Category: 1 Corinthians

Waves (James 1)

James 1:6 NIV “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”

A few weeks ago, in the midst of some very big “asks” with the Lord, this verse stayed top of mind for a few weeks.  The New King James translates it as “… let him ask in faith, with no doubting…” and the root word for what the NIV calls “believe” and what the NKJV calls “faith” is pistis.  I’ve written about this word a few times, the most recent being Faith & Doubt (Mark 11) and Faith: What is it? so I won’t expound on it here.

I’ve really begun to look deeper into the example James uses.  What are the characteristics of waves and how do they apply here and to my life?  How do they describe the state of my being when I doubt?  Carrying the example out, how does believing make me less like a wave?

Waves Are Random

When I say “a wave”, what do you see when you close your eyes?  Most of us see some sort of wave on a body of water.  That’s about as much similarity as we can state.  Wikipedia has a fairly extensive discussion on the many types of waves and forms of waves across all types of mediums (water, sound, light, etc…)  You can read it here.  Let’s keep the discussion of waves in context of waves on a body of water.  Even with that, there are no clear definitions of what a wave looks like.  They have a pseudo-form, but can vary greatly from a slight series of rings that ripple out from a small pebble tossed in a very still pond, to a 20-foot (or greater), life-threatening whitecaps out on the ocean.  Both are waves.  While I assume there is a technically a definite beginning and end of a wave, it is clearly not easy to accurately identify for the casual observer.  The one constant is that they freely move up and down, back and forth, in and out, and constantly change shapes – often times spilling out or falling over (as in a whitecap).

When I doubt, I am like a wave.  I am not clearly defined and morph and change with the pressures and obstacles of life.  But when I believe – when I ask in faith – I am fortified to stand firm – with definition of who I am in Christ and more importantly, who Christ is in me.

1 Corinthians 16:13 NLT “Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.”

2 Corinthians 1:21 NLT “It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ.”

When I believe – when I ask in faith – I am positioned and permanent to display Christ in me.

Waves Are Reactive

Waves exist because of a reaction to something else – some outside force – be that an object, the wind, a current, a shift in it’s foundation (i.e. an earthquake).  The height, shape, speed, spread, and intensity of the wave is determined by the force acted upon it.  Waves are a reaction to the world around it.

When I ask in faith – when I believe and not doubt – I am confident in God’s plan and not reactive to the world around me because I know who He is and that His heart is for me.

Jeremiah 2:11-12 NKJV “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.”

When I believe – when I ask in faith – I am purposed and peaceful and not moved by the world around me.

Waves are Running

Waves are always moving from point to point – constantly moving and being moved by the forces around them.

When I doubt – I too am constantly seeking and constantly moving – looking for an answer, looking for relief, looking for some way out or away from whatever I’m reacting to.  This is not God’ s plan.  I’m to ask in faith.  I’m to learn to be confident and trust in His will for me.

Psalms 37:5-9  

5 Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you.
6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
7 Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.
8 Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper— it only leads to harm.
9 For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the LORD will possess the land.

When I believe – when I ask in faith – I am planted in God’s peace and power and can rest in who He is

Ask in faith.  Do not doubt.

Running After Papa…

A New Blessing

On my runs for the last couple of weeks, God’s been working on a blessing that I’ve been speaking and praying over myself and my family.

It started a few weeks ago when I was praying for Kayla and her studies at college. It’s been weird having her away this year.  In praying for her, I began to pray for her studies and tests, and God began to take me down a road of remembering all the words I’ve spoken over my own life… such as – “I can’t ever remember anything!” I believe that our spoken words have power and they have the potential to plant in fertile soil and take root and grow – regardless if it’s a good word or a bad word.  As those words are planted and reinforced, that crop begins to grow and manifest in our lives.  (See one of my earlier posts, “Overcoming – Updated (Rev 12:11)” to read about the power of our words).

Given that, I prayed against the curses I’d spoken over my life and began to pray the opposite and over the last few weeks, God has transformed it into a blessing I (A.) want to document and (B.) want to share.  I originally was praying it over my kids and their studies, but God soon showed it was applicable to all of life – jobs, friends, school, studies, relationships, encouraging others, ministry, comforting others, etc.

I began to think about our minds and Christ’s mind.  Because Jesus was a perfect man, he had a perfect mind – uncluttered with the world, unadulterated by sin, and free to perform perfectly.  Just as a curiosity… I wonder if he had a photographic memory?

A New Blessing

I speak over my family (by name) and I that we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16) according to Your Word; and with that mind, Lord, I pray and speak over us the ability to:

  • RECEIVE all the information presented to us.  Open our eyes to see the details, open our ears to hear that we receive everything clearly and without ambiguity all that is being communicated and transmitted and spoken and read. Let us also receive the context in which it is being communicated so that there is no confusion or misunderstanding.  Once we’ve RECEIVED the information Lord, I ask that we would be able to…
  • REASON (see dictionary.com) the truth from non-truth.  Let us actively engage our minds and spirits to know the truth of the information we’ve received, separating fact from fiction, truth from lies, blessings from curses.  Once we’ve REASONED the truth Lord, I ask that we…
  • RELATE truth to truth for a bigger view, larger context, greater vision, and expanded understanding of the truth.  Once we’ve RELATED the truth Lord, give us the ability to…
  • REMOVE the misinformation, the lies, the half-truths, curses, non-encouraging, trivial and non-important information we received so that we…
  • RETAIN the “good stuff” for the duration of its purpose – be that a test, a meeting, for a time and place of encouraging a friend, or for a lifetime of service and growth for your purpose.  At the appropriate time Lord, I ask that we have the ability to…
  • RECALL that information, that truth, that detail, whatever is needed and exactly when it is needed – instantaneously – for the purpose, time and reason we retained it.  And finally, when and if the need arises, give us the ability to
  • RECREATE the exact and specific details, context, and setting of the information received.  In Jesus’ name… Amen.

Running After Papa…

God was not taken by surprise…

Numbers 8:1-4 (NKJV)

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to Aaron, and say to him, ‘When you arrange the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.’ ” 3 And Aaron did so; he arranged the lamps to face toward the front of the lampstand, as the Lord commanded Moses. 4 Now this workmanship of the lampstand was hammered gold; from its shaft to its flowers it was hammered work. According to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.

It hit me today as I was reading this passage that the LORD knew every detail of how he wanted his tabernacle – every detail, from structure to the way the contents were arranged… hammered gold flower details on the lamp stands… where he wanted them to be located … how HE wanted them to be arranged.

The last half of v4 says “According to the pattern which the LORD had shown to Moses…”  So God had this all designed in every detail and then showed it to Moses at the appropriate time.

1 Cor 6:19 says that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. It is comforting to know that this Holy Spirit is the same God of the Old Testament who designed and arranged every detail of of the Mosaic temple. How much more does he want to design and arrange every detail of his new testament, post-crucifixion temple in you and me (Jer 29:11)?  If He was that attentive to every detail of the Tabernacle, he is still that attentive to every detail of my life, because he is the same God yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8) and He is incapable of change (Mal 3:6, James 1:16-18).

It is comforting to know, as a dear friend puts it, “God was not taken by surprise by this…” He already knows how whatever is going on is going to turn out.

It’s my job to be like Moses and spend time in His presence every day – getting my marching orders, receiving from Him how he wants to arrange the contents of my tabernacle, spending much time listening to Him and sharing what He has said with the people God has put in front of me.

Thank you Lord for authoring every detail of my life.  Thank you for not being surprised by the events that unfold each day.  Help me to hear you clearly – face to face – so that I might know how to arrange the articles of my temple and steward the plans you have made.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Running After Papa…

The unseen

I Cor 9:24-27 [Amplified]
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but [only] one receives the prize? So run [your race] that you may lay hold [of the prize] and make it yours.
25 Now every athlete who goes into training conducts himself temperately and restricts himself in all things. They do it to win a wreath that will soon wither, but we [do it to receive a crown of eternal blessedness] that cannot wither.
26 Therefore I do not run uncertainly (without definite aim). I do not box like one beating the air and striking without an adversary.
27 But [like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit].

I know this is a very familiar verse to most of us, but reading it in the amplified shed some new light, particularly a phrase in verse 25 “…and restricts himself in all things.”

All things? What does that really look like? There are, of course, the obvious things like (from an athletic training perspective) foods, drinks, wine, etc. But what about the not so obvious things? What about the obscure things? What about the unseen things? Such as one’s thought life… Am I restricting myself in my negative talk? Am I restricting myself in judgment of others? Am I restricting myself in condemnation – self or otherwise? What about doubt? What about the opposite; am I psyching myself up too much?

Am I more focused on me and my abilities or shortcomings than I am on Him and His sufficiency?

Keep me in check today Lord. I submit the unseen to your discipline. I submit the seen to your discipline. Help me to always be ready to run whatever race you place before me.

The Glam Life of the Apostle

1 Cor 4:9-16 NLT
9 Instead, I sometimes think God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor’s parade, condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world—to people and angels alike.  10 Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed. 11 Even now we go hungry and thirsty, and we don’t have enough clothes to keep warm. We are often beaten and have no home. 12 We work wearily with our own hands to earn our living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who abuse us. 13 We appeal gently when evil things are said about us. Yet we are treated like the world’s garbage, like everybody’s trash—right up to the present moment.  14 I am not writing these things to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children. 15 For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. For I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you. 16 So I urge you to imitate me.

Yeah… right!

Be like you? What does that list include again?

– Become a spectacle before the world.
– Look like a fool because of my dedication to Christ.
– Be weak
– Be ridiculed
– Go hungry & thirsty with not enough clothes to keep warm
– Be beaten and have no home.
– Bless those who curse me
– Patiently be abused by others
– Appeal gently to those who talk trash about me
– Be treated as the world’s garbage

OK. That’s the glam life of the apostle. I’ve got a long way to go. Even in thinking about how that applies to my life today and what that would actually look like in my life, I don’t want to go there or be that. I fear that is a tale-tale sign of an issue in my heart I may need to deal with.

If I’m truly living out Galatians 2:20, then I am going to be OK with being any and all of that list. My reluctance shows part of ME is still alive somewhere and deceiving me to believe that I’m all dead and Christ is alive in me.

Shine your light Holy Spirit and reveal any part of my heart that needs correction and/or confession.

Right Now

I Cor 3:-15 NKJV
9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Jesus is the Foundation (this in itself is something I want to do a word study on – Foundation).

Verse 12 caught me off guard… “… if anyone builds on this foundation…”. IF? How does one not build on the Foundation of Christ (assuming we’re talking about believers). The rest of the verse goes on to say that IF we build, it could be out of a varied and assortment of materials… each of which will be tested by fire.

But I go back to “if”… I’m a little unsettled, quite honestly and I’m not quite sure what to do with it.

Verse 15 says that if what I build on the foundation doesn’t survive the fire, I will suffer great loss, but will escape the fire. I wonder if the “great loss” is the realization of how much time I wasted, not building those things that would survive. The epiphany of all the “for not” time I could have been using to further His Kingdom, His Name and His renown? I think that would be a “great loss” in the end… to know how much more I could have done.

It reminds me of the end of Schindler’s List when Oscar Schindler, realizes that the gold ring he was wearing could have saved 1 or two more Jews from execution and the car he was driving could have saved more, and all of a sudden, he realized he could have done even more than he already did.

I don’t want that realization when it’s over, although it’s inevitable. As Richard says, the best time to have done it was 20 years ago. The next best time is right now.

Freedom in Parenting

Lot’s of stuff in 1 Cor 3 today. But before I start, a new aspect of yesterday’s journal caught my attention…

1 Cor 2:11-12 – continuing from yesterday….

No one knows God’s thoughts but His Spirit.
He has given me His Spirit, and thereby He reveals His thoughts to me.

Question: Am I trustworthy with God’s thoughts?

Measures of Spiritual Maturity
1 Cor 3:2-3

Paul says of the Corinthians “You are still not spiritual, because there is jealousy and quarreling among you, and this shows that you are not spiritual. You are acting like people of the world.”

When we are jealous and quarreling (such as my kids are doing) this shows spiritual immaturity and that jealousy and quarreling are controlled by the sinful nature (“… you are still carnal…” NKJV says).

Planting, Watering & Growing
1 Cor 3:5-8

I can plant. I can water. Both of those are my job. God and God alone is responsible for the growing. That is very freeing when I place it in the context of parenting. I am not responsible for the spiritual growth of my kids. All I can do is plant and water, plant and water… sow, sow, sow. Papa is responsible to make it grow. That’s very freeing.

There is lots more in chapter 3, but I’ll post about it later, because I want to do a deeper study on foundations.

The Mind of Christ

I Cor 2:10-13 (NIV)
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

Good grief. I have never thought about this. Check out verse 11 again… “…no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God…” and verse 12, “…we have…the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand…”

For example, I may be close to my wife. I may be the closest human being alive to her. I know her better than anyone, but I cannot read her mind. (No jokes please – yes it’s true that no man can read a woman’s mind). Only her spirit, knows what she is thinking. My spirit is only privy to my thoughts. My spirit cannot read anyone else’s thoughts, no matter what we see on TV.

Given that chain of logic, only God’s thoughts could be known by Him were it not part of His plan to deposit a part of His Spirit into each of us who have come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. When we make that profession of faith, and die to our selves, we get a filling of His Spirit whereby He can make known to us His thoughts!

Now when I read “..you have the mind of Christ…” just a few verses later (v16) it takes on a whole new meaning.

I forgot everything…

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

1 When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters,* I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan.* 2 For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. 4 And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. 5 I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.

Dang!!!  I wish I wouldn’t stop reading at the chapter breaks! This is a continuation of yesterday’s journal. Two statements of Paul’s stand out in these 5 verses. “… I decided that … I would forget everything except Jesus Christ…“ and in verse 4 “… I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit.“

What would my life look like if I forgot everything but Jesus Christ and relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit? (with my best Paulie impersonation…) “Oh my gosh!”

Here’s the key. It’s two words in verse 2. “… I decided…“ That is the key. It’s making a premeditated choice to respond and do “X” before the heat of the battle or the throw of temptation.

If I forget everything but Jesus, then that means I forget all about me… all my pride, my selfishness, my wants, my desires, my laziness, my lack of discipline, my busy-ness, and so on and so on. It means I forget all about tomorrow’s schedule, the demands of my job, cheer practice, scouts, sports, tv, (whatever) and I remember Jesus. I spend time with him. I let the Holy Spirit lead me, even through the events of my day – the difference being the attitude of my heart. I do it out of worship and devotion to Him and not out of guilt or duty to something else, or out of my own selfish desires.

I am deciding to forget everything except Jesus Christ and to rely only on the power of the Holy Spirit.

Lord, help me make the same decision tomorrow and the next day. Amen.

The Simple Truth of the Gospel

1 Cor 1:17-18 (Amplified Version)
17 For Christ (the Messiah) sent me out not to baptize but [to evangelize by] preaching the glad tidings (the Gospel), and that not with verbal eloquence, lest the cross of Christ should be deprived of force and emptied of its power and rendered vain (fruitless, void of value, and of no effect).
18 For the story and message of the cross is sheer absurdity and folly to those who are perishing and on their way to perdition, but to us who are being saved it is the [manifestation of] the power of God.

Having just returned from another Quest, it breaks my heart to see how hurt, how angry, how fearful and how deceived the Body of Christ is. These are the good guys. These are the church going folks. Their story is just like mine was almost 3 years ago. “The heart is more deceitful than all else, and is desperately sick. Who can understand it?” (Jer 17:9) I was just as jacked up because I didn’t really understand my own depravity and just what a cesspool that is before the Lord.

I wonder if our “verbal eloquence” has deprived the message of the Cross it’s power in the body of Christ? It’s no wonder the big-C Church is so jacked up. We’ve built denominations and churches and philosophies and beliefs on smooth talk, catchy quips, neat-o illustrations, and persuasive arguments.

The cross of Christ has lost it’s power in the church because not many are willing to speak the simple truth, the confronting truth, the uncomfortable truth, the absolute truth, the politically incorrect truth of God that shows our deceitful and desperately sick hearts, that only Father God can understand and heal. Too many people want to make it palatable and appealing to the masses. God help us.

Verses 18 -31 go on to explain that God’s ways are not our ways. God calls the wise through foolishness, the strong through weakness, the significant through insignificance, and the rich through poverty – in order that as Jer 9:24 states, “…let him who boasts,… boast in.. the Lord…”

So, then the question remains – and I’ll ask it before anyone else does – How do we get The Church back to the simple truth that heals wounds, calms fears, and transforms lives here on earth?