1 Corinthians 9

N the world around us,is an environment that is at enmity with the Spirit and Word of God,and therefore at odds with ABSOLUTE TRUTH!We should not b surprised by the way those who have not turned to Christ for His Grace&Mercy act differently than we need to act;respond differently than we should to life’s deepest/most important questions;prioritize “life stuff” differently than we should;discipline their lives differently than we need to;etc!Yet,our actions;words;&attitudes often indicate a surprise that comes across as judgemental & condemning to those that have not yet appreciated the Amazing Grace&Mercy of Christ.1Cor9:19-27 teaches about the life/attitude/heart we need to have as we live n a world at enmity with God,& the disciplines we also need to maintain in our lives...if we are to “run the race” of life n a way that is a blessing to those around us,as well as a blessing for ourselves personally that is ETERNAL(1Cor9:25,”Everyone who competes n the games goes into strict training.They do it to get a crown that will not last;but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”)We, OURSELVES, must train ourselves to be ready for whatever the “day’s games” are going to challenge us with.The “training” for believers is found n The Word of God and through His Spirit leading us/training us/preparing us for each and every day.If we are not “training”,then we r either foolishly unaware of each day being a “race”/challenge of some kind,or we just don’t care about winning a crown that lasts forever!Each day has potential Eternal Blessings/crowns waiting for us to “run to” as we live as Christ calls us/trains us to live.1Cor9:19 says that these blessings are especially the impact our lives can have on those around us for the sake of Eternity(“For though I am free from all(free because of a personal relationship with God through Christ),I have made myself a servant to all(having a sincere heart desire to be a living conduit of The Gospel to others),that I might win more of them(that my life may be what Jesus uses to love others into His Saving Grace&Mercy/The Gospel)).As we are “running” every day,included in the lessons of 1Cor9:19-27 is the call for our lives to be considerate of others,without allowing our personal lives to dip back into the ways of the environment around us that is at enmity with God-1Cor9:20-23”To the Jews I became as a Jew,n order to win the Jews.To those under the law I became as one under the law(though not being under me the law myself) that I might win those under the law.To those outside the law I became as one outside the law(not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ)that I might win those outside the law.To the weak I became weak.I have become all things to all people,that by all means I might save some.I do it for the sake of The Gospel,that I may share with them in its blessings.”In other words,we are to have such a soft heart for the lost that we are humbled by their eternal condition without The Gospel being appreciated in their lives,& that our heart breaks for them.So much so that we train ourselves up for the sake of The Gospel in their lives...preparing ourselves for the challenges that will surely come into our own lives as we run with Eternal Purposes as our motivation->crown/blessings that last forever.AND as we run each day’s race,we maintain the personal disciplines in the way we live/run that are the “training” we receive from God’s Word and The Spirit of Christ!Dear Lord,I miss the “race” so many days...not even showing up at the starting line for the day,let alone “training up” for the day.Thank You for bringing these verses into my life today! AND may Your Word and the Strength of Your Spirit be the source of my “running” today...may I also have the kind of heart for those in my path today that these verses call me to have...may Your Life/Your Grace/Your Mercy be lived out n my run today.

1 Corinthians 8

N 1Corinthians8,Paul addresses an arrogance that can be difficult to recognize n our lives.An arrogance that can come from an incorrect sense of our “position” n Christ as believers and followers of Christ.The believers n Corinth had allowed their “freedom” n Christ to redefine their lives to suit their personal interests,instead of realizing the purpose of our freedom found n Christ as THE WAY for us to have a personal relationship with ALMIGHTY GOD-remember that a theme of this letter to Corinth is addressing the problems/complications/challenges/dangers brought on by spiritual immaturity...,& the signs of this immaturity that cuts our life path short of knowing GOD as our FATHER-1Cor8:1-3 says,”Now concerning food offered to idols:we know that “all possess knowledge”(the people Paul is addressing have “knowledge” of being saved by Christ).This knowledge puffs up,but love builds up.If anyone imagines that he knows something,he does not yet know as he ought to know.But if anyone loves God,He is known by God.”Paul is telling the believers n Corinth that their “faith/belief” n Christ has stopped far short of the PURPOSE for which Christ suffered to give us!AND because of these shortcomings they have been MIS-PURPOSING their freedom n Christ according to their personal interests/puffing up!They had the right knowledge,but they were MIS-PURPOSING this knowledge by stopping far short of the RIGHT PURPOSE of the knowledge/THE PURPOSE GOD INTENDED...which is to be the FULL

PROVISION for them to have a personal love relationship with God(“But if anyone imagines that he knows something,he does not yet know as he ought to know.But if anyone loves God,he is known by God”). If we stop at BELIEF n THE KNOWLEDGE of the Gospel,without rightly realizing THE FULL PURPOSE of the Gospel of Christ n our lives,we end up at the arrogance & immaturity Paul is describing n these verses.An arrogance that robs us of having the Love Relationship with Almighty God that The Gospel of Christ was intended to free us from sin to have.N fact by stopping short n this way,we inevitably n up making excuses for sin n our lives-just as the people n Corinth were doing.The byproduct of this n the Corinthians lives was that their lives were we’re making those around them “stumble” instead of being edified because of their FAITH n Christ(1Cor8:9).A “faith” that is wrongly purposed for personal motives always results n sin & immaturity of some kind...that ultimately causes those around us to stumble.This includes the sins&attitudes of legalism,as well as those that r part of the wrong kind of freedom Paul is addressing here.The boil-down of what Paul is saying is that knowledge ALONE will change our lives n ways God never intended His Word and His Gospel to impact our lives,but when we apply the same knowledge too free us “INTO” a Love Relationship with GOD as our FATHER our lives will be changed in miraculous ways that bring us a joy surpassing all understanding,& weave our hearts/minds/lives so with The Holy Spirit that people around us are eternally edified.Dear Lord,there r so many ways that I have MIS-PURPOSED the LOVE expressed by Your Gospel for me...forgive me...and may Your Word& Spirit teach and guide me away from this...and into a better/deeper/broader Love Relationship with You as my Father n Heaven.

1 Corinthians 5

In chapter 5 of 1Corinthians,after warning the people of spiritual immaturity and the arrogance that comes with it,Paul tells the people that this immaturity & arrogance allows the “little leaven”(1Cor5:6) into our lives that infects the “whole lump”/our whole heart/life/mind to the point that we will eventually find sin of some kind becoming more and more a source of hardening our hearts for Christ!When Paul lists these sins n verse 11(“sexual immorality or greed,or is an idolater,reviled,drunkard,or swindler”),we must peel the onion back of these to glean the wisdom and discernment that God’s Spirit yearns for us to have relative to our own lives & our personal relationship with HIM.Yes,Paul is giving us these verses to protect the larger body of believers from those within the church that are hardened by sin.But there is another purpose of protecting us individually/personally from allowing the leaven of sin to knead itself into our own heart/mind/life.He is telling us to be aware of these things creeping into our heart/mind/life!A quick read of these things can leave me with a false sense of “being ok”.But when I dig into what these things mean when dissected to the core of what they describe,I can see “fine grains of leaven” these things can start out as in my heart/mind/life.In our times of the Internet,visual reality,virtual reality,etc.,what we allow our eyes & mind to “partake of” defines sexual immorality in ways that were unknown at the time Paul wrote,but can be as dangerous to our hearts/minds/lives as the actual physical act of sexual immorality!Maybe even more dangerous because of the way we can more easily “hide” this version of sexual immorality from the outside world,thereby enabling it’s virus to do more damage to our “whole lump”/whole life.The same thing is true for the other things in this list!We need to dig into the root of each of these,so we can see what other “unseen” viruses are waging war inside...those that we are covering up the same way the people in Corinth were-by going to church,Sunday school,tithing,teaching,pastoring,checking of the performance boxes...and still allowing their hearts/minds/lives to b contaminated with “a little leaven” of bits of greed/selfishness;arrogant reviling/criticizing in ways that make us feel better about ourselves;drunkenness on anything that numbs our heart/mind/life to TRUTH;&swindling/any kind of deception for personal gain.Dear Lord,when I dig deeper into what this list of sins really address as warning signs for my heart/mind/life,I realize how much more of Your HELP I need in being aware of these things in my life,and removing these grains of “leaven” from my heart/mind/life.Lord Jesus,help me with this...give me Your Courage for this...& may Your Spirit freely move in my life to remove the grains of “leaven” from my heart/mind/life.

1 Corinthians 4-5

One of the “byproducts” of spiritual immaturity(1Cor:2:6-7) is arrogance.Paul addresses this in a few different ways,including the use of irony & sarcasm in 1Cor:4&5,to describe actual attitudes and/or personal beliefs among the “churched” in Corinth.He actually addresses one of the initial “symptoms” of immaturity in chapters 1&2 when he calls the believers out for honoring teachers&preachers (what they say,teach,&write) above what God says in His Word,& above what Christ testified to via His Life,His Words,His Sufferings,His Resurrection,& His Ascension!So! The first “detour” away from spiritual maturity to be aware of,is giving more honor to what anyone may say or write,than the honor we give what The Lord says in His Word.In other words,we need to be prepared to “True Up” everything we hear/see/read/think,etc., with The Word of God & His Spirit that lives in the heart of every true believer(1Cor:4:6”....Do not go beyond what is written(God’s Word).Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.”&1Cor4:20,”For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power”-(The Holy Spirit guiding us through the Discernment&Wisdom in God’s Word).In 1Cor5:6-8 Paul gives us direct teaching on how to protect ourselves from this root of arrogance when he says,”Your boasting is not good(boasting about who they read/watch/follow other than The Lord). Don't you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch-as you really are(The Blood of Christ washes us of all sin/leaven!)For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread(Jesus says in Matthew4:4,”...man does not live by bread alone,but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”(~unleavened bread/sustenance for life)).The bottom line is that our regular “diet” of God’s Word in our life is imperative for our spiritual wellbeing.Without this being the foundation on which we build every thought&action throughout our day,we run the risk of the kind of arrogance Paul talks about creeping into our lives,which leads us away from spiritual maturity!In fact,a telltale sing to look out for in our lives is when we begin to wane in our time with The Lord in His Word...an early sign of the kind of arrogance Paul is warning us about is when we don’t feel like it is imperative(not just important!)to spend time in God’s Word.Dear Lord,help me to know the “imperativeness” of a regular “diet” of Your Word in my life.And make me aware of the early signs of the kind of arrogance these verses describe...creeping into my life.

1 Corinthians 3

1Corinthians3:10-15 Paul is telling the church in Corinth the core reasons that they are not maturing as Followers of Christ; why they do not have hearts/minds/lives that are experiencing KNOWING GOD in their everyday lives; why they lack the discernment necessary to protect their hearts/minds/lives from the entanglements of untruths & deception.These people have been “going to church” and having their ears tickled by “good feeling spiritual stuff”,and are satisfied with the lack of challenging themselves to seek a deeper understanding of God’s Word(1Cor3:1-2 “Brothers,I could not address you as spiritual people,but as people of the flesh,as infants in Christ.I fed you milk,not solid food,for you were not ready for it.And now you are not ready.”-Hebrews5:12-14 says the same thing this way-“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”)The people Paul is addressing are not having their lives freshened and matured/grown/nourished by the breathing in and out of the Holy Spirit and the MEAT of God’s Word.They may be “going to Church;attending Sunday School and Bible Studies & small groups”,but they are not seeking to understand the life&heart&mind lessons that God’s Heart is yearning to have them apply in their lives....for their own GOOD!God’s desire as our Father is to have us grow up and mature as His sons & daughters... It grieves HIS heart for us to remain as infants,to never know the blessings of maturity->a maturing Faith that blesses us with the discernment & wisdom to see and know God’s Presence in & around our life,for our own GOOD. The picture in these verses is one of a physically full grown son or daughter that is still wearing a diaper and still nursing and unaware of the blessings outside their baby crib->the wonder of God’s Expressions of Love that only a maturing person can know!Thinking of this picture,it is no wonder that the people in Corinth had been caught up in the challenges Paul is about to address in the next chapters of 1Corinthians!They were still “infants” in grown up bodies that lacked the discernment & wisdom that The Lord yearns for them to have...so they could know and follow TRUTH,which is God’s Expression of HIS Awesome Love,& HIS Loving Guidance/HIS Ways of protecting HIS children as they grow up.Dear Lord,make me aware of the places in my life that I am still “wearing diapers”.And give me a desire for “meat” verses being satisfied with “milk” in these areas...may Your Spirit help me and lead me to mature in all parts of my heart/mind/life,according to Your Word/Your Truth!