Paul reminds his hearers to take warning from Israel's past. Many religious folk would be rescued by the Lord and then somehow forget Him...only to later go their own way. God was not pleased with most of them. So Paul gives another warning, "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
Then in I Cor 10:13 he says, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
I memorized this particular scripture years ago...and the Lord has used it mightily in my life in the battle against sin. Many times it will just roll over and over in my head. It seems like the Holy Spirit triggers it at just the right times. It reminds me of how common temptation can be...and how faithful God is in the battle against sin. What a great verse. What a great God...Awesome and faithful.
First 26 Weeks
Week 1- Week 26
Run In Such A Way As To Get The Prize
...but my son has run in one...and he had to train his body to be able to handle the long distance. Why do runners train for a marathon? Everyone must train to finish a marathon. There is just not much of an option....either you train....or you probably won't finish the race.
In the last paragraph of I Cor 9, Paul is speaking in a metaphore where the Christian life is a race....a marathon. To compete, he says we must beat our bodies into shape....we must train strictly...we must make our bodies our slave....we must practice until we acquire discipline.
How would we do this? We say "no" to fleshly desires. We remain in Christ instead of allowing busyiness to rule our lives. We pray, read the word, and put Jesus' words into action. We follow God. As we practice and do these things over time...God graces us with His good gifts that spring from discipline....patience, long suffering, unselfishness, pure joy.
At the end of the race my son received a medal. (that he later gave to me)
Paul poses the question about a common award in ancient times...a crown........If runners train for a temporary crown...how much more should we compete in our Christian lives for an eternal crown?
Are you a disciple of Christ? (Disciple comes from the same root word as discipline.) Train hard.
Yet For Us There Is But One God
When we think of idols...we often think back to ancient times...and often think about uneducated people worshiping golden calves...or golden statues. So this begs the question: "Do we have idols or false gods in modern times? I think we can answer a difinitve "YES."
Even though at first glance....what we worship may not fit the sterotype of an ancient idol...it sure meets the criteria that: we value them higher than God Himself...and we worship them and give them our full attention. So what would be a modern American idol? Is it fame or celebrity? Is it a political figure or political party? Is it our citizenship or our social status? Is it our wardrobes or fashion? Is it the TV or movie screen? Is it cars or boats? Is it houses or businesses? Is it family or children? Is it money? Is it education or knowledge?
Do you hold any of these higher than the Lord Jesus...our Redeemer? Do you devote more time to one of these than the Father God our Creator? Do you give any of these higher praise, love and devotion ...more than you do the Holy Spirit dwelling within you? If so...several of these might be your Lord....They might be a god to you.
We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.”
These modern idols I mentioned really are no God at all...they can not save you...and they are not worthy of our praise...compared to the unsurpassed greatness of the one and only God. He is the only one worthy of worship.
Jesus is Lord.
The bible tells us most all the answers for living out life including our sex lives.
I Cor 7 gives us several good baselines for healthy sexual relations.
1. Sex is only for a married man and woman to experience. (I Cor 7:2)
2. When we are married...we yield our bodies to our spouse. (I Cor 7:4)
3. Spouses should not deny each other of sex. (I Cor 7:5)
God, the Creator and Master Designer...created man and woman to be partners in marriage.
When we come together in sex ...it is the most intimate relationship we have besides with Him.
We learn to be faithful. We learn to love each other. We learn to yield to each other and serve one another. We learn to give sacrificially to each other. God designed us and knows best...and He only allows sex within His rules...His boundaries. So when it comes to learning about sex and life turn to the bible not the sitcoms.
Your Bodies are Temples of the Holy Spirit
In I Cor 6:19 Paul says that our human, fleshly bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.God dwells in us when we are born again into His Spirit. We are actually the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. It is from this point of view that he urges us in verse 20 to "honor God with our bodies." Why????
Because ,"You are not your own; you were bought at a price."
We are stewards of these bodies. We are just "renters! We don't own them....God owns us. Jesus bought your life with His blood....so take care of yourself....you are the dwelling place of God's Spirit....His Holy Temple.
God will Judge Those Outside the Church
We live in a time when it is politically incorrect to judge anyone or anything in public....yet we all
seem to do plenty of this in our own little cliches. It seems that the Bible gives us good direction in how we are to judge each other. Lets look at the text.
In I Cor 5:12...It says we are not to judge those "outside the church." God will handle that...so don't waste your time. "The Word of God" convicts everyone of their sins. So when they are non-Christians....leave it to the Lord.
How about inside the church? We are to judge our fellow brothers....those who claim to be Christians....brothers. Paul says in I Cor 5:11 not to associate with them...if they are : sexually immoral, or greedy, or a idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or a swindler.
That might sound harsh in a time of political correctness....and in times where it would be harsh and a lack of grace. But I would submit that if we would confront our brothers, and offer to walk with them while they battle these sins....the church would be a better place. It is much easier to ignore them...or talk behind their back then to confront them.
And if the brother openly rebels, openly engages in these sins without remorse...without repentance....we should not associate with them. Why? Because they are openly rebelling against the Lord. They are dangerous influence/ tempter to other Christians
Expel the wicked man among you.
seem to do plenty of this in our own little cliches. It seems that the Bible gives us good direction in how we are to judge each other. Lets look at the text.
In I Cor 5:12...It says we are not to judge those "outside the church." God will handle that...so don't waste your time. "The Word of God" convicts everyone of their sins. So when they are non-Christians....leave it to the Lord.
How about inside the church? We are to judge our fellow brothers....those who claim to be Christians....brothers. Paul says in I Cor 5:11 not to associate with them...if they are : sexually immoral, or greedy, or a idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or a swindler.
That might sound harsh in a time of political correctness....and in times where it would be harsh and a lack of grace. But I would submit that if we would confront our brothers, and offer to walk with them while they battle these sins....the church would be a better place. It is much easier to ignore them...or talk behind their back then to confront them.
And if the brother openly rebels, openly engages in these sins without remorse...without repentance....we should not associate with them. Why? Because they are openly rebelling against the Lord. They are dangerous influence/ tempter to other Christians
Expel the wicked man among you.
Let The One Who Boasts... Boast In The Lord
"Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength."
My words and comments are never close to the effectiveness of the scripture itself. I will boast in the Lord's word...it is His wisdom imparted to us.
Are you living by the wisdom of this world or by the wisdom of God????
“Were Not Our Hearts Burning Within Us..."
“Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us..."
Two "stunned" followers of Jesus make their way to the city of Emmaus. The two men did not even recognize Jesus. But then Jesus...the "resurrected" Jesus opened their hearts...He also opened the word about Himself to them.
So why is this one of my favorite lines? Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit...to do the same thing He did for the men on the road. The Holy Spirit opens our hearts and our minds to His word. And when He does this....our hearts burn within us. I have spoken to dozen of people that agree...that after an intense session of Bible study with their friends...it causes their hearts to burn within them. There is not many things better than to realize that Jesus isn't just a nice character in the Bible....He is the risen "Lord of Life".....and He wants to walk through life with us. That makes our hearts burn within us.
“Aren’t you the Messiah?"
With all this valuable content....It was the theif's question to Jesus that really spoke to me. His question to Jesus is one we must all answer in our lifetime....paraphrased He asks Jesus if He is the Messiah.
Jesus does not answer this theif in the text....but everyone living at that time.... got the answer.
Have you ever heard of the sun stop shining when someone dies? I haven't. When Jesus died....the sun stopped shining for three hours in the middle of the day. This was a God thing. (the longest solar ecilpse ever recorderd is around 7 minutes) But most of the Jews of the time were familiar with the prophesy from Amos 8:9 , “In that day,” declares the Sovereign LORD, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight."
Jesus was the Messiah. This was the long awaited "Day of the Lord." People witnessing this act of God...knew in this moment that God had answered the theif.
This Cup is the New Covenant in my Blood, Which is Poured Out for You
So what was the "passover" they were going to celebrate? It was the celebration of when God gave the Israelites specific instructions during their Egyptian captivity. After the Israelites had been held captive for 430 years... the Lord "passed over" the Israelites homes where they had sprinkled blood from their sacrificial lambs on the door post of their homes. The Lord did not pass over the Egyptian homes, though. He struck down the first born of both humans and animals. The event devastated the Egyptians and allowed the Israelites to flee their captors.
The Lord also had told Moses to have the people celebrate this event in the future so that they would remember the Lord's rescue and that they would tell their children.
Now in Luke 22, Jesus..."the Lamb of God" celebrates by eating one last passover celebration with His disciples. This is the event that as Christians ...we now celebrate...."The Last Supper."
Why? Because Jesus sprinkles us with His Blood and wash us clean of our sins...so that we will not die...but live with Him forever. His blood is the only thing that will satisfy the Holy Father.
The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The same one who celebrated the Lord's passover of the Israelites because they were obedient to put blood on their doorpost.
This Poor Widow Has Put In More Than All The Others
Next I read the story from Luke 21. I read the words of Jesus, “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
After this the little boy who had not put any paper in the offering plate became "convicted of sin."His eyes were eyes of great guilt ....and then great repentance as he held out the paper...wanting to now put his "money" in the offering plate. He got the lesson....He understood the example...the words of Jesus cut to the bone.
Do you understand the heart that Jesus is looking for? It is the heart of a generous, all-giving, poor widow woman....... not a selfish, self-centered heart.
I Will Send My Son, Whom I Love; Perhaps They Will Respect Him
His vineyard is life on earth. He leaves tenets (renters) to take care of His crop that He had planted in his vineyard . They don't own this place...just renters!!!! The servants are prophets. The Son is Jesus.
So what happens when God sends his representatives to check on His crops? God's people reject his messengers. They finally kill His son whom he sends to save them.
Jesus prophesies His own death in this parable. His hearers that day were furious. They knew that Jesus was condemning them and their ancestors. They also were offended that Jesus was implying that He was the son of God....." they knew he had spoken this parable against them."
One of the many lessons that we learn about stewardship from this parable is: we are "renters" here on earth....not owners. Our lives are not our own. We belong to God.
For the Son of Man Came to Seek and to Save the Lost
What do we learn from the text?Verse 19:3-4- Zacchaeus was drawn to look for Jesus
Verse 19:5- Jesus saw promise in this "sinner" known as Zacchaeus. (Jesus invites himself to his house)
Verse 19:6- When given an invitation from Jesus...Zacchaeus quickly jumps at the chance to be with Jesus.
Verse 19:8- Zacchaeus repents and makes significant life adjustments to follow Jesus.
If we now scroll down to verse 19:41 ...I think we have an interesting contrast to this story.
"As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it..."
I would offer to you that Jesus was saddened by His homeland...God's people...rejecting Him.
They knew that God's Messiah would come someday. But most did not even accept Him as the Messiah. Those who did ...assumed He came as a conquering king. Jesus could see their hearts...and He wept.
When Jesus saw the seeking, repentant heart of Zacchaeus He must have been pleased.... He says in Luke 19: “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham."
"God, Have Mercy on Me, a Sinner"
Different people sharing a common thread...they are all in desperate need.
In Luke 17:12 the ten lepers cry out together, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
In Luke 18:13 the tax collector says, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
In Luke 18:38 a blind beggar called out, “Jesus, "Son of David, have mercy on me!”
In Luke 18:39 again, the beggar shouts louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
These people don't have a claim on these cries, shouts, calls....in fact the book of Psalms are full of prayers where David and others were "calling on the name of the Lord". In fact it goes all the way back to Adam's grandson, (Seth named him, Enosh). It says in Genesis 4 "At that time people began to call on the name of the LORD." ...and people have been calling on the name of the Lord ever since.
And the Lord likes it. When we honestly and directly talk to God...when we cry out to God with all we are...when we are at the end of ourselves and realize who He is.....He always seems to hear the person and heals them. When we return to Him....He make us whole again. He wants us all to come to him with such faith that He is God....and that He is able.
We are all desperately in need....for a Savior. God loves to hear from us when we call on His name!!!!
"Jesus, Master, Have Pity on Us"
In Luke 17: 11, Jesus travels the countryside...between His homeland of Galilee and the bordering rival-enemy country of Samaria...He is approached by 10 desperate souls. Leprosy had made these men outcast of their friends, families and countrymen. Their common disease leprosy is characterized by disfiguring skin sores, nerve damage, and progressive debilitation. In that time it was a death sentence and was greatly feared. Victims were avoided by forcing them into their own Leper colonies...outside, way far away from town.
Jesus heard their cries and healed them medically. Can you think of anything better than a medical miracle that restored your health and dignity? Sore, legions, crippled....but now they are healed. You would think that all ten would thank Jesus for this lavish gift. But "thankfulness" is a barometer of the heart. In life not many of us take time to say "Thank you." Only one of the ten men praised God and thanked Jesus.
The kicker in the story is that Jesus says to the medically healed, thankful man, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Jesus knew this man's heart. All 10 men were healed medically, earlier...so why does he speak of making this man well, again? I think Jesus is speaking spiritually well. I have to believe that in this statement, Jesus forgave this man of his sins.
A Straight Message About Hell
In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus is telling the pharisees a parable about a rich man who wants to warn his family about the effect of their life on earth on their after-life...the after-life he not only has earned but is experiencing. If we could hear His message...I bet it would be the warning, "Repent, the Kingdom of God is near."
This rich noble had lived life in luxury every day, says verse 19. And yet with all his riches....even though he knew this man to be Lazarus the poor beggar....the rich man had not help Lazarus out of his low position. He had not been a proper steward of his worldly riches.
This story about the rich man begging from Hell is a contrast of his life vs. his acquaintance, Lazarus who now rest in the bosom of Abraham in heaven. Jesus builds on the "shrewd manager parable" in Luke 16:1- 15 which talks about using worldly wealth to help others.
It reminds me of a jailhouse testimony that says..."LISTEN....You do not want to come here. It is pure torment. I have a unquenchable thirst...I dwell in a unquenchable fire...there is a chasm between me and God that I can't cross. It is unbearable. This is Hell..... I wish I had life to live over...differently....LISTEN...repent, turn to God.....avoid this at all cost."
It is a compelling testimony. But do we hear? Are we listening? Jesus says that they did not listen to Moses and the Prophets...and we probably won't listen to Jesus....God's son who was raised from the dead. Please LISTEN and REPENT.
Lostness
I don't think many persons today value coins in the same way...in fact there has been on going debate whether coins should even be apart of our currency system. So from a standpoint of worth...we probably don't get the parable.....because it is about value to the owner!!!!!!
In all these "lost" stories, Jesus points out how valuable each person is to the Father. So valuable that He leaves all the others to seek out the "lost" coin or sheep or son (sons). What is the point? The Father is not interested in losing a single small coin....even a penny...which we don't consider very valuable. But God know the value...You and I are very valuable to Him...because He loves us greatly.
Know that God seek us out when we run from Him, when we ignore Him...when we are blind and don't even acknowledge Him. And even though we are selfish and "lost"...He is always coming for us... inviting us to return to His side. He sees our worth...and wants us where we belong.
Jesus Teachs about Parties
1. In Luke 7, Jesus teaches us about being a guest at a party. His message? Be humble. When you are the invited guest...remember you are the guest. You are there at someone's invitation. The host is extending grace and hospitality to you at their cost. God is God...and you are not...He is our host...we are His guest....remember that He is the one that extends an invitation to us.
2.In Luke 12, Jesus then teaches about being a party host. Don't make it a scoreboard when you invite guests that can help you...so they owe you. Love people and invite those who can't pay you back. In fact He says, "But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind..." Jesus is teaching us to be more like Him. Love those who are the "least of these", those who can't pay us back!
3.The next parable is about the Father's great banquet at the end of time. This parable is about the great love of the Father and about the attitude of those who will be with Him in Eternity. Many religious people who are invited...won't attend because of their many excuses. (My mother always told me, "Even your best friend won't attend your wedding if they have something better to do.")
This exaggerated example stresses that most people have there own agenda....they want to follow Jesus if it is convenient and they don't have anything else going on. The invited guest that the Lord is looking for...is interested in the host...and will show up...they are willing to follow and will attend the great banquet.
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