still and know the He is God.

Be still and know God.

Be still and know.

Be still.

Be.

Lord,

Thank you for the common sense of spiritual wisdom that you stand ready to give us. We need you every hour of every day! Thank you for helping us make decisions with the help of your holy discernment when we are wondering what is best and will give you glory in our lives. Thank you for forgiving our sins and missteps in judgement. Thank you for answering our seeking hearts, minds, and souls with your never-ending love, mercy, and grace.

You are God.  We are not.  We are your beloved and you delight in every detail of our lives.  I am grateful for all you do for us, in and through us, and for those around us.  I am yours and I’m listening.  Lead and guide me throughout this day’s agenda for your glory and my good.

In Jesus Name, Amen

“If you can do anything else and be at peace with God—do that.” These are the words from our elders/mentors as we told them of our call to minister in Jesus Name, leaving our old life behind.  We were public school teachers.  We had worked hard to achieve education to teach, but then God called us out of teaching elementary students to teaching/preaching His Good News to everyone who would listen.  To be sure of the calling of God upon our lives, we were also told, “if you feel compelled and cannot think of doing anything but this, then obey the call.”  “May God be with you.”

No one accepts the call to full time service to God’s work without deep contemplation; praying to discern if the call is from God.  No one drops everything to follow without first seeking advice of spiritual mentors asking if they see what God sees in us.  And above all, no one says yes to this vocation for life without God initiating the call while preparing our hearts for service.  This requires many hours of asking God what He wants while immersing ourselves in being still to listen.  God will put specific people in our lives to affirm us and lead us while caring for our needs as He prepares us.  He did it for us, God does it for all who will answer His call and follow His direction and guidance.  Let go, and let God do what He does best. 

No one accepts the call of God through Jesus without passionate surrender to God.  Paul is one example of many.  What a great legacy for us!

1 Corinthians 9, The Message

^1-2 And don’t tell me that I have no authority to write like this. I’m perfectly free to do this—isn’t that obvious? Haven’t I been given a job to do? Wasn’t I commissioned to this work in a face-to-face meeting with Jesus, our Master? Aren’t you yourselves proof of the good work that I’ve done for the Master? Even if no one else admits the authority of my commission, you can’t deny it. Why, my work with you is living proof of my authority!

^3-7 I’m not shy in standing up to my critics. We who are on missionary assignments for God have a right to decent accommodations, and we have a right to support for us and our families. You don’t seem to have raised questions with the other apostles and our Master’s brothers and Peter in these matters. So, why me? Is it just Barnabas and I who have to go it alone and pay our own way? Are soldiers self-employed? Are gardeners forbidden to eat vegetables from their own gardens? Don’t dairy farmers get to drink their fill from the pail?

^8-12 I’m not just sounding off because I’m irritated. This is all written in the scriptural law. Moses wrote, “Don’t muzzle an ox to keep it from eating the grain when it’s threshing.” Do you think Moses’ primary concern was the care of farm animals? Don’t you think his concern extends to us? Of course. Farmers plow and thresh expecting something when the crop comes in. So if we have planted spiritual seed among you, is it out of line to expect a meal or two from you? Others demand plenty from you in these ways. Don’t we who have never demanded deserve even more?

^12-14 But we’re not going to start demanding now what we’ve always had a perfect right to. Our decision all along has been to put up with anything rather than to get in the way or detract from the Message of Christ. All I’m concerned with right now is that you not use our decision to take advantage of others, depriving them of what is rightly theirs. You know, don’t you, that it’s always been taken for granted that those who work in the Temple live off the proceeds of the Temple, and that those who offer sacrifices at the altar eat their meals from what has been sacrificed? Along the same lines, the Master directed that those who spread the Message be supported by those who believe the Message.

^15-18 Still, I want it made clear that I’ve never gotten anything out of this for myself, and that I’m not writing now to get something. I’d rather die than give anyone ammunition to discredit me or question my motives. If I proclaim the Message, it’s not to get something out of it for myself. I’m compelled to do it, and doomed if I don’t! If this was my own idea of just another way to make a living, I’d expect some pay. But since it’s not my idea but something solemnly entrusted to me, why would I expect to get paid? So am I getting anything out of it? Yes, as a matter of fact: the pleasure of proclaiming the Message at no cost to you. You don’t even have to pay my expenses!

^19-23 Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!

^24-25 You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally.

^26-27 I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No lazy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Daily surrender.  “Place Your Life Before God” 

^“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”—Paul, Romans 12:1-2, MSG

God calls us to specific ministry as we give all we are to all He is in surrender.  “The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9 NLT  He will be our wisdom and strength.

God calls.  God equips.  God sends.  God guides. God provides.  All for the glory of God while bringing out His best in us.  God never fails.  His love is unchanging. 

“God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. Glory to God in the church! Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus! Glory down all the generations! Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!” Ephesians 3:20, MSG

All believers are called no matter what your vocation to help people know, believe, and follow Jesus!  We were created to praise Him and tell others His redemption story for His glory!

“Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others.”  2 Corinthians 5:11

“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. ¹⁵ And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, NIV

Trust God.  Tell the story of Jesus so they will know and believe.

Lord,

There are many thoughts but our primary thought is to love more than enough so others will see and know your love that save us for eternity. I surrender all. Give us wisdom, insight and understanding to be, love, serve, and tell in your Name for your glory!  Thank you, Lord!

In Jesus Name, Amen

“Just because you can; doesn’t mean you should.”  I heard this from a legacy of believers in Jesus over my lifetime.  It wasn’t until I began facing more adult situations that demanded a response from me that I began to pause and consider the outcomes of my choices.  Would what I am about to say or do confuse a young believer who is watching my life?  Am I responsible for the lives of others as well as my own life with Jesus as I walk with Him? 

The more I study Paul’s letter to the churches who were struggling to pull away from the behaviors of the world while trying to growing in the ways of God, I’m beginning to understood even more.  Yes, Jesus sets us free from our sins and our former way of life that held us in bondage.  Yes, Jesus leads us to enjoying a life free from the entanglements of evil—the one who loves to wrap us up in again in his control so we will be a slave to sin once more.  Yes, it is true that Jesus leads us to Life everlasting.  It is also true that Evil leads us to death forever. 

Jesus gave His life for ours.  Evil gives us nothing but heartache, pain with certain and death. 

Who then shall we choose?  Do our choices matter to others?  Yes, they do.

1 Corinthians 8, The Message

^1-3 The question keeps coming up regarding meat that has been offered up to an idol: Should you attend meals where such meat is served, or not? We sometimes tend to think we know all we need to know to answer these kinds of questions—but sometimes our humble hearts can help us more than our proud minds. We never really know enough until we recognize that God alone knows it all.

^4-6 Some people say, quite rightly, that idols have no actual existence, that there’s nothing to them, that there is no God other than our one God, that no matter how many of these so-called gods are named and worshiped they still don’t add up to anything but a tall story. They say—again, quite rightly—that there is only one God the Father, that everything comes from him, and that he wants us to live for him. Also, they say that there is only one Master—Jesus the Messiah—and that everything is for his sake, including us. Yes. It’s true.

⁷ In strict logic, then, nothing happened to the meat when it was offered up to an idol. It’s just like any other meat. I know that, and you know that. But knowing isn’t everything. If it becomes everything, some people end up as know-it-alls who treat others as know-nothings. Real knowledge isn’t that insensitive.

We need to be sensitive to the fact that we’re not all at the same level of understanding in this. Some of you have spent your entire lives eating “idol meat,” and are sure that there’s something bad in the meat that then becomes something bad inside of you. An imagination and conscience shaped under those conditions isn’t going to change overnight.

^8-9 But fortunately God doesn’t grade us on our diet. We’re neither commended when we clean our plate nor reprimanded when we just can’t stomach it. But God does care when you use your freedom carelessly in a way that leads a fellow believer still vulnerable to those old associations to be thrown off track.

¹⁰ For instance, say you flaunt your freedom by going to a banquet thrown in honor of idols, where the main course is meat sacrificed to idols. Isn’t there great danger if someone still struggling over this issue, someone who looks up to you as knowledgeable and mature, sees you go into that banquet? The danger is that he will become terribly confused—maybe even to the point of getting mixed up himself in what his conscience tells him is wrong.

^11-13 Christ gave up his life for that person. Wouldn’t you at least be willing to give up going to dinner for him—because, as you say, it doesn’t really make any difference? But it does make a difference if you hurt your friend terribly, risking his eternal ruin! When you hurt your friend, you hurt Christ. A free meal here and there isn’t worth it at the cost of even one of these “weak ones.” So, never go to these idol-tainted meals if there’s any chance it will trip up one of your brothers or sisters.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

To Paul, nothing was more important than spreading the gospel, so giving up his rights was a worthwhile sacrifice.  Paul will reiterate this truth later in his letter—

“Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law,^[a] I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ.

When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.” 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, NLT

One of our top priorities should be enabling others to understand the gospel.  Our behavior should be guided by the example of Jesus who came to earth to seek and to save the lost. Only Jesus saves us.  But we are His beloved who point the Way to Jesus!  Though God has given us many blessings and rights, we should be willing to give them up if it would help someone to know Christ.  Read that again.  You can protect your reputation or protect His. You have a choice.

As Paul took his “cue” from God’s Holy Spirit and the example of Jesus, we can and should as well.  Jesus “made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:7–8).

Max Lucado writes;

“Christ abandoned his reputation. No one in Nazareth saluted him as the Son of God. He did not stand out in his elementary-classroom photograph, demanded no glossy page in his high-school annual. Friends knew him as a woodworker, not a star hanger. His looks turned no heads; his position earned him no credit. In the great stoop we call Christmas, Jesus abandoned heavenly privileges and aproned earthly pains. ‘He gave up his place with God and made himself nothing.’”  (Read all of Philippians 2)

As God used Paul, He also uses us who are fully committed to Him to deliver the gospel of peace through salvation in Jesus to the His beloved world who needs Him.  We needed Jesus when we found Him and He delivered us.  Why wouldn’t we want others to know Him and be filled with joy and peace while discovering a love that has no bounds?!

Our culture encourages us to stand up for ourselves and demand our rights, even at the expense of others. Yet Jesus and the New Testament writers repeatedly point to the joy we receive from humility and self-sacrifice. “Consider it pure joy when we suffer trials…” says James.  Our response to the world can bring people to Christ or push them away!  We have freedom, yes, but with this freedom is the responsibility to help others know Jesus and be set free, too!

Paul uses the example of idol meat—should we eat it or not.  Probably the most powerful words in this passage are; “When you hurt your friend, you hurt Christ.”  Our response matters.  It matters to God.  It matters to all those who are watching our lives in hopes of seeing Christ in us.

Lord,

Give us your extreme, powerful, decision-making wisdom for all the situations we face on our journey here.  We realize now the hefty responsibility we have to help others know, believe, and follow you, too.  Lead and guide us all day long and into the night.  Help us avoid unwholesome talk, jealousy and envy that leads to judgement of others, sarcastic remarks and other responses and actions that might hurt someone else and hinder their walk with you.  Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls with your new mercies for today, and continually restore the joy and peace of you in us and us in you.  Oh Lord, lead us.  I trust you.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

Since the residents of Corinth were renowned for godlessness, Paul explained how to honor God in Christian relationships, specifically sexual relations. Paul’s teaching contrasted with the majority opinion in Corinth—kind of like today!  It has been said, if Paul lived in our day we’d be getting a letter!

Whether single or married, we must live devoted to the Lord. God’s design for marriage is to glorify Him and the two who become one under His care.  Paul also points out advantages of being unmarried.  That is all.  To glorify God with all that we are while seeking His purposes and walking in His ways that honor God is what Paul is teaching.  God—above all and in all—nothing less. 

Paul is speaking to a very sinful society in Corinth who treats sex as amusement for merely self-satisfaction.  This lifestyle was abusive and degrading.  God created sex for our pleasure and for procreation within a certain context of marriage. Part of the “two becoming one” is in the intimacy of our sexual relationship with our spouse that consummates our devotion and commitment to leaving the old life with our mom and dad while becoming a new family beginning with two.  To have a relationship that honors God and each other who have given themselves in marriage—“the two becoming one”—is God’s plan for our best. 

Paul explains that singleness can also honor God.  To be married or single with each having benefits all their own is not the point, the point is to commit first to God by repenting of all our sins to Jesus.  Allow God’s Holy Spirit to guide us to what is best for us as God knows what we need most.

1 Corinthians 7, The Message

To Be Married, to Be Single . . .

7 Now, getting down to the questions you asked in your letter to me. First, Is it a good thing to have sexual relations?

^2-6 Certainly—but only within a certain context. It’s good for a man to have a wife, and for a woman to have a husband. Sexual drives are strong, but marriage is strong enough to contain them and provide for a balanced and fulfilling sexual life in a world of sexual disorder. The marriage bed must be a place of mutuality—the husband seeking to satisfy his wife, the wife seeking to satisfy her husband. Marriage is not a place to “stand up for your rights.” Marriage is a decision to serve the other, whether in bed or out. Abstaining from sex is permissible for a period of time if you both agree to it, and if it’s for the purposes of prayer and fasting—but only for such times. Then come back together again. Satan has an ingenious way of tempting us when we least expect it. I’m not, understand, commanding these periods of abstinence—only providing my best counsel if you should choose them.

⁷ Sometimes I wish everyone were single like me—a simpler life in many ways! But celibacy is not for everyone any more than marriage is. God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of the married life to others.

^8-9 I do, though, tell the unmarried and widows that singleness might well be the best thing for them, as it has been for me. But if they can’t manage their desires and emotions, they should by all means go ahead and get married. The difficulties of marriage are preferable by far to a sexually tortured life as a single.

^10-11 And if you are married, stay married. This is the Master’s command, not mine. If a wife should leave her husband, she must either remain single or else come back and make things right with him. And a husband has no right to get rid of his wife.

^12-14 For the rest of you who are in mixed marriages—Christian married to non-Christian—we have no explicit command from the Master. So this is what you must do. If you are a man with a wife who is not a believer but who still wants to live with you, hold on to her. If you are a woman with a husband who is not a believer but he wants to live with you, hold on to him. The unbelieving husband shares to an extent in the holiness of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is likewise touched by the holiness of her husband. Otherwise, your children would be left out; as it is, they also are included in the spiritual purposes of God.

^15-16 On the other hand, if the unbelieving spouse walks out, you’ve got to let him or her go. You don’t have to hold on desperately. God has called us to make the best of it, as peacefully as we can. You never know, wife: The way you handle this might bring your husband not only back to you but to God. You never know, husband: The way you handle this might bring your wife not only back to you but to God.

¹⁷ And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. God, not your marital status, defines your life. Don’t think I’m being harder on you than on the others. I give this same counsel in all the churches.

^18-19 Were you Jewish at the time God called you? Don’t try to remove the evidence. Were you non-Jewish at the time of your call? Don’t become a Jew. Being Jewish isn’t the point. The really important thing is obeying God’s call, following his commands.

^20-22 Stay where you were when God called your name. Were you a slave? Slavery is no roadblock to obeying and believing. I don’t mean you’re stuck and can’t leave. If you have a chance at freedom, go ahead and take it. I’m simply trying to point out that under your new Master you’re going to experience a marvelous freedom you would never have dreamed of. On the other hand, if you were free when Christ called you, you’ll experience a delightful “enslavement to God” you would never have dreamed of.

^23-24 All of you, slave and free both, were once held hostage in a sinful society. Then a huge sum was paid out for your ransom. So please don’t, out of old habit, slip back into being or doing what everyone else tells you. Friends, stay where you were called to be. God is there. Hold the high ground with him at your side.

^25-28 The Master did not give explicit direction regarding virgins, but as one much experienced in the mercy of the Master and loyal to him all the way, you can trust my counsel. Because of the current pressures on us from all sides, I think it would probably be best to stay just as you are. Are you married? Stay married. Are you unmarried? Don’t get married. But there’s certainly no sin in getting married, whether you’re a virgin or not. All I am saying is that when you marry, you take on additional stress in an already stressful time, and I want to spare you if possible.

^29-31 I do want to point out, friends, that time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don’t complicate your lives unnecessarily. Keep it simple—in marriage, grief, joy, whatever. Even in ordinary things—your daily routines of shopping, and so on. Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is fading away.

^32-35 I want you to live as free of complications as possible. When you’re unmarried, you’re free to concentrate on simply pleasing the Master. Marriage involves you in all the nuts and bolts of domestic life and in wanting to please your spouse, leading to so many more demands on your attention. The time and energy that married people spend on caring for and nurturing each other, the unmarried can spend in becoming whole and holy instruments of God. I’m trying to be helpful and make it as easy as possible for you, not make things harder. All I want is for you to be able to develop a way of life in which you can spend plenty of time together with the Master without a lot of distractions.

^36-38 If a man has a woman friend to whom he is loyal but never intended to marry, having decided to serve God as a “single,” and then changes his mind, deciding he should marry her, he should go ahead and marry. It’s no sin; it’s not even a “step down” from celibacy, as some say. On the other hand, if a man is comfortable in his decision for a single life in service to God and it’s entirely his own conviction and not imposed on him by others, he ought to stick with it. Marriage is spiritually and morally right and not inferior to singleness in any way, although as I indicated earlier, because of the times we live in, I do have pastoral reasons for encouraging singleness.

^39-40 A wife must stay with her husband as long as he lives. If he dies, she is free to marry anyone she chooses. She will, of course, want to marry a believer and have the blessing of the Master. By now you know that I think she’ll be better off staying single. The Master, in my opinion, thinks so, too.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Whether to be single or to be married, the goal is to honor God with your very lives by believing in Jesus as Savior and obeying Him as Lord of our lives.

As in all things, the spiritual must govern the physical; for our bodies are God’s temples. Paul is encouraging Christian partners to be “in tune” with each other in matters both spiritual and physical.

Not only did the church ask about celibacy, but they also asked Paul about divorce. Since Jesus had dealt with this question, Paul cited his teaching: Husbands and wives are not to divorce each other. If divorce does occur, the parties should remain unmarried or seek reconciliation.

Scripture does not teach that the unsaved partner is saved because of the believing mate, since each person must individually decide for Christ. Rather, it means that the believer exerts a spiritual influence in the home that can lead to the salvation of the lost partner.

The principle that Paul laid down was this: Even though Christians are all one in Christ, each believer should remain in the same calling he was in when the Lord saved him.  We are prone to think that a change in circumstances is always the answer to a problem. But the problem is usually within us and not around us. The heart of every problem is the problem in the heart.

Unmarried believers who feel a call to serve God should examine their own hearts to see if marriage will help or hinder their ministry. They must also be careful to marry spouses who feel a similar call to serve God. Each person has his own gifts and calling from God and must be obedient to His Word.

God designed marriage to be for life. For this reason, marriage must be built on something sturdier than good looks, money, romantic excitement, and social acceptance. There must be Christian commitment, character, and maturity. There must be a willingness to grow, to learn from each other, to forgive and forget, to minister to one another. The kind of love Paul described in 1 Corinthians 13 is what is needed to cement two lives together.

Lord,

Whether single or married, our commitment for life must first begin with you.  With you all things come together for good for only you are good.  Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls with your new mercies, and restore the joy and peace of you in us and us in you.  When we realize the depth of love you have for us, we love each other more deeply—by your design.  Thank you, Lord.

In Jesus Name, Amen

“You have heard it said, but I say to you…”  Jesus began many statements of Truth in this manner to a world of people who had lost their way.  Many were confused by the pompous, arrogant elite religious leaders who had allowed all things of the world to be included in their lives of faith.  These leaders’ faith was found to be shallow at best because they no longer had a relationship with God.  They wanted power over people in a Roman world of oppression.  They “played to the Romans” and oppressed their own brothers and sisters in God’s family!

These leaders used God as a stepping stone to higher positions in the community. In a sense, the sought to be God and we know how that attitude is dealt with by God!  Satan was thrown out of heaven because of his goal to be God!  This same attitude led these arrogant leaders to assume being “in charge” of the behaviors of God’s people, setting themselves up as judge and jury.  God’s Law was meant to protect people from each other in a peace filled environment so that God’s love could be reciprocated. Love God, Love each other.  Jesus said all other laws of God pertained to and were built upon love for God and for each other!

But the religious elite didn’t agree and had the audacity to create many addendums to the law with one purpose in mind—to control God’s people with heavy burdens with fines and punishments in order to line their pockets.  After all, doesn’t money bring power and position? 

Jesus demonstrated to the world God’s Kingdom thinking that turned the world upside down and inside out! Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, to heal and forgive, and to help people understand the compassion, love, mercy, and grace of God who seeks an intimate growing relationship with His people once more.  Jesus is Truth who demonstrated authentic faith by living the real Way God intended for His people to live.

Paul, who has turned from the sins of being one of those religious elites, to being a believer and follower of Jesus has been sent by Him to clarify again the ways of God that produces in us what money cannot buy—redemption and forgiveness of sins by Jesus’ work on the cross—the pure grace of God.  God paid the high price for our souls by giving us Jesus, His Son, who sacrificed His life for ours.

Who are we to turn down the gift of Life eternal?  Who turns down a forever, unchanging love of God?  Who wants to be free from the world while living in the world?  And who are we to abuse our bodies given to God, His temple, in which He resides?

Yes, Paul has hit a nerve with Truth.

1 Corinthians 6, The Message

^1-4 And how dare you take each other to court! When you think you have been wronged, does it make any sense to go before a court that knows nothing of God’s ways instead of a family of Christians? The day is coming when the world is going to stand before a jury made up of followers of Jesus. If someday you are going to rule on the world’s fate, wouldn’t it be a good idea to practice on some of these smaller cases? Why, we’re even going to judge angels! So why not these everyday affairs? As these disagreements and wrongs surface, why would you ever entrust them to the judgment of people you don’t trust in any other way?

^5-6 I say this as bluntly as I can to wake you up to the stupidity of what you’re doing. Is it possible that there isn’t one levelheaded person among you who can make fair decisions when disagreements and disputes come up? I don’t believe it. And here you are taking each other to court before people who don’t even believe in God! How can they render justice if they don’t believe in the God of justice?

^7-8 These court cases are a black eye on your community. Wouldn’t it be far better to just take it, to let yourselves be wronged and forget it? All you’re doing is providing fuel for more wrong, more injustice, bringing more hurt to the people of your own spiritual family.

^9-11 Don’t you realize that this is not the way to live? Unjust people who don’t care about God will not be joining in his kingdom. Those who use and abuse each other, use and abuse sex, use and abuse the earth and everything in it, don’t qualify as citizens in God’s kingdom. A number of you know from experience what I’m talking about, for not so long ago you were on that list. Since then, you’ve been cleaned up and given a fresh start by Jesus, our Master, our Messiah, and by our God present in us, the Spirit.

¹² Just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean that it’s spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I’d be a slave to my whims.

¹³ You know the old saying, “First you eat to live, and then you live to eat”? Well, it may be true that the body is only a temporary thing, but that’s no excuse for stuffing your body with food, or indulging it with sex. Since the Master honors you with a body, honor him with your body!

^14-15 God honored the Master’s body by raising it from the grave. He’ll treat yours with the same resurrection power. Until that time, remember that your bodies are created with the same dignity as the Master’s body. You wouldn’t take the Master’s body off to a whorehouse, would you? I should hope not.

^16-20 There’s more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, “The two become one.” Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never “become one.” There is a sense in which sexual sins are different from all others. In sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love, for “becoming one” with another. Or didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.

Lord,

You don’t just want part of me, you want all of me.  My being is your sacred dwelling place!  My mind, heart, body and soul is your instrument of your love, mercy, and grace for others to see so they may believe, be saved and begin a glorious, intimate relationship of love that money cannot buy and humans have yet to duplicate.  You saved us by your blood spilled in sacrifice for our sins.  You laid down your life for mine.  You are all I need and all I want.  Jesus you are everything to me. God you are Healer, Protector, and Provider.  Holy Spirit, you are encourager, the guide to Truth with directions at each step on my journey here before going there.  Yes, I’m yours.  All of me for all of you.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

In Jesus Name, Amen

“Don’t judge, lest you be judge with the same measure.”  Jesus said it and we believe it.  But when we see our beloved believer live a life that is contrary God and what He says, as along with evidence that their lives are hurting them and others; it breaks our hearts and we cannot ignore it. There is a fine line between judging each other and caring enough to confront each other. 

The love of God in us has everything to do with knowing how to confront prayerfully and carefully.  We must pray for God’s wisdom in all of life but especially for His words to say to a brother or sister who are doing things that are hurtful.  It is not the goal to hinder another person’s faith but to help by come alongside beside them so they may thrive. God does the growing, but as Paul said earlier in his letter to the church in Corinth, we are His fieldhands who till the soil and waters the seedlings.

I am grateful for the loving people in my life who confronted me at pivotal times in my growing faith with God. Without them, I would have taken different paths and struggled longer and harder on my journey.  God put people in my life at just the right time to help me because I knew they loved me with the love of God.  They spoke God’s Truth in love.

So, The difference between judging and confronting has everything to do with our inner motives.

Judging is evaluating someone simply by how they appear to your first impression of them.  Thinking you have the right to judge because of position and rank is dangerous.  Coming to a conclusion about someone without reasonable evidence is judging.  Arrogantly setting people up to fail by your measuring stick of behavior, expecting others to be like you in all their ways, is judging.

Confronting is watching one you love walk to the edge of a dangerous cliff.  Your heart skips a beat in fear for them.  Your first thought and goal are to reach out to grab their hand before they slip and fall because you love them!  Confronting is loving and caring enough to help them see how much God loves them and wants His best for them.  Careful and prayerful confrontation, with God helping us, could save a brother or sister’s life!

1 Corinthians 5, The Message

The Mystery of Sex

^1-2 I also received a report of scandalous sex within your church family, a kind that wouldn’t be tolerated even outside the church: One of your men is sleeping with his stepmother. And you’re so above it all that it doesn’t even faze you! Shouldn’t this break your hearts? Shouldn’t it bring you to your knees in tears? Shouldn’t this person and his conduct be confronted and dealt with?

^3-5 I’ll tell you what I would do. Even though I’m not there in person, consider me right there with you, because I can fully see what’s going on. I’m telling you that this is wrong. You must not simply look the other way and hope it goes away on its own. Bring it out in the open and deal with it in the authority of Jesus our Master. Assemble the community—I’ll be present in spirit with you and our Master Jesus will be present in power. Hold this man’s conduct up to public scrutiny. Let him defend it if he can! But if he can’t, then out with him! It will be totally devastating to him, of course, and embarrassing to you. But better devastation and embarrassment than damnation. You want him on his feet and forgiven before the Master on the Day of Judgment.

^6-8 Your flip and callous arrogance in these things bothers me. You pass it off as a small thing, but it’s anything but that. Yeast, too, is a “small thing,” but it works its way through a whole batch of bread dough pretty fast. So get rid of this “yeast.” Our true identity is flat and plain, not puffed up with the wrong kind of ingredient. The Messiah, our Passover Lamb, has already been sacrificed for the Passover meal, and we are the Unraised Bread part of the Feast. So let’s live out our part in the Feast, not as raised bread swollen with the yeast of evil, but as flat bread—simple, genuine, unpretentious.

^9-13 I wrote you in my earlier letter that you shouldn’t make yourselves at home among the sexually promiscuous. I didn’t mean that you should have nothing at all to do with outsiders of that sort. Or with criminals, whether blue- or white-collar. Or with spiritual phonies, for that matter. You’d have to leave the world entirely to do that! But I am saying that you shouldn’t act as if everything is just fine when a friend who claims to be a Christian is promiscuous or crooked, is flip with God or rude to friends, gets drunk or becomes greedy and predatory. You can’t just go along with this, treating it as acceptable behavior. I’m not responsible for what the outsiders do, but don’t we have some responsibility for those within our community of believers? God decides on the outsiders, but we need to decide when our brothers and sisters are out of line and, if necessary, clean house.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

When God leads us to confront a brother or sister in Christ, we can be sure His Holy Spirit will give us the tender words of compassionate correction delivered in His love in the Name of Jesus.  But prayer comes first.  Pray for wisdom. Pray for opportunity. Pray diligently for the person you are about to confront to be receptive to the love you have for them. Pray for our motivations to be “simple, genuine, unpretentious” wanting only what God wants in this person’s life—His best!

Judge less—love more.  Confront more with love and care, ignore less. 

I am reminded of my teaching days. I cared greatly for each child in my classroom and prayed for them daily.  My desire was for each child to succeed at their rate of learning in the best way possible.  My work as their teacher was to provide a safe, loving, accepting, and caring environment for learning and maturing to happen.  But what if I never confronted or corrected them when that environment was threatened by their behaviors?  What if I never helped them with what I was taught through some of the tests of life they would endure?

TESTS—we all have them.  Caring people will help us learn from them.  And God cares the most!

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4

EXAMPLE: Consider the spelling lesson.  As students we all had the weekly list of words to learn to spell with the phonics and grammar lessons that accompanied each word, right?  What if the teacher put the list on the screen and said, “Well, here’s some more words that will help you learn about life.  Study them however you want in whatever way you want.  Do that this week, but not to worry, I have decided that there will be no test on Friday.

Question:  How many of us as students would be disciplined enough to bother to study what we needed to know—knowing there would never be anyone who cared enough to evaluate, confront, and correct our learning? Mm…not many.

Be simple, genuine, unpretentious.  Trials and tests grow our faith.  Evaluation of our behaviors through confrontation by others who have already been tested and have learned well and love greatly are a must!

Paul is one who cares enough to confront because of His love for God and His church.  Paul never permitted sexually immoral behavior in the church. The environment for learning and growing in Christ as His Body was threatened and no longer safe. Yet he remained compassionate when dealing with people.  Our bodies are God’s instruments, intended for his work and for his glory.  The Corinthian Christians had serious trouble with this. When it came to the body, they insisted, “I have the right to do anything.” Their philosophy conveniently separated flesh from spirit. Have fun with the flesh. Honor God with the spirit. Wild Saturdays. Worshipful Sundays. You can have it all.

Paul disagreed because this was not of God. He cared enough to confront and reminded his brothers and sisters that God interwove body with soul, elevating them to equal status. Your body is no toy. Quite the contrary. Your body is a tool. “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?”

Greater still, Jesus lives in you and me. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you” (1Corinthinas 6:19). Paul wrote these words to counter the Corinthian sex obsession. “Flee from sexual immorality,” reads the prior sentence. “All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.”  What a salmon Scripture! No message swims more upstream than this one. You know the sexual anthem of our day: “I’ll do what I want. It’s my body.”

God’s firm response? “No, it’s not. It’s mine.”

Lord,

You are my God and I am your beloved.  What a pure, holy relationship that you have provided by paying the price to redeem us from the world and give us Life forever.  You gave us a life attached to you.  You are the One to cling to on this journey of tests and trials along with the gifts of joy and peace!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

In Jesus Name, Amen