Our Glorious Future
Note from Jesus Dear Follower, Resurrection is coming. I will return for those who belong to Me. At My coming, everyone who belongs to Me will be given an immortal body. Just as you have carried the body that has been part of your human existence and that is mortal because of Adam’s rebellion against the Father, you also will be transformed because of My victory over death. You will have an immortal body far more glorious than you can fully imagine. My resurrection from the dead is the assurance of your resurrection. My glorious body after My resurrection is the assurance of your glorious body after your resurrection. I know you would like to know all the details about life after death. Let it be enough to know that when you are My disciple, the Holy Spirit Who is alive in you ensures that you will never be separated from Me and that your resurrection is assured (Romans 8:32-39; 1 Corinthians 15:21-26). When death claims your physical body, you come to be with Me (Philippians 1:19-24; 2 Corinthians 5:1-8). Then, when the Father says it is time, I will return and change all who belong to Me to have immortal bodies to share in the resurrection and reunion (Philippians 3:20-21). You will share in the glory of all that the Father has promised you. Your future existence in this immortal state is impossible for you to grasp fully now. Paul helps you catch a glimpse of this glorious future by using an example from your earthly existence. A seed that you place in the ground is not particularly beautiful. It is simple and earthy. But when it is placed in the ground and dies to its current existence, a transformation happens that is a part of a new life. The seed germinates, grows, and becomes something glorious. The seed is not glorious when compared to the flower of the fully-grown plant. Your physical bodies, though marvelously made, are just a seed compared to the glory of the new bodily existence that you will enjoy with Me when we share in glory together. Death is an intruder that wounds hearts. However, when someone you love and who is My disciple is separated from you by death, remember that death is not only My enemy but that I also have ultimately defeated death and its power. While death may separate you for a short time from those you love, My resurrection ensures your resurrection and your reunion with all those who are Mine! So, no matter what your earthly life throws at you — how it disappoints you, wounds you, beats you down, or discourages you — I have defeated death. Death will not have the ultimate victory over you. Death will not determine the ultimate outcome of your life. You are Mine! Your future glory beyond death is in My hands! Transformation, reunion, victory, and a life in glory are your future! Verses to Live The following words come from what many people have called the resurrection chapter of the Bible. Paul wanted the Corinthian Christians to know that because I was raised from the dead, they will also be raised from the dead. Please, take the time to savor Paul’s words. Dwell on them. Let them give you hope. Commit the phrases that mean the most to you to memory for those times when you need them most. Remember, your faith in Me is not wasted, and your hope in Me is not in vain! Now if we have told you about the Anointed One (how He has risen from the dead and appeared to us fully alive), then how can you stand there and say there is no such thing as resurrection from death? Friends, if there is no resurrection of the dead, then even the Anointed hasn’t been raised; if that is so, then all our preaching has been for nothing and your faith in the message is worthless. And what’s worse, all of us who have been preaching the gospel are now guilty of misrepresenting God because we have been spreading the news that He raised the Anointed One from the dead (which must be a lie if what you are saying about the dead not being raised is the truth). Please listen. If you say, “the dead are not raised,” then what you are telling me is that the Anointed One has not been raised. Friends, if the Anointed has not been raised from the dead, then your faith is worth less than yesterday’s garbage, you are all doomed in your sins, and all the dearly departed who trusted in His liberation are left decaying in the ground. If what we have hoped for in the Anointed doesn’t take us beyond this life, then we are world-class fools, deserving everyone’s pity. But the Anointed One was raised from death’s slumber and is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep in death. (1 Corinthians 15:12-20) Now I know what some of you are thinking: “Just how are the dead going to be raised? What kind of bodies will they have when they come back to life?” Don’t be a fool! The seed you plant doesn’t produce life unless it dies. Right? The seed doesn’t have the same look, the same body, if you will, of what it will have once it starts to grow. It starts out a single, naked seed — whether wheat or some other grain, it doesn’t matter — and God gives to that seed a body just as He has desired. For each of the different kinds of seeds God prepares a unique body. Or look at it this way: not all flesh is the same. Right? There is skin flesh on humans, furry flesh on animals, feathery flesh on birds, and scaly flesh on fish. Likewise there are bodies made for the heavens and bodies made for the earth. The heavenly bodies have a different kind of glory or
Today’s Verse – Romans 8:15
For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” —Romans 8:15 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… God is so holy, so mighty, so awesome, and yet he bids us to call him “Abba Father.” Abba is a term of endearment, familiarity, dependency, and love used by Jewish toddlers to address their fathers. Many Jewish families continue to call the father in the family “abba,” no matter their age or their abba’s age! Through the incredible gift of his Holy Spirit to us, God has given us this ultimate gift of availability, love, companionship, protection, and mighty care. The eternal and almighty God invites us to approach him as our “Abba Father.” Our God, our LORD, the Sovereign ruler of heaven’s armies and Creator of the universe, is also our Abba! My Prayer… Abba Father, thank you for being so close yet so mighty, so accessible yet so holy, so tender yet so trustworthy. Thank you, dear Abba, for allowing me to come to you as your loving child. I pray in Jesus’ name and through the Holy Spirit’s powerful intercession. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Out of Phase
Note from Jesus Dear Servant of the Lord, Yes, I have called you My sibling, My beloved, and My friend. I have even called you a child of the King of Glory and a child of your Father in heaven. Today, however, I call you a servant of the Lord. When Lord is used in your Bibles in all capital letters, the translators are referring to YHWH — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. YHWH is Our name in Hebrew and is sometimes translated as “I AM” in English Bibles (Exodus 3:14). I could call you a bondservant or even a slave rather than simply a servant. These terms are tough ones and speak of hard service, but they indicate that I do want you committed to being a servant even when hardships are involved. Remember I demonstrated being a servant when I washed My disciples’ feet in the upper room (John 13:1-17) and in many other ways. My ultimate demonstration of being a servant was when I died for you on the cross. To be a servant like I demonstrated in My birth, life, and death, you must serve willingly. My earliest servants were not forced to minister and sacrifice. I called them to follow Me. By grace, I invited them into the Father’s family. Each accepted his or her role as a servant voluntarily. Each saw the life I lived on earth and chose to follow Me. Each recognized My example and chose to serve others. (Of course, there were some who gave the appearance of following Me but actually rejected Me.) I came to this world as a servant. I gave up heaven’s glory for mortality. I left heaven’s safety for human vulnerability. I stepped down from the throne of glory for the shame of a cross. I did it to serve the lost and also to serve you (Philippians 2:5-11). Those who led My followers after My ascension were also servants. They completely changed their lives. Many give up their lives in death because they followed Me to do My work in the world and serve lost humanity. Their lives were molded into the character and compassion of My life. Each of My apostles, except for the one who gave his heart to Satan (John 17:12), followed My example and was a sacrificial servant. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he had to defeat their false sense of self-importance. He had to confront their pride in believing that they had fully arrived spiritually. He had to help them understand that they had missed My greatness and had sunk into selfishness and worldly ambition. So after spending what now comprises three chapters in your Bibles trying to teach them that they had missed the mark on greatness, Paul then turned to examples. He pointed to his own life. He directed the Corinthians’ attention to the example of My original apostles. He reminded them of the example of his beloved son in the faith, Timothy. All of these lived for Me and for others, not for themselves — so much so that Paul could say: For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. (2 Corinthians 4:5 NIV) Paul directed the Corinthians to think about the people in his examples because those people all had one thing in common: each of them was a servant. Paul held them up as examples because their lives were much more like My life than they were like the lives of the so-called “super-spirituals” who were causing problems in Corinth. The things these “super-spirituals” boasted about themselves were exactly opposite to the things they saw in Paul’s life, in Timothy’s life, in the apostles’ lives, and in My life. Since I AM the prime example of spirituality, it wasn’t Paul who was out of phase with greatness, but the prideful Corinthians! As the Corinthians’ “father in the faith,” Paul wanted them to awaken from their arrogant stupor of pride. He wanted them to follow My example and the example of My emissaries. He wanted them to turn away from gratifying their own egos. You also need to recognize that greatness is not found in things that build your ego. Greatness is not found in status, wealth, a certain spiritual gift, high position, lofty titles, worldly prestige, or any earthly achievement. Verses to Live Since greatness is not found in human accolades, then where is true greatness found? What are the qualities of greatness in My kingdom? What does it really mean to be a servant? Look at the list of things that were true of My emissaries (apostles) in the verses below. They faced these hardships out of love for Me. They risked their lives to share the Father’s grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit with those who were lost. This concerted effort is true greatness — greatness, as I repeatedly said and demonstrated in My earthly ministry, that is found in those who are willing to pay the price to serve others for Me! Rather than power brokers, think of us as servants of the Anointed One, the Liberating King, caretakers of the mysteries of God. Because we are in this particular role, it is especially important that we are people of fidelity and integrity. It makes little difference to me how you or any human court passes judgment on me. I even resist the temptation to compare myself to the ever-changing human standard. Although I am not aware of any flaw that might exclude me from this divine service, that’s not the reason I stand acquitted — the only supreme judge, our Lord, will examine me in the proper time. So resist the temptation to act as judges before all the evidence is in. When the Lord comes, He will draw our buried motives, thoughts, and deeds (even things we don’t know or admit to ourselves) out of the dark shadows of our hearts into His light.
Today’s Verse – Hosea 8:14
Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; Judah has fortified many towns. But I will send fire upon their cities that will consume their fortresses. —Hosea 8:14 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Please note: We chose these verses over a decade ago. Each reference this year corresponds to its date — 8/14/2024 became Hosea 8:14. This method challenges us to hear verses we often ignore and calls us to adjust our lives and priorities to align with God’s teaching. In prosperity, God’s people left the LORD. They followed the cultural gods around them and engaged in the immorality of that world. The northern tribes, known as Israel at that time, became secular and pagan, like those around them. They lived immoral lives, forgot to care for the poor, overlooked the foreigners among them, cheated widows, mistreated the fatherless, and took advantage of the powerless (Amos 5:9-15). God’s prophets, Amos and Hosea, denounced these vices. God saw and knew their sins. The Sovereign LORD wanted the northern tribes of Israel to recognize they had caused their coming destruction. Their hard hearts and their repeated refusal to live with God’s character (Deuteronomy 10:14-22) led to their obliteration. As Christians, part of God’s chosen people and his holy priesthood (1 Peter 2:9-12), we must heed the warning of Israel’s history. Our lives must portray his values, our hearts must display his compassion, and our hands must do his will, or our claims are meaningless, and our future is tenuous. We must seek the LORD and live, not all the false props of pseudo-religious practices that ignore the heart of God (Amos 5:1-27). My Prayer… Father, forgive us, for we have sinned. Father, forgive me, for I have sinned. We have too often looked the other way and ignored social, judicial, and racial injustice. Empower me, dear LORD, empower us to truly be your holy people, bound together by our faith in Jesus — not by our race, age, nationality, political preferences, or socioeconomic status. Please connect us back to you and to each other through our praise and our actions that exemplify your character and grace to our divided and often hate-filled world. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
You Don’t Have to Have an Apostle
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, I appointed My apostles as My emissaries to the world. I commissioned them to take My message everywhere to everyone. The original apostles, except for Judas, of course, had all seen Me alive after My resurrection. They knew with certainty that the Father had raised Me from the dead. I entrusted them with authority to lead My early church. They mentored others to speak My message. They did signs and wonders to confirm their message about Me. My apostles were a special group. That being said, I want you to realize something that is very significant to your faith. You don’t have to have a living apostle personally teach you for you to have received the truth. Living thousands of years after My resurrection and after the death of the last of My apostles, I know there are times when you long to be able to witness Me do miracles and teach the crowds. I know you would love to know an eyewitness and an apostle personally. But, dear child of the Father, you need to be confident that you have received and believed the truth. The apostle Paul made clear what this message of truth is when he wrote the Corinthians: Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I preached to you when we first met. It’s the essential message that you have taken to heart, the central story you now base your life on; and through this gospel, you are liberated — unless, of course, your faith has come to nothing. For I passed down to you the crux of it all which I had also received from others, that the Anointed One, the Liberating King, died for our sins and was buried and raised from the dead on the third day. All this happened to fulfill the Scriptures; it was the perfect climax to God’s covenant story. Afterward He appeared alive to Cephas (you may know him as Simon Peter), then to the rest of the twelve. If that were not amazing enough, on one occasion, He appeared to more than 500 believers at one time. Many of those brothers and sisters are still around to tell the story, though some have fallen asleep in Jesus. Soon He appeared to James, His brother and the leader of the Jerusalem church, and then to all the rest of the emissaries He Himself commissioned. Last of all, He appeared to me… (1 Corinthians 15:1-8) Paul reiterated these same basic principles when writing to the Christians in Rome about the gospel and baptism: Did someone forget to tell you that when we were initiated into Jesus the Anointed through baptism’s… washing, we entered into His death? Therefore, we were buried with Him through this baptism into death so that just as God the Father, in all His glory, resurrected the Anointed One [Jesus Christ], we, too, might walk confidently out of the grave into a new life. To put it another way: if we have been united with Him to share in a death like His, don’t you understand that we will also share in His resurrection? We know this: whatever we used to be with our old sinful ways has been nailed to His cross. So our entire record of sin has been canceled, and we no longer have to bow down to sin’s power. A dead man, you see, cannot be bound by sin. But if we have died with the Anointed One, we believe that we shall also live together with Him. So we stand firm in the conviction that death holds no power over God’s Anointed because He was resurrected from the dead never to face death again. When He died, He died to whatever power sin had, once and for all, and now He lives completely to God. So here is how to picture yourself now that you have been initiated into Jesus the Anointed: you are dead to sin’s power and influence, but you are alive to God’s rule. (Romans 6:3-11) Paul emphasized that this message, this good news, should not be compromised by anyone. This simple message is still the gospel that you must believe in your day. It does not need some special new novel knowledge, fresh revelation, or deep philosophical additions to make it true, relevant, and effective. What makes My message trustworthy in every generation is the content of the message. However, people in the first century struggled with this gospel being so simple and clear, just as some struggle to accept it in your day. This struggling was a problem for the people in My church in Colossae. Paul had not preached the gospel there. They heard the message from one of their own, a man named Epaphras. Since he was one of them, he was no one special in their minds. Some false teachers inserted themselves into My church in Colossae. They taught certain forms of asceticism (denying the body and only eating certain foods), celebration of some days as more special than others, and worshiping angels, and they claimed to have secret wisdom that was necessary to be a spiritual person. Since the Colossians had not received their message from an apostle, they thought maybe they hadn’t heard the whole gospel. They were being persuaded away from the gospel Epaphras had taught them. Paul specifically addressed the problem this way: Make sure no predator makes you his prey through some misleading philosophy and empty deception based on traditions fabricated by mere mortals. These are sourced in the elementary principles originating in this world and not in the Anointed One (so don’t let their talks capture you). (Colossians 2:8) I want to warn you about the same kind of danger. There is a dangerous hunger in the fallen human appetite for something new and secret. Satan and his false teaching partners prey on people using this fallen appetite. Don’t be misled by the faddish practices endorsed by
Today’s Verse – Romans 8:13-14
For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. —Romans 8:13-14 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Living a life of purity is a daily battle, an ongoing war between our flesh and the Spirit of God working to re-create us to be like Christ. Without the power of the Spirit, our willpower eventually fails. But because of the Spirit’s power at work within us, we can overcome our failures in the flesh and progress toward our goal of Christlikeness (Colossians 1:28-29), which the Holy Spirit assures (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). We choose to live by the power of the Holy Spirit as the children of God and those destined to share in his glory because of his grace to us in Jesus and Jesus pouring the Holy Spirit out on us and into us (Titus 3:3-7)! My Prayer… Forgive me, Father, for the times when I’ve willingly let my flesh win out over the call of your Spirit. Thank you for cleansing me with the Spirit’s holy fire and drawing me onward to be more like my Savior. Today, I intentionally offer you my heart for the Holy Spirit to empower me past sin as the Spirit molds me to be more and more like Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Bedrock Belief
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, All religions, in fact, all worldviews including those couched in the language of unbelief, are built on a belief in something. This something may be an idea, a theory, an ideology, an explanation, a feeling, a skepticism, a method, or other things. However, I want you to realize two truths that Paul reveals in the verses that you are to read today: The basic Christian faith, the good news about Me, is very straightforward and easy to understand. Believing that good news might be hard, but understanding what you must believe is very clear. Christian faith hinges on My resurrection from the dead. My resurrection was an event in history that was investigated and verified. It emboldened fearful and confused disciples to become powerful witnesses. They had no expectation of My resurrection, but then they met Me alive from the dead. They boldly confirmed My resurrection before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council that had condemned Me to death. They then risked their lives to verify My resurrection to others all over the world, some ultimately becoming martyrs for what they proclaimed. Paul summarized this bedrock Christian faith with four truths, all culminating in My verified resurrection: I died for your sins as the Scriptures had prophesied. I was buried in a tomb. On the third day, I was raised from the dead just as the Scriptures had said. After My resurrection, I appeared to those who knew Me and thought I was still dead. Paul mentions some of these people by name and points out that some of them were still alive as witnesses to My resurrection. I also appeared to Paul, who was one of My fiercest opponents. Those appearances changed all of their lives forever. Paul made very clear to the Corinthians that these truths form the bedrock Christian gospel that is necessary for salvation. Notice the words below in bold to see how emphatically he makes this point. Paul’s summary sentence at the end of these verses adds emphasis to this claim of bedrock belief: In the end, it doesn’t matter whether it was I [Paul] or the other witnesses who brought you the message. What matters is that we keep preaching and that you have faith in this message. A few verses later he also made the unequivocal observation that “if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless…” (1 Corinthians 15:17 NLT). You must build your life of faith on the bedrock historical truth of My resurrection if you are going to be My disciple. Verses to Live Some people try to make faith depend on an elaborate set of principles that are difficult to understand. Paul reminded the Corinthians, and I am reminding you, that the bedrock truths of your faith are not difficult to understand. The challenge is found in believing these four truths and building your daily life upon them. Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I [Paul] preached to you when we first met. It’s the essential message that you have taken to heart, the central story you now base your life on; and through this gospel, you are liberated [saved] — unless, of course, your faith has come to nothing. For I passed down to you the crux of it all which I had also received from others, that [Christ] the Anointed One, the Liberating King, died for our sins and was buried and raised from the dead on the third day. All this happened to fulfill the Scriptures; it was the perfect climax to God’s covenant story. Afterward He appeared alive to Cephas (you may know him as Simon Peter), then to the rest of the twelve. If that were not amazing enough, on one occasion, He appeared to more than 500 believers at one time. Many of those brothers and sisters are still around to tell the story, though some have fallen asleep in Jesus. Soon He appeared to James, His brother and the leader of the Jerusalem church, and then to all the rest of the emissaries He Himself commissioned. Last of all, He appeared to me; I was like a child snatched from his mother’s womb. You see, I am the least of all His emissaries, not fit to be called His emissary because I hunted down and persecuted God’s church. Today I am who I am because of God’s grace, and I have made sure that the grace He offered me has not been wasted. I have worked harder, longer, and smarter than all the rest; but I realize it is not me — it is God’s grace with me that has made the difference. In the end, it doesn’t matter whether it was I or the other witnesses who brought you the message. What matters is that we keep preaching and that you have faith in this message. (1 Corinthians 15:1-11) Response in Prayer Father, forgive me. Forgive me for getting distracted when I pursue theological tangents. Forgive me when I become distracted from what is important and make essential Christian doctrine so much more complicated than it has to be. Thank You for loving Me enough to have Jesus pay the price for My sins. Thank You that Jesus faced death and the realities of human frailty and mortality so that I can trust Him to help me when I face such difficult times. Thank You for raising Jesus from the dead and verifying His resurrection with human witnesses who were not expecting His resurrection and who first hid in fear when He died. I am emboldened to believe when I see how their fear turned into fearlessness because of their experience with the resurrected Jesus, in Whose name I pray. Amen. ‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware. © 1998-2024, Heartlight, Inc. ‘A Year with Jesus‘ is part of the Heartlight Network.All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by
Today’s Verse – John 8:12
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” —John 8:12 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… After stumbling around in the dark as I watered my yard recently, I decided it wasn’t worth the risk, so I found a flashlight so I wouldn’t meet any unexpected “critters” as I walked through old dead leaves, stepped in mulch-filled flower beds, and reached through the shrubbery to turn my faucets on and off. (I live in a wooded area with venomous snakes!) However, my joy over a flashlight to light my way at night is nothing compared to finding Jesus. Jesus, “the Light of the world,” is also my Light! He illuminates my heart on my darkest nights, my future with his coming glory, my path with his words of truth, and my hope with the dawning of each Sunday and its weekly reminder of Jesus’ triumph over the grave. Jesus is my “Light of life”: How about you? My Prayer… Father, dear precious and holy God, how can I ever thank you for the Light of my life? Until my face reflects the light of your glory from being in your eternal presence, Jesus will light my way through this dark world. Thank you for sending your Light so I could find your life! I praise and thank you in the name of Jesus, the Light of the world. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Build Up Each Other!
Note from Jesus Dear Beloved, I love those times when you lose yourself in worshipful praise as you are filled with the Holy Spirit. To see your heart moved in love to praise the Father for what I have done to save you is precious. You can worship Me and praise Me anywhere you are. You can be in your car, at a park, on a hike, at a coffee shop, in town walking, or at home getting ready to begin or end the day. Because of the Holy Spirit within you, you can always have access to the Father. Because of the Holy Spirit’s presence, you can passionately worship Me in any place or at any time. Because of the Holy Spirit’s dwelling within you, you can be blessed personally by your time of worship no matter where you are. However, I want you to hear Paul’s warning about being so focused on your own fulfillment in worship that you forget an essential purpose of coming together with other “believers” in shared worship. There are things you can do in your personal worship that bless you and connect you to Me that you should not do when assembled with others. Something the Spirit may lead you to do in personal worship may not bless others because they don’t understand it. Remember, you are assembling with “believers,” “unbelievers,” and “inquirers” who are all together in the worship gathering with different needs to know Me. They need to understand the Father’s grace and see you display My character and compassion in the way you treat them in that assembly and also in how you live your lives each day. In today’s verses, Paul makes clear that one of the primary purposes of “believers” gathering together in worship is to “build up” other “believers.” Notice “edify,” “strengthen,” and “build up” are keywords used in the translation below. In addition, what you do should lead non-believers to understand the message of truth and fall down with you in reverent worship offered to the Father. Notice these two statements of Paul in the verses below: Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church. … But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!” The Corinthian Christians had become so focused on speaking in tongues that their worship gatherings had become chaotic. Each person focused on his or her private experience and forgot about other worshipers and their needs. Paul twice emphasized that God is a God of order, and things must be done in an orderly way. Seven times Paul emphasized the need to “build up” and “edify” each other as disciples come together in worship. (See the words in bold in the verses below.) Paul even made a special point to emphasize objectives that are related to three different groups of people and that need to be considered in these worship gatherings: He reminds the Corinthians that “believers” should be built up. He emphasizes that “inquirers” should be able to understand what is said. He says that even “unbelievers” should be able to hear, understand, and be convicted so that they can join in the worship. Paul then gave several key guidelines for them to use. These guidelines are equally relevant today: Strive to do what is not only filled with the Spirit but also understandable and intelligible to others. If folks can’t understand what you are doing, then you should enjoy that kind of worship in private between you and Us — Father, Son, and Spirit — or do so privately and to yourself in your worship gatherings. Focus on the needs of others when you are gathered together as “believers” and there are “unbelievers” and “inquirers” present. Help those who are present and worshiping with you to understand the good news found in Me, to turn their lives around and worship Me, and to be blessed and built up to live for Me. Eagerly desire spiritual gifts, but recognize that your gifts should be used to build up all who are present or should be practiced privately and celebrated between you and Us. Remember the most important principle of all. As Paul said it: “Follow the way of love…” Verses to Live Before focusing on Paul’s words to the Corinthians, I wanted to share a special passage that reminds you of an essential focus of the Christian assembly: considering others and inspiring each other to love and good deeds! Let us consider how to inspire each other to greater love and to righteous deeds, not forgetting to gather as a community, as some have forgotten, but encouraging each other, especially as the day of His return approaches. (Hebrews 10:24-25) Paul’s words to the Corinthians provide a great example of applying these principles: Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified. Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the
Today’s Verse – Romans 8:11
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. —Romans 8:11 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… The Holy Spirit doesn’t just empower us now (Ephesians 3:14-21) — for sure, he does provide us power and strength, insight and guidance — but the Holy Spirit’s work is not just powerful now, giving life to our “mortal bodies”. The Spirit is also our guarantee for our future (2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5) and our assurance that we will see God face to face (1 John 3:1-2) and share in his glory (Colossians 3:1-4). The Spirit is alive in us “as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies,” and promises us life that never will end in the presence of the Father, and with the Son, because of the Holy Spirit. My Prayer… O God and Father of all nations and races, thank you for your Spirit who is my guarantee that you will raise me from the dead and empowers me right now. As I look forward to that great day, I know I will join Jesus in your presence forever. So, dear Father, I praise you in Jesus’ name, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, I thank you as I anticipate that great day and live for you today. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.