Reminded

DEVOTION

1 CORINTHIANS

REMINDED

1 Cor 4:14-17

14 I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. 15 Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17 For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

NIV

And not we see there are two ways of life that believers seem to participate in. There is the life in which it would seem the Corinthian poeple were indulging in and the way in which Paul was living. He was in fact warning them of their style of Christianity and telling them they should be living in the manner he is. What are we to discover in this contrast between their life and his? It would seem from what we have seen so far, their life style was not that much different than when they lived in ignorance of the Gospel. We certainly know Paul underwent a most drastic change from being a persecutor of the Church to being an apostle of the church, instead of spending all his efforts trying to destroy believers, he now spends all his efforts building the church, sharing the Gospel, and continuing to encourage, instruct and correct those believers God has empowered him to bring to Christ. It might serve us well to take some of this truth to our own way of life. Do we spend most of our time and efforts on the pursuit of our own style of Christianity, that is to say, pursuing our own goals, ambitions, happiness, thinking we only need ask God for whatever we want for our own self needs, and He, like a genie in the lamp, fulfills our every request? Or do we spent our energies in the pursuit of His will for us, seeking His calling on our life and how we are to live in order to be a benefit to the Kingdom God? We see that Paul is sending Timothy to remind them of the right way to live in Christ Jesus; so in fact, we know they were living the wrong way. Who will remind us? Has God sent anyone to instruct us in the right way to live in Christ? Do we pay any attention to that instruction? Or are we so steeped in our own brand of Christianity that we cannot hear the truth? Perhaps it is not a matter of imitating Paul, but rather a matter of imitating Christ. Can we live in the way of Christ and the way of the world at the same time? Can we serve both God and money? How did Christ live? How did Paul live? How do we live? Are we reminded?

Embraced

DEVOTION

1 CORINTHIANS

EMBRACED

1 Cor 4:8-13

8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings — and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you! 9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. 10 We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! 11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

NIV

It would seem that there is some difference between accepting Jesus and following Jesus. We might think that those in Corinth surely had accepted Christ, but by the tone of what Paul is saying here, it would appear he was letting them know that he was following Christ and that as such life was different. Is there such a thing accepting Christ, but living as kings in the ways of the world? Oh we say God is blessing us with so much, he desires that we live as children of a King. But what about Paul and the other apostles, didn’t God what then to live like children of a King? Why does Paul feel like he is the lowest member of the totem pole? He compares himself to them is so many ways, each making them far better off them him, or could this be a bit of sarcasm? Are they living far too much in the ways of the world and are accepted by the world being considered as no threat to them at all, while all that Paul is and says is nothing but a treat to those who refuse and or despise Christ? That sure brings it home to us with the same force. Are we living so much like the world that it has no problem embracing us as one of its own? Or does it even know that we are not one of its own, but that we belong to Christ? Do we live to influence the world, or have we been influenced by it? Have we infiltrated the thinking of the world with the Gospel or have we allowed the world to infiltrate out thinking. Are we trying to show the world the love of God by just doing humanistic things, that any unbeliever can also do, or are we speaking out, living out loud, telling them they need to be born again or they are going to hell? Do we tell them that God loved them so much He sent His only Son to die on the cross for their sin and they need to repent and accept Him as their Lord and Savior or do we think they will just see how different we are and ask why, especially when we are no different. Oh sure maybe some of us do not smoke, drink adult beverages, go to movies, or do not dance, or use foul language, but does that actually make us different? It is not what we do not do, but what we think, say and do which makes us different, and if we are actually following Christ then perhaps the world would see our difference and not like us so much, as those who despise Christ would despise us as well. So who do we embrace, God or the world, and who does the world embrace, us?

Who's Boasting

DEVOTION

1 CORINTHIANS

WHO’S BOASTING

1 Cor 4:6-7

6 Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. 7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

NIV

It is certainly true that some men might think that God has spoken directly to them rather than sticking to what has already been recorded of what He said. There must have been a few of these men in Corinth who were puffed up all over themselves regarding what they thought was there great knowledge of the Gospel. They surely must have thought themselves better than the rest and were even boastful about it. Paul was telling them that any knowledge they had of the Gospel came from him because as an Apostle, he heard directly from God and told them, but they were boasting as though they had not received that knowledge from him, but rather directly from God. It would seem not much has changed in the church. Some men have gone beyond what is written and created their own form of the Gospel message adding all sorts of rules and regulations which are imposed on others. It is true, that not all think of themselves as better than those they impose those added features of the Gospel on, but there surely is a significant number of them. It would do us all good to recognize that we all have the Spirit of God to lead us all into all truth, which is course what already has been written. “There is nothing but the truth, so help us God”. We have but one mediator between us and God and that is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We should not make any man greater the Jesus, nor should we ever think that we are greater than any man, or that any man is greater than us. We have all received the same truth from the mouth of God, recorded and saved through the ages for our benefit to be able to know the way of salvation. No other man has any additional truth to be added to the Gospel. If men preach, teach or write about any supposed truth which is not expressly declared in the Word of God, they surely are among those who think more of themselves then they should, boasting in self rather than God. We need to always be aware the truth is the truth and we all have the knowledge of the truth because we all have the Spirit and thus we all are the same as everyone else. We all are saved by grace and not of any works, skill, talent, knowledge, education, or wisdom, lest anyone of us boast about anything other than Christ. 

For Men or God

DEVOTION

1 CORINTHIANS

FOR MEN OR GOD

1 Cor 4:1-5

4:1 So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

NIV

Are there two classes of people? Those entrusted with the secrets of God and those who are not? Who is the ‘us’ that Paul in talking about, just him and Apollos or all of us that men should consider as servants of Christ? Does the Spirit of God divulge more secrets to just a few men then what he does to all followers of Christ? It would appear this might be the case, but then it may not be the case also. Do not we all have to be proved faithful? Are we not all required to have a faithful heart? True, just as Paul, we may not be innocent, totally free from all sin, but if it is our desire to follow Christ, if we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and thus have had our sins covered by His blood, we can have a clear conscience. If we sit around all day trying to judge other peoples motives or actions, it is purely a waste of time for of what value is the judgment of the human court, the human mind? We are told here that even Paul does not judge himself, but leaves that up to God. We should be careful then about wondering what is to be judged and what is not. It should be clear that it is the motives of our hearts which is what is hidden in the darkness. As Paul might have been speaking about those men who preach, teach and write words giving instructions to others as to how to live might be doing it with motives of personal gain, recognition, and for the praise of men, it also applies to all of us. Why do we do anything for the Kingdom of God? Why do we serve in any capacity within the Body of Christ? Why are we Sunday school teachers, small group leaders, ushers, choir members, instrumentalists, greeters, audio-visual workers, board members, or any other place of service? Why do we serve? Is it for the praise of men or for the praise from God? Maybe we should not even judge that for ourselves, but leave that up to God to judge. Yet it does raise the question as to the motives of our hearts. We do have to make sure we do not mistake this for God judging every single behavior of our lives, for that would be Him judging our sin, which has been forgiven and covered by the blood of Christ. But He is judging the motives of our heart as to why we serve Him. If our conscience is clear, and our motives for serving Him are out of our love for Him them surely we will receive praise from God. We well here those words, “Enter in, my good and faithful servant”. But if what we do is for the praise of men, well then “Here comes the Judge”. 

Just Give Me Jesus

DEVOTION

1 CORINTHIANS

JUST GIVE ME JESUS

1 Cor 3:18-23

18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness"; 20 and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."   21 So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future — all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

NIV

Once again, let us not base our faith on the personality of some pastor or preacher or for that matter on any denominational set of rules for that would a futile thing. Whatever the mind of man, no matter how intelligent it might sound, determines as a wise and noble thing, is but foolish to God. It appears that man will always get catch in his own trap of wisdom. Whenever we make who we think is some great pastor, teacher, evangelist, author out to be our favorite source of truth because of his particular style, we have fallen into that same trap. Whenever one of those people, the pastors, teachers, evangelists and authors think they are some great source of truth, they are for sure but a fool for thinking they have any wisdom at all. Not one of them or us can ever have the wisdom we think we have. In speaking about the wisdom of the world, there is none. After all science is nothing more than man discovering what God has established in His creation of all things. If man thinks for one minute that all this is, including all of us, has nothing to do with God, then the all the wisdom of those thinkers, is just a bunch of foolish thoughts, children trying to deny they have a parent. It is like so many movies Hollywood made with the children being the leading roles, making all their own life choices, and some distant obscure parent playing in the background. No, we are to live not by that kind of wisdom. We are not to live following the wisdom of those who think they know the truth, both the world’s truth and the truth of God. We are not to make any man our mediator between us and the truth of God, for we are of Christ. Now, of course, some man might say or write something which causes us to think in a certain way, or see some truth about God, but we should not make that man anything more than what he is, a man. All truth is ours because we all have the Spirit of God dwelling within us. We are all members of Christ’s body with Him being the head. Each of us has the Spirit to guide us into all truths. We do not need any of the wisdom of this age, we only need Jesus. Just give me Jesus.

His Temple

DEVOTION

1 CORINTHIANS

HIS TEMPLE

1 Cor 3:16-17

16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

NIV

We are the temple of God. No longer is there any need for a temple of stone and gold for God does not need that type of temple to signify the place that He dwells for He has us now. It is difficult to understand the reason some still feel the need to have such an elaborate edifice for a place of worship? Do they think the greater the building the more it represents the presence of God? Instead of joining in this kind of temple building, we should be very aware of the building of our spirits, as a fitting place for the Spirit to live in. Surely those temples, or churches of stone and gold can be destroyed by a variety of nature elements, tornados, hurricanes, fire, floods or even a great wrecking ball made with the hands of man. But how can we destroy our temple which is made of flesh and blood, which houses our spirit which the Spirit resides in? It would seem the way to destroy the temple, us, would be to corrupt it with so much sin, it would be unfit for the Spirit to dwell in. Can both sin and the Spirit of God dwell in the same temple? Surely we know that those who have refused to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior have also refused to allow God’s Spirit to dwell in them, and they are living in the state of sin and therefore have already destroyed any temple they might have, and we know that someday they will be destroyed. But what about us, we who have accepted Jesus, can we destroy our temple? We know that we cannot be perfectly free of all personal sin, yet we are free of that original sin, Adam left of us with, due to the fact we have been washed in the blood of Christ. So if we remain in Christ, then we, God’s temple, are fit for the Spirit to dwell in. It would seem the only way to destroy this temple would be to walk away completely, turning our back on God, denouncing any faith in Him at all. That would surely bring about complete destruction. Yet, if we allow this personal kind of sin to grow within us and do nothing the put a stop to it, then could we be in danger of not being  fit as His temple? If we recognize this sin, and refuse to repent, accepting it as part of being human, would that put us in danger? And we are not talking about grievous sins like murder, stealing, or adultery, but the little well hidden sins of jealously, envy, bitterness, unforgiveness, gossip, greed, self-centeredness, pride and the like. Could these gone unchecked make us unfit for the Spirit of God to dwell within? Could these cause destruction of the temple? We must remember we are sacred, God has set us apart for His purpose and He has given us His Spirit to teach us and guide us in all truth. We cannot afford to be anything less than His Temple.

Master Builders

DEVOTION

1 CORINTHIANS

MASTER BUILDERS

1 Cor 3:10-15

10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

NIV

If this is not a warning about those fancy tongued preachers who use God to build an empire of fancy homes, cars, churches, and other forms of wealth, living in extravagance and excess, what is? Surely us common folks are not among the people spoken about here. Paul was speaking about the others who had visited Corinth and were out evangelizing as he was, but it seems some of them were out for their own benefit rather than for the benefit of the Kingdom of God.  Here is where we come in and can find some truth for our lives. Maybe we are not out preaching the Gospel for personal gain, adding to or changing the message of Jesus Christ, but are we living as a believer for the purpose to benefit the Kingdom of God or living to see how the Kingdom of God is benefiting us? What this means is simply from what perceptive do we approve our daily life? When we pray, do we pray for our own needs, or for the will of God to be done in our life? Sure God told us to bring all our requests to Him. Yes, Jesus said to ask anything in His name and the Father would give it to us. We can find all sorts of scriptures which tell us God will provide all sorts of things for us, but still that seems sort of a self-orientated way to live, doesn't it? Should we not be concerned about building the Kingdom of God, being a benefit to God, giving back all we are to Him? Sure, God does not need anything, He is God, but what is this reward for the quality of our work building on the foundation of Jesus Christ?  We are to be master builders, building on nothing but the foundation of Jesus Christ Crucified. Maybe all these denominational doctrines, rules and regulations, are what is spoken about here. Maybe some have indeed added to Jesus, as such building with gold, silver, stone, wood, and hay, which are all those rules and regulations. Maybe we simply need to see the truth of the Gospel message, Jesus saves. Once we were lost but now we are found. Is there anything else which needs to be said? So let us live as believers, being builders of the Kingdom of God, not using the Kingdom to build our little empires of self-centered desires. Let us be master builders.