Author: Dave Dishman (Page 263 of 475)

End of summer days here in Colorado tug me away from my computer. As I leave the house and breathe, I start to grasp David’s psalm expressing thankfulness for the Lord’s attention to the world we inhabit:

You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it.

Everything we have comes from the hand of the Lord.

Whenever I walk through a grocery store, packed with fresh fruits and vegetables and breads and meats, I gaze upon the Lord’s bounty. It’s all there thanks to hard working farmers who tap into the streams of God.

Abundance. The produce aisle displays the goodness of the Lord in variety and glory, one obvious example of his generosity. It calls me to worship, to remain grateful for the streams of God flowing all around.

Psalm 65 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Alexander Schimmeck

One of the things that comes easy in life is being judgmental. Just think what great shape we’d all be in if exercise came as easy as judging others.

Paul shared directions on who should judge whom. Responding to news of blatant sexual immorality among the faithful in Corinth (a man was sleeping with his father’s wife), Paul called for the removal of this man from the church. If still unrepentant, Paul directed handing the man over to Satan for the destruction of his body, and thus perhaps saving his soul.

Strong, pointed decision-making about an unacceptable situation within the local body of believers. But Paul diverged in regards their non-believing neighbors. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are we not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside.

Those of us who follow the ways of Jesus, who possess the Holy Spirit, who engage with one another in a church, need to police ourselves. Along with encouragement and care comes walking the straight and narrow. Loving each other means teaching and living both grace and truth.

As for those around us who do not yet believe? Back off on passing sentence (I’m preaching to myself here), and pray for our friends and neighbors and those we engage with during the day. Ask the Lord to grant a bit of his perspective.

No one lives forever in a judgement-free zone. Pray for kindness in our hearts, and pray for those around us to meet the Lord as Savior before meeting Him as judge.

I Corinthians 5 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

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The church in Corinth sort of thumped along, like a car bouncing down the road on a flat tire. Although Paul founded the congregation, without him his friends found it hard to settle in and grow as disciples. Paul wrote letters and even sent Timothy to help, but the struggles continued.

When he wrote, Paul both encouraged and corrected these young believers. Church members tried to follow Jesus wholeheartedly, but kept falling back into old, destructive patterns. Paul described them as still worldly—mere infants in Christ.

What were they missing?

A clear understanding and reliance on the Holy Spirit. When describing their problem, Paul remarked I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit. These followers had yet to learn to listen to and discern the ways of the Holy Spirit. Their lives showed little evidence of the Spirit’s work.

Why?

I believe the Corinthian believers failed to grasp the true life-changing force in their midst: For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

Perhaps the church members in Corinth were like church members today. It’s easy to move our eyes to prominent power centers, like the allure of politics or the joys of wealth. Too often the strengths of our world are the only ones I consider.

The kingdom of God changes lives, and saves souls, and brings life in abundance. The power centers of the world head that direction, but never arrive. If I rest my soul in this world, I’ll live with a sour aftertaste.

However, if I invest in knowing and understanding and listening to the Holy Spirit, then I move closer to kingdom of God power.

Would you like to know more about the Holy Spirit’s role in the life of a believer? Check out this resource from Cru.

I Corinthians 3 & 4 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Marek Piwnicki