Category: Bible (Page 263 of 419)

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

Panic infused the citizens of Jerusalem. An enemy approached, merciless and bent on destruction. They shored up the walls of the city, tearing down houses to rebuild the breaches. They gathered food and even built a new reservoir to hold water during the inevitable siege.

Yet in all the hurried preparations they left out the Lord.

You built a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the Old Pool, but you did not look to the One who made it.

Everyone worked together to save all the water they could, but they ignored the Creator of water, the only One who might possibly save them.

How much work do I do, making plans and executing them—building reservoirs—without acknowledging the One who created it all in the first place?

Of course as a minister I start things with a perfunctory prayer, but that’s often the end of the religious part and then I’m off to work.

I’m reminded to make time to remember and pray and seek to understand my dependence on the One who created all that’s around me. My efforts don’t amount to much without the Lord. My reservoirs spring a leak.

I build reservoirs to hold water that eventually stagnates and dries up. The Lord provides springs of living water continually overflowing. Which would you choose to drink from?

Isaiah 22 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Venti Views

When we say someone went all “old testament prophet,” we refer to them blasting a harsh (but usually deserved) message. Of the many old testament prophets who put punch in the phrase, few match Isaiah.

The Lord told Isaiah to walk around stripped and barefoot as a sign against Egypt and Cush. Isaiah obeyed, and lived three years without shoes and either totally naked, or with only a loin covering as he preached.

The Lord said: Just as my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush, so the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared.

Read the text—I am not making this up.

A street preacher with buttocks bared would get arrested today (except maybe in Boulder), but Isaiah endured and obeyed. Through long years of cold and heat and stares and derision, he persevered and delivered the Lord’s message. Old Testament prophets had to be tough.

Few if any Egyptians or Cushites took Isaiah’s words to heart. His actions appeared to be a futile exercise in dramatic street art. But even if no one turned to the Lord, everyone remembered Isaiah and his message—even if the remembering came too late.

At times the Lord nudges us in a direction that looks fruitless. We cannot imagine the end result, yet the nudging continues. Perhaps we follow through, and still don’t see any meaningful results. Does the Lord lead us down dead ends?

Ask Isaiah. He pulled off his britches (along with his dignity) and exhorted the masses for three years with no obvious results. Not to mention few friends and even fewer party invitations.

The Lord leads us into dead ends at times. Always for his purposes, although we may never discover them. That’s a hard part of the life of faith—just ask Isaiah.

Isaiah 20 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Jonathan Farber