Devotional Thoughts from God's Word

Text: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Theme: Our life’s run must be focused, deliberate and determined. Key verses: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes goes into strict training…” (v. 24-25) “Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (v. 26-27) What God said to me: Dwayne, this is very straight-forward and simple. And it is timely for you to meditate on this passage on this day, the first day of 2009. As you look to the year ahead of you, be sure you decide now to set your face like a flint and run hard after me. There is a certain way you should run if you are to win the prize I have awaiting you, the prize of the high calling of me in my Son. First, you must go into strict training. Think about that for a moment. Training is intense and it is daily. Boot camp means working harder than you ever have before, getting up earlier than you want, and pushing yourself beyond anything you have done before. Spiritual boot camp means making more time with me daily. It means guarding your mind and your actions, and investing more time listening to me and reading and studying my Word. In 2009, you will need to be more disciplined than ever before in your daily routine. Push yourself to reach new goals and acheive new heights in your spiritual growth, in your witnessing and mentoring toward others, and in your ministries. Secondly, you need to be more determined to win than ever before. You must be more careful to make the most of every opportunity that I send your way. Dwayne, sometimes you waste time and get bogged down in details that you have no business dealing with. Seek me everyday and ask what I want you to do. Then do it with all your might. Don’t be haphazard and non-chalant. And don’t sit around and wait for life to happen to you. Waiting on me includes working and serving and knocking and seeking. Continue to claim Matthew 7:7 and watch me open up bigger and more exciting doors for you in 2009 than you can imagine. Third, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of the life I have for you. Dwayne, you tread dangerously close to the line and the edge sometimes. You play around with thoughts and intents that are rebellious and ungodly. You must rid yourself of all such activities and motives. There is no time to waste. Your enemy, the devil, wants to destroy you and all that I have built up in and through you. Be very careful in 2009 for traps, for there will be several. I am your Shepherd, and if you let me, I will lead you around those ditches that could shipwreck your faith, your ministries, your family, and your life. Paul was so determined to live for me and win his prize that he “beat his body.” Die to your flesh in 2009. And keep it dead. What I said to God: Holy Father, I confess that I have been aimless and careless several times this past year. I confess my rebellion and my desire to satisfy my own flesh rather than honor You. Please cleanse me and forgive me. Help me listen and follow every whisper from Your Holy Spirit. I know much lies ahead. And unto whom much is given, much will be required. Help me live up to the calling wherewith You have called me. What a privilege to know and serve You!

Text: 1 Corinthians 9:1-23 Theme: Paul went far beyond the norm or the average to assure he would win the rewards of the gospel. Key verses: “If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.” (v. 11-12) “If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it. Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.” (v. 17-19) “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. What God said to me: Dwayne, this explanation by Paul is so far removed from the thinking and attitudes of many of my children that it goes right over their heads. A more carnally minded and less passionate person might wonder why Paul would voluntarily pass up the opportunity to be supported by the Corinthian church and why Paul would voluntarily not marry like the other apostles. Clearly Paul did not condemn any of these actions or expectations. So what was the purpose? Well, if you read carefully you can see that Paul made it very clear. He did not want anything to hinder in the slightest way him preaching and living the gospel. His life was so absorbed in that one mission that he was willing — yea wanting — to give up anything that might be in the least either competing or perceived as competing with his main purpose and passion in life. Oh, how I long to see that kind of love and determination in more of my servants. Dwayne, I blessed you with the church you are now in, where you are compensated well for your ministry among them. However, would you be willing to give up that salary and continue to work there if it meant being more effective and more persuasive for my gospel? Are you willing to say like Paul, “I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast”? That is what set Paul apart as one of my choicest servants. I am not asking you to no longer receive what is rightfully and needfully yours in my Kingdom. I am simply asking you if you are willing to. Keep a close and constant check on the real attitude and motives of your heart. What I said to God: Woe is me, Lord, for I am undone. You cut deep into the very thoughts and intents of my heart today. Am I in fact willing to give up my cushy job and share the gospel simply for the gospel’s sake — not receiving any reward for myself other than the knowledge that the gospel is being preached most purely and powerfully? How much do I really love the gospel? How much do I share it when I’m not being paid? Actions speak louder than words. Do I show through my daily life that I love the cross of Christ and the Christ of the cross enough that I will settle for nothing less than my all poured for it and for Him? And do I love others as myself and as Christ has loved the church? I’m afraid I’m in no danger of being called a Paul in that regard. Oh God, change my heart.

Text: 1 Corinthians 8 Theme: We should love others, rather than offend them through our knowledge. Key verses: “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.” (v. 2-3) “We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one.” (v. 4) “But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled.” (v. 7) “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, won’t he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols?” (v. 9-10) “Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.” (v. 13) What God said to me: Dwayne, this is a very simple principle to grasp, yet few of my children choose to heed it. Knowing the truth about various freedoms you have in me does not set you free from your obligation to other believers. Those who have not yet discovered the freedoms you enjoy may be offended and tempted to turn away from their faith altogether if they see you “indulging.” Rather than excuse your conduct based on your enlightenments, you should respond like Paul. You should cease your activities in their presence and in their hearing. Your knowledge of what does not defile could in fact defile you before me if you ignore my little ones and don’t place their welfare over your own. What I said to God: Thank You, holy One, for speaking to me today. Please help me search my heart and my habits to see if I might be a stumbling block to believers around me. I know that begins at home with my children. May I love others more than I love myself and my “knowledge.”

Text: 1 Corinthians 6:9-20 Theme: Honor God with your body. Key verses: “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the Kingdom of God?” (v. 9a) “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (v. 11) “‘Everything is permissible for me’ — but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible for me’ — but I will not be mastered by anything.” (v. 12) “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” (v. 13b) “But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee sexual immorality.” (v. 17-18a) “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (v. 1-20) What God said to me: Dwayne, this is dead-on stuff and exactly what you, my servant, needs to hear and heed today. I take very seriously any sexual sins my children commit. I made you as a sexual being. I gave you sexual desires. That is my gift to you. And only I, your Creator and gift-giver, understand how you can best fulfill those desires to bring you the greatest satisfaction and me the greatest glory. How dare you or any of my own take what I have freely given and use it your selfish ends. Do you know better than I how to satisfy your deepest cravings? I grow weary of repeating this basic theme with you. I am Your God. I am Your ultimate lover. Are you first of all truly joined with me so that we are one? That must be your greatest priority and goal. Nothing else, no physical pleasure, will take you to the heights of ecstasy like knowing and worshiping me. Paul was literally comparing the physical act of sexual union with the spiritual act of uniting with me. Be careful here. Paul was not in any way implying that union with me will bring you physical pleasure. But he was clearly saying though that holy union with me will bring you spiritual satisfaction and completeness. Dwayne, do you realize how few of my children have ever really embraced and experienced spiritual wholeness with me? It’s available to them all. Positionally they are already there. But practically, they rarely experience my abundant life and provisions. The reasons are many but yet they boil down to selfishness and sin. Many would rather be mastered by their bodies and their physical desires than mastered by me. Many would rather give up a lifetime of joy for a few moments of fleeting pleasure. What about you, Dwayne? Will you always choose me, and therefore always choose real life? What I said to God: God, my God, early will I seek You. My flesh longs You, my soul thirsts for You in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Thank You for speaking loudly to my soul this morning. I so needed to hear and comprehend the depth of this passage and this truth. Oh Father, please help me heed this warning and exhortation from Paul. I desire perfect holy union with You first and foremost. You are my true satisfaction. Nothing else will do.

Text: 1 Corintihians 5 Theme: We are to judge those in the body of Christ and deal with them scripturally and appropriately. Key verses: “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you…A man has his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?… I have already passed judgment on the one who did this…When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.” (v. 1-5) “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. ‘Expel the wicked man from among you.’” (v. 12-13) What God said to me: Son, this is a very difficult passage to absorb and even more difficult to apply. Yet, Paul was determined to preach and live the whole counsel of my truth and Word. On the surface it might appear harsh and loving what Paul is telling the Corinthian church to do with the immoral man in their local body of believers. Yet, to leave him there among them was like a cancer, like bad yeast that sours the entire loaf. As leaders of my flock you must deal quickly and effectively with such rebellious and outwardly sinful people. Notice there was a sense of arrogance among the church regarding this. It was as though they were above being corrupted by this man, like his behavior wouldn’t affect them. Or perhaps they thought their tolerance of his sin was an overt sign of their extraordinary love for the saints. But Paul knew the real reason was pride in their hearts — and no doubt pride in the heart of the one who was immoral. Dwayne, as much as you may want to, you cannot truly love someone who is in direct and deliberate opposition to my Word by overlooking their sin. You must expel that person from your fellowship. In doing so, you will save not only your congregation, but also that person. What I said to God: Holy Father, You are so right in saying we may not want to follow these apparently unloving and confrontational directions from Paul. Yet, I do see why what he says is true. And I acknowledge that we as leaders are responsible for the health of our congregations. To continue to allow outward rebellion will affect and eat away at everyone around. At the least it will produce a spirit of apathy toward Your clear precepts and laws. Right now I’m feeling real thankful I’m not a lead pastor, for those undershepherds must stand before You for what they allow and what they overlook. However, I know that I too have a responsibility to pray for and support my pastor — even in the hard decisions that might seem unloving and unwise.

Text: 1 Corinthians 4:8-17 Theme: Paul warns us against arrogance and comfort in what God has given us. Key verses: “We (apostles) are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!” (v. 10) “When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly…” (v. 12-13) “I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children…you do not have many fathers…Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I am sending you Timothy…He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere… Some of you have become arrogant…” (v. 14-18) What God said to me: Dwayne, be very, very careful that you do not become too comfortable with all I have blessed you with. When you do, you will lose your edge and drop your guard. You may even begin to think that what you have you somehow deserve or worked to achieve. Paul was one of my greatest and most faithful servants ever to walk your earth. Yet, you see how little he received or desired creature comforts. Why do you think you should have it any better? Paul wanted the Corinthians — and the church in general — to see his consistent walk with his talk, how that Christ really was his only hope, joy, comfort and goal. Can you say that about yourself? Will my Son say that to you at the Judgement Seat? What I said to God: Holy God, I acknowledge my sin of arrogance before You. I have become comfortable and settled in my Christian walk. I have taken for granted Your amazing and undeserved blessings of health, material posessions, peace with others, and human freedoms. If all that was suddenly taken away, would I still praise You? Would I cling to You in new and deeper ways? Do I in fact depend on You as my one and only Source? I fear not… Help me and my family love You and You alone, above ourselves and our “creature comforts.”

Text: 1 Corinthians 4:6-7 Theme: Paul wanted us to understand why we shouldn’t boast in other people or in ourselves. Key verses: “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.” (v. 6) What God said to me: Dwayne, too many of my children take their eyes off of me, their true Source, and focus their attention and sense of belonging and pride in another person. While often their focus turns toward worldly personalities, like authors, movie stars and secular musicians, far too often my children place too much value on other believers. They tend to follow the teaching of one or two authors or preachers to the point of making their teachings infallible and without question. Be careful never to assume one or two people have it all figured out concerning my Kingdom and my Word. I give partial revelation to my servants, and they should be honored for their diligent study and faithful teaching. However, beware of rallying around men rather than looking to me for guidance and insight. Paul was wanting the Corinthians to understand this valuable principle — that no man deserves such a high level of credit and esteem. He didn’t make up the stuff he taught and wrote about. I gave it all to him. Likewise, others who read his writings should not think too highly of the writer but rather of the Author and Source of all wisdom and righteousness. What I said to God: Thank You, holy Father. You are my one and only true Source of help and peace and direction and instruction. Thank You for the many authors and preachers and mentors You have brought into my life over the years. But even with them, You were the One who led and taught me through their efforts and example. I pray that as You continue to exalt me and increase my platform and influence among your Body others will not look to me but look through me to You and You alone.