Braden Condray, Author at Devotionals

Daily Devotional-July 21

July 21, 2020

Over the next 16 days we will be reading through the book of 1 Corinthians together. The church in Corinth was an absolute mess! They were plagued by serious issues of arrogance, division, sexual immorality, and confusion concerning doctrine as well as the particulars of their moral living under the gospel. This church needed a wake-up call, a call to repentance and purity, to renewed devotion to Christ, to love and unity, and to zeal for the gospel. The church has changed little over the last 2,000 years, but praise God that there is abundant grace for the mess! Each of us needs this same call to humility faithfulness, unity, and fervor today as much as they needed it then. Let’s heed this call which God gave the church at Corinth through the apostle Paul and let it shape the way we live as Christ’s body!

Paul is here distinguishing between the supposed “knowledge” the Corinthians possess, which he says only puffs up in arrogance, and love, which builds others up. Paul’s point here is that, even though there is nothing inherently sinful about eating the food offered to idols, since idols are not true gods, it becomes wrong as soon as it becomes a stumbling block in the spiritual life of another believer.

The problem is not that the Corinthians were wrong in their knowledge or that they did not have the right to do as they pleased in this matter. The problem was that they were asserting their rights in a way which hindered the growth of other believers! In the church, we are to be those who put the interests of others before our own, and sometimes that means laying down our rights for the edification of our brothers and sisters.

We who live in a culture obsessed with having our rights acknowledged and honored by others. In the midst of this, we are called to follow after the One who laid aside all His rights, even His rights as God, to serve and to love and to give His life for the good of others (Philippians 2:5-11).

May we be a church full of people who look to the good and the upbuilding of others before ourselves, who take our eyes off of ourselves and lay down the rights we cling to so tightly for the sake of seeing the gospel advance in other’s lives!

1 Corinthians 8

Food Offered to Idols

8 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. ²If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. ³But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

⁴Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” ⁵For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— ⁶yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

⁷However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. ⁸Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. ⁹But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. ¹⁰For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? ¹¹And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. ¹²Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.¹³Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Family Discussion Question:

How do we live this way in a culture so obsessed with asserting our rights? How can we live as citizens of a heavenly kingdom in this way rather than citizens of an earthly one?

Devotional

Daily Devotional-July 20

July 20, 2020

In this chapter Paul gives principles concerning marriage, singleness, and not necessarily seeking to escape from the life situations in which the Lord has, in His sovereignty, placed us. Paul’s main concern in all of these things is that our undivided allegiance, loyalty, and devotion belong solely to the Lord in all things!

Jesus made the same point in Luke 14:25 that Paul makes here. In light of what God has done for us in Christ, that He has bought us with a price, our devotion to Him must be of an entirely higher and different kind than our devotion to anything and everything else. God calls us to give ourselves completely to Him, with no division in our devotion or our allegiance.

Jesus will not stand for any competition for our devotion, our affections, or our worship. Jesus is not interested in being important in your life; He will only be ultimatein your life. Let’s surrender it all to Him and hold nothing back!

1 Corinthians 7

Principles for Marriage

7 Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” ²But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. ³The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. ⁴For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. ⁵Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

⁶Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. ⁷I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.

⁸To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single, as I am. ⁹But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

¹⁰To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband ¹¹(but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife.

¹²To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. ¹³If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. ¹⁴For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. ¹⁵But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. ¹⁶For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Live as You Are Called

¹⁷Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. ¹⁸Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. ¹⁹For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. ²⁰Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.²¹Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) ²²For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. ²³You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. ²⁴So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

The Unmarried and the Widowed

²⁵Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. ²⁶I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is. ²⁷Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. ²⁸But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. ²⁹This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, ³⁰and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, ³¹and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

³²I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. ³³But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, ³⁴and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. ³⁵I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

³⁶If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. ³⁷But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. ³⁸So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better.

³⁹A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. ⁴⁰Yet in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

Family Discussion Question:

Are there things in your life that compete for the allegiance of your heart and the devotion of your time and energy? How might the Lord be asking you to surrender those things to Him in repentance?

Devotional

Daily Devotional-July 19

July 19, 2020

In this chapter Paul addresses two issues going on in the Corinthian church. The first is that the Corinthians are wronging each other, but instead of dealing with their interpersonal sins within the church, as is fitting for believers, they are taking each other before the pagan courts. Paul rebukes them for this kind of shameful treatment of their fellow believers!

As those who have been redeemed and made part of Christ’s body, our treatment of one another must reflect the love of Christ which we share! The love we have for one another is what identifies us as true disciples of Jesus (John 13:), and Paul says it would be better for us to allow ourselves to be harmed or defrauded rather than allowing those outside the church to judge those within the church!

The second issue is that some of the Corinthians had been using prostitutes, believing that what they did with their bodies was inconsequential. Paul warns them strongly here that their bodies have been united to Christ and His body, that their bodies have been made temples of the Holy Spirit who dwells in them, and that therefore the way in which they use their bodies is of utmost importance!

Our bodies have been united to Christ and made temples of the Holy Spirit as well. This means that whatever we do with our bodies, it is as if Christ himself were doing so; we cannot take shameful, sinful physical acts so lightly, because when we do so we take lightly the fact of our union with Christ and the indwelling presence of the Spirit.

We no longer belong to ourselves, because we have been purchased by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ! So we must be careful to honor God in every way in the way we use our bodies.

1 Corinthians 6

Lawsuits Against Believers

6 When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? ²Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? ³Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! ⁴So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? ⁵I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, ⁶but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? ⁷To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? ⁸But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!

⁹Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, ¹⁰nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹And such were some of you. 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.

Flee Sexual Immorality

¹²“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. ¹³“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. ¹⁵Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” ¹⁷But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.¹⁸Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. ¹⁹Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Family Discussion Question:

How does the fact that your body is a member of Christ as well as a temple of the Holy Spirit motivate you to change the way in which you use it?

Devotional

Daily Devotional-July 18

July 18, 2020

Here Paul turns his attention from the arrogance causing divisions within the Corinthian church to the arrogance of tolerating flagrant sin within the congregation. Paul has heard report that they are continuing to fellowship with a man engaged in sexual immorality and that they refuse to discipline him or remove him from the church body. Paul reminds them of the holiness that they are called to maintain in their personal lives and in the lives of the church, and urges them to remove this man from their fellowship immediately!

To many of us it may seem strange that Paul would urge such a thing, but he reminds the Corinthians here of the grave danger tolerating unrepentant sin in the church presents, both to the church and to the sinner! Refusing to discipline members engaged in unrepentant sin puts the church in a dangerous position, Paul says, because that sin will inevitably spread its poisonous consequences throughout the whole congregation in some way (v.6). This is a reminder to us that our sin does not only have personal consequences for us; it can have communal consequences even if we aren’t aware of them (check out Joshua chapter 7 for a good example of how even our secret sin that no one else knows about can still have spiritual, communal effects!).

Refusing to discipline the church member engaged in unrepentant sin also puts the sinner in a dangerous position because it does not call them to repentance and holiness! It is important to remember that church discipline in never meant to include punishment for punishment’s sake, but that it is aimed towards restoration even if that means the sinner is put out of the congregation for a time. As the body of Christ, we are called not only to live holy lives but to hold one another accountable as well, and that is why Paul tells the Corinthians in verse 5 to “deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of his flesh,” (by putting him out of the fellowship) “so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” The goal is for the person to finally repent and be restored to the fellowship!

What might the church look like if we really, consistently held one another accountable in this way, refusing to be tolerant of unrepentant sin, whether in ourselves or in our midst? How much more like Jesus would the church look like?

1 Corinthians 5

Sexual Immorality Defiles the Church

5 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. ²And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

³For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. ⁴When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

⁶Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? ⁷Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. ⁸Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

⁹I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—¹⁰not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.¹¹But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. ¹²For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? ¹³God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

Family Discussion Question:

Have you ever considered that your sin, even your secret sin, might be damaging the church and its mission in unseen ways? What kind of holiness should that motivate in us?

Devotional

Daily Devotional-July 17

July 17, 2020

In this chapter Paul continues demonstrating to the Corinthians the error of their arrogance and boasting over one another. He reminds them of the grace of God that they have received, and how apart from that grace they would not have anything at all (v.7)!

It is so immensely important for us to always remember that every good thing we have is a gift from the hand of God. Apart from His grace to us through Jesus Christ, all we have earned for ourselves from God is His wrath, judgment, and condemnation. In Christ we have received precisely the opposite of these things, and they are only ever gifts of His grace! We have nothing that we did not receive from Him.

Paul then reminds the Corinthians of the true meaning of Christlikeness. Following after Jesus does not involve, as the Corinthians seem to have thought, being the strongest or the wisest or the most respected. On the contrary, Paul uses the example of the apostles to show them that it means becoming weak, foolish, hated and reviled in the eyes of the world, often joining with Christ in His sufferings. It is when we join with Christ in His sufferings and lowliness that we actually experience the power of His resurrection in and through us (Romans 8:17)!

1 Corinthians 4

The Ministry of Apostles

4 This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. ²Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. ³But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. ⁴For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. ⁵Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.

⁶I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. ⁷For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

⁸Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! ⁹For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. ¹⁰We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. ¹¹To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, ¹²and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; ¹³when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

¹⁴I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. ¹⁵For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. ¹⁶I urge you, then, be imitators of me. ¹⁷That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. ¹⁸Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. ¹⁹But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. ²⁰For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. ²¹What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?

Family Discussion Question:

How can we fight the mindset of pride that causes us to lift ourselves up over others? How does remembering the grace of God decimate all notions of arrogance in our hearts?

Devotional

Daily Devotional-July 16

July 16, 2020

Paul continues his scathing admonishment towards the Corinthians for their behavior in this chapter, essentially telling them they have been acting like a bunch of babies (v.1-2)! In being boastful about their preferred Christian teacher, they were acting just like the unbelieving world around them and demonstrating their immaturity in the faith. Paul urges them to remember who they are (the dwelling place of God’s Spirit cf. verse 16) and whose they are (Christ’s cf. verse 23).

How often do we see jealousy, arrogance, strife, and division in the church? Yet Paul says here that these things demonstrate a lack of spiritual maturity! These are worldly, fallen, and sinful ways of living; the gospel calls us to a supernatural way of living and makes it possible for us by means of the Holy Spirit! Instead of jealousy, arrogance, and strife, which are all focused on the self, God calls us to dwell in unity, love, and selflessness together as the church.

The Lord calls us to put away merely human, worldly ways and walk in a supernatural, Spirit-empowered, new way as His people. Are you living as a spiritual infant, or are you growing up into maturity in Christ?

1 Corinthians 3

Divisions in the Church

3 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. ²I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, ³for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? ⁴For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

⁵What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. ⁶I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. ⁷So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. ⁸He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. ⁹For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. ¹¹For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹²Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— ¹³each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. ¹⁴If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

¹⁶Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? ¹⁷If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

¹⁸Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. ¹⁹For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,”²⁰and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” ²¹So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, ²²whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours,²³and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

Family Discussion Question:

What are some ways you have seen the lack of spiritual maturity demonstrate itself in the life of the church? How can you be always growing up into maturity in Christ and helping others to do the same, to live in this new and supernatural way?

Devotional

Daily Devotional-July 15

July 15, 2020

In this chapter Paul continues to challenge the worldly perspective of the Corinthians and their proclivity to trust in earthly wisdom. He reminds them of how he had first preached the gospel among them, not using persuasive language or wise speech but demonstrating the power of the Spirit, in order that those who came to faith would put their trust in the power of God rather than in the wisdom of men.

He goes on to explain to them that the wisdom from God is not like the worldly wisdom because it is a spiritual understood only by means of the Holy Spirit. He goes so far as to tell us that, because who believe have been indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we have the mind of Christ available to us! We can think the way that Jesus thought through the power of the Spirit, and thinking the way that Jesus thought necessarily leads to us living the way that Jesus lived.

“The natural person”, Paul says, “does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to comprehend them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14). Apart from the gift of the Holy Spirit and His work and ministry in our lives, we would be just like the rest of the world, totally unable to comprehend the truths of the gospel and considering Christianity to be the stuff of fools.

Thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit, that He has made a way for us, who were dead in our sins and spiritually blind, to be made alive and to have the eyes of our hearts enlightened to the truth! Celebrate the wisdom that comes from God today, and that He has given you the means, by His Spirit, to comprehend it!

1 Corinthians 2

Proclaiming Christ Crucified

2 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. ²For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, ⁴and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Wisdom from the Spirit

⁶Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. ⁷But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. ⁸None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—

¹⁰these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. ¹¹For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹²Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. ¹³And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

¹⁴The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ¹⁶“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Family Discussion Question:

How does having the mind of Christ available to us through the Holy Spirit work itself out practically in our day to day lives?

Devotional

Daily Devotional-July 14

July 14, 2020

In the opening chapter of 1 Corinthians Paul jumps right into the problems he has heard rumor of going on in Corinth. The people were arrogantly one-upping each other by claiming to be followers of whatever gospel preacher they considered to be most eloquent or wise, and it was causing the church to be divided into factions.

Paul here exposes the foolishness of such thinking: the power of the gospel does not lie in eloquent speech or in worldly wisdom but in the cross of Jesus Christ! Paul is telling the Corinthians that they are thinking in a worldly way when they are divided like this, and the gospel itself sounds like lunacy from a worldly perspective!

Think about it: the gospel flips all of our worldly expectations upside down. The God of all glory was meek and humble. The way He conquered was by allowing Himself to be unjustly betrayed, tortured, humiliated, and murdered. In order to live we have to die with Him. Nothing about the gospel makes sense from the perspective of the world, but that’s the point! The gospel is folly to the world, but to us who have been saved it is “the power of God” (v.18)!

The upside-down gospel reminds us that we live in an upside-down kingdom. The weak in the eyes of the world are strong. The foolish in the eyes of the world are wise. The poor in the eyes of the world are rich. Those who put others before themselves end up on top in the end. We need to be reminded of this, and that it is never our own wisdom, our own power, our own righteousness that does anything. It is only in Christ, His power, His wisdom, His righteousness and His grace that we have anything at all!

Though it looks like foolishness and weakness from a worldly point of view, to us Jesus Christ is the very wisdom and power of God! Today, instead of seeing your faith from a worldly perspective, be reminded of your own powerlessness and your absolute dependence upon the power and grace of Jesus!

1 Corinthians 1

Greeting

1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,

²To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

⁴I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, ⁵that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— ⁶even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— ⁷so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁸who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Divisions in the Church

¹⁰I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. ¹¹For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. ¹²What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” ¹³Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name.¹⁶(I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) ¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

¹⁸For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

²⁰Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. ²²For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ²³but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

²⁶For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Family Discussion Question:

Why is it so important for us to remember that the gospel does not depend on human power and wisdom, but on the power and wisdom of God? How does it change the way we understand and live out our faith?

Devotional

Daily Devotional-July 13

July 13, 2020

For the next 15 days we will be reading through the Psalms of Ascent together as a church! The Psalms of Ascent are a collection of 15 psalms (Psalms 120-134) that pilgrims would sing on their way up to Jerusalem to worship. These songs are meant to instruct and prepare the hearts of the traveler to worship the Lord! As sojourners and aliens in this world, we too need to have our hearts prepared for and instructed in the worship of our God. Let’s meditate on these psalms and allow the Spirit of the Lord to move us to true worship as we seek Him together!

In the final song of ascents, the pilgrim disciple has finally arrived at their destination: the Temple in Jerusalem, the place of God’s presence with His people. Having worshipped the Lord at the Temple, the pilgrim calls others to bless the Lord and then receives a blessing as well!

As sojourners on the earth, we too are on a journey to the place of the Lord’s presence with His people. We have His presence with us now via the Holy Spirit, but we journey toward a destination where He will dwell with us fully and completely, where we will experience the fullness of His glory and worship Him forever!

As you journey along today, let this psalm remind you of the immensity of the blessing that is God’s presence with His people, and let it fill you with great joy in the hope of the eternal future with Him that is still to come!

Psalm 134

Come, Bless the Lord

A Song of Ascents.

134 Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
who stand by night in the house of the Lord!
²Lift up your hands to the holy place
and bless the Lord!

³May the Lord bless you from Zion,
he who made heaven and earth

Family Discussion Question:

How does the hope of being in the direct presence of God for all of eternity encourage you to bless His name through worship in the here and now?

Devotional

Daily Devotional-July 12

July 12, 2020

This psalm pictures the pilgrim disciples gathered together to worship at Jerusalem in total solidarity and unity. The pilgrim sings this song to be reminded of the joys and the blessing that come from a unified community of the Lord’s people, and it is an ideal to which the church is called as well!

The psalmist uses two similes to describe the blessing that comes from this kind of unity among God’s people. The first is the oil on Aaron the priest’s head at his ordination (Ex. 30:22-33). This oil set him and his descendants apart, consecrating them as holy. In the same way, unity in the body of Christ sets us apart as holy as we live in the world but are not of the world!

The second simile is of the “dew of Hermon” (v.3), a mountain in the far south of the land of Israel. The rains the psalmist is here describing were essential for the survival of Israel’s vegetation during the dry season. In the same way, unity among brothers and sisters in Christ is a catalyst for growth in the sense of bearing fruit in discipleship!

Let’s not neglect to strive for absolute unity in the body of Christ. It sets us apart from the world and is essential to our growing in our walk of faith!

Psalm 133

When Brothers Dwell in Unity

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

133 Behold, how good and pleasant it is
    when brothers dwell in unity!
²It is like the precious oil on the head,
    running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
    running down on the collar of his robes!
³It is like the dew of Hermon,
    which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
    life forevermore.

Family Discussion Question:

What are some ways you have experienced disunity in the body of Christ? What were the results of that? How can you be a person who strives for unity among your brothers and sisters in the faith?