Category: I Corinthians

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Wrapped in Kindness

Each morning when I come out to the living room my routine is the same. My coffee, my Bible, my journal and my blanket. Even in the middle of summer and yes, it always includes my blanket.

This is my comfort zone, my happy place, my quiet time when its just the Lord and I.

As I was finishing yesterday’s blog this phrase came to mind, wrapped in kindness. It stayed with me all day long and this morning it was still resounding in my heart. So much so, that I want to share a few thoughts and verses with you.

“God has been kind to you. He has been very patient, waiting for you to change. But you think nothing of his kindness. Maybe you don’t understand that God is kind to you so that you will decide to change your lives.” Romans 2:4 ERV

As a child, I never understood why preachers felt they needed to preach “hell fire and brimstone”. It was scary but it didn’t convey the heart of God.

We all know that we don’t measure up in our own efforts. That’s why God displays His kindness – kindness is revealed in His love, His mercy, His grace, His forgiveness and it’s those very things that bring us to a point where we want to change and dedicate our lives to Him.

“Think about what we have in Christ: the encouragement he has brought us, the comfort of his love, our sharing in his Spirit, and the mercy and kindness he has shown us. ” Philippians 2:1 ERV

He gives us the courage, the power, the desire and the ability to walk in His love, to be free from fear.

“ The Spirit God gave us does not make us afraid. His Spirit is a source of power and love and self-control.” II Timothy 1:7 ERV

God is patient and He is kind. He is love. “ Love is patient and kind.” I Corinthians 13:4 ERV

“God treats everyone alike. He accepts people only because they have faith in Jesus Christ. 23 All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. 24 But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins. 25-26  God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life’s blood, so by faith in him we could come to God.” Romans 3:22-25 CEV

He treats us so much better than what we deserve – that’s grace, that’s kindness on display.

I pray that you have accepted that gift and that each day you experience being wrapped in God’s kindness.

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But God!

Last evening a friend and I had a wonderful recounting the many miracles we have seen in the last year. Some large and some small but God provided them all!

So, let me share just a few of the thoughts and verses that caused us to praise the Lord.

When we feel limited by our own thinking we can tap into God’s wisdom and His thoughts.

“Every word we speak was taught to us by God’s Spirit, not by human wisdom. And this same Spirit helps us teach spiritual things to spiritual people. That’s why only someone who has God’s Spirit can understand spiritual blessings. Anyone who doesn’t have God’s Spirit thinks these blessings are foolish. People who are guided by the Spirit can make all kinds of judgments, but they cannot be judged by others. The Scriptures ask, ‘Has anyone ever known the thoughts of the Lord or given him advice?’ But we understand what Christ is thinking.” I Corinthians 2:13-16 CEV

Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit came He would guide us into all truth.

“The Spirit shows what is true and will come and guide you into the full truth. The Spirit doesn’t speak on his own. He will tell you only what he has heard from me, and he will let you know what is going to happen.” John 16:13 CEV

God wants us to know His thoughts and His ways. He’s not trying to hide spiritual truth or wisdom. In fact, Proverbs tells us to seek wisdom more that we would search for silver or gold.

“ But God was merciful! We were dead because of our sins, but God loved us so much he made us alive with Christ, and God’s gift of undeserved grace is what saves you. 6 God raised us from death to life with Christ Jesus, and he has given us a place beside Christ in heaven. 7 God did this so in the future world he could show how truly good and kind he is to us because of what Christ Jesus has done.” Ephesians 2:4-7 CEV

“Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That’s the most sensible way to serve God. 2 Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.” Romans 12:1-2 CEV

When we face storms and trials, God wants us our thoughts to be focused on Him.

“I have told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have troubles. But be brave! I have defeated the world!”

I hope you will put these two words at the forefront of your thinking, But God. When things seem hopeless, when you are weary, when you feel you are inadequate, when you are afraid just remember But God!

He is the One who has designed good things for us and He is the One who has defeated the world!

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Fill the Temple

The first words that came to my heart when I got up are from Isaiah the prophet.

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a very high and wonderful throne. His long robe filled the Temple. 2 Seraph angels stood around him. Each angel had six wings. They used two wings to cover their faces, two wings to cover their bodies, and two wings to fly. 3 The angels were calling to each other, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord All-Powerful. His Glory fills the whole earth.’” Isaiah 6:1-3 ERV

Have you noticed in the last weeks that revival, a massive revival, is happening worldwide? People are filling stadiums, auditoriums, congregating and parading in city streets and public parks declaring their allegiance and love for the Lord. They are being saved by the thousands!

His glory is filling the whole earth!

My Bible reading took me to I Chronicles today. King David had brought the Ark of God’s Covenant back to Jerusalem. (Side note: it was called the Ark of the Covenant because it contained items that reminded the Israelites that God had made a promise, an unbreakable covenant with them. He would be their God and they would be His people.)

The people were thrilled. They made sacrifices – they sang – they danced – they worshipped!

“The Levites brought God’s Holy Box and put it inside the tent David had set up for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to God. 2 After David had finished giving the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he used the Lord’s name to bless the people… 7 This was when David first gave Asaph and his brothers the job of singing praises to the Lord.” I Chronicles 16:1-7 ERV

This is part of the song they sang. I encourage you to go to the Bible and read the whole song.

“Give thanks to the Lord and call out to him!
    Tell the nations what he has done!
9 Sing to him; sing praises to him.
    Tell about the amazing things he has done.
10 Be proud of his holy name.
    You followers of the Lord, be happy!
11 Depend on the Lord for strength.
    Always go to him for help.
12 Remember the amazing things he has done.
    Remember his miracles and his fair decisions.
13 The people of Israel are his servants.
    The descendants of Jacob are his chosen people.
14 The Lord is our God.
    He rules the whole world.
15 Remember his agreement forever,
    the promise he gave that will never end.” I Chronicles 16:8-15 ERV

I can hear someone saying, “Well Kristi, that’s Old Testament and was written to the Jews. What’s that got to do with me?” I’m so glad you asked!

“You should know that your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit that you received from God and that lives in you. You don’t own yourselves. 20 God paid a very high price to make you his. So honor God with your body.” I Corinthians 6:19-20 ERV

” But if Christ is in you, then the Spirit gives you life, because Christ made you right with God. 11 God raised Jesus from death. And if God’s Spirit lives in you, he will also give life to your bodies that die. Yes, God is the one who raised Christ from death, and he will raise you to life through his Spirit living in you.” Romans 8:10-11 ERV

We are God’s Temple! He has chosen to live in us, to make His home in us. We are where he resides by the power of the Holy Spirit.

“ Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with everything God has for you. 20 With God’s power working in us, he can do much, much more than anything we can ask or think of. 21 To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever. Amen.

Each of us have been ordained by God to be filled with His presence and His glory will be spread though out the earth!

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A Life Worth Living

Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. Ever heard that before? Did you think it was Shakespeare or some other poetic author?

It comes from Isaiah and was then quoted by Paul. People have been living with this idea of self gratification for a long time. I remember years back when Frank Sinatra’s song, I Did It My Way, and Peggy Lee’s hit in the late 60’s, Is That All There Is, echoed the sentiment above.

Paul the Apostle was writing to the Christians in Corinth about resurrection from the dead and the promise we have in Christ. He was writing to encourage them that there is so much more to life than living for a few days of gratification here.

This morning’s thoughts come from Paul’s letter to the Christians in Corinth. It’s his instruction on a life worth living from I Corinthians 15.

People will try to influence us away from what we know is right and good. It’s called peer pressure, and I quoted verse 33 to my kids on numerous occasions as they were growing up.

“ I face death every day. That is true, brothers and sisters, just as it is true that I am proud of what you are because of Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 I fought wild animals in Ephesus. If I did that only for human reasons, then I have gained nothing. If we are not raised from death, ‘Let us eat and drink, because tomorrow we die.’

33Don’t be fooled: ‘Bad friends will ruin good habits.’ 34 Come back to your right way of thinking and stop sinning. Some of you don’t know God. I say this to shame you.” I Corinthians 15: 31-34 ERV

If our only hope is getting all we can out of this life and not looking at eternity, we should eat, drink and be merry.

But we have more than that. We have this life and life eternal with Christ. Our hope is in Christ and the power of His resurrection. Living physically, there will be a physical death, but it is not something to be feared. For when we die physically, we will live on spiritually.

“It will be the same when those who have died are raised to life. The body that is “planted” in the grave will ruin and decay, but it will be raised to a life that cannot be destroyed. 43 When the body is “planted,” it is without honor. But when it is raised, it will be great and glorious. When the body is “planted,” it is weak. But when it is raised, it will be full of power. 44 The body that is “planted” is a physical body. When it is raised, it will be a spiritual body.” verses 42-44 ERV

We need to be mindful of the joy of living for the Lord.

“So, my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong. Don’t let anything change you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. You know that your work in the Lord is never wasted.” verse 58 ERV

“ So if you eat, or if you drink, or if you do anything, do it for the glory of God.” I Corinthians 10:31 ERV

Our life’s work here on earth is to show the world that hope, joy and peace that a relationship with Jesus gives. We truly have a life worth living!

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8th Anniversary

Today is my 8th anniversary of morning blogs with you all. Each morning, I have my Bible, my coffee and my quiet time with you.

What a pleasure it has been to share God’s heart and my thoughts with you most every morning of the past eight years! There is no better way for me to celebrate than to once again remind you of the power of God’s love and His thoughts.

Have you ever heard someone quote “‘God’s way are not our ways. His ways are higher than ours’ and so we can’t really know why God does something”?

I have. In fact, I have probably been guilty of saying that more than once. But just because we say it doesn’t make it true. Yes, God’s ways are higher than ours but that doesn’t mean we can’t understand God or know His ways.

The Bible is our loving Father communicating with us so that we can know His ways. He gave his plan to Moses, the prophets and spoke His plan to Jesus, who was the fulfillment of that plan.

He gave his plan to Paul who penned over half the New Testament so that we would continue to have the direction we needed.

Then He placed His Spirit within us when we were born again so we could have greater understanding of His ways.

“None of the rulers of this world understood this wisdom. If they had understood it, they would not have killed our great and glorious Lord on a cross. 9 But as the Scriptures say,

‘No one has ever seen, no one has ever heard, no one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.’

10 But God has shown us these things through the Spirit. The Spirit knows all things. The Spirit even knows the deep secrets of God. 11 It is like this: No one knows the thoughts that another person has. Only the person’s spirit that lives inside knows those thoughts. It is the same with God. No one knows God’s thoughts except God’s Spirit. 12 We received the Spirit that is from God, not the spirit of the world. We received God’s Spirit so that we can know all that God has given us.

13 When we say this, we don’t use words taught to us by human wisdom. We use words taught to us by the Spirit. We use the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. 14 People who do not have God’s Spirit do not accept the things that come from his Spirit. They think these things are foolish. They cannot understand them, because they can only be understood with the Spirit’s help. 15 We who have the Spirit are able to make judgments about all these things. But anyone without the Spirit is not able to make proper judgments about us.

16 As the Scriptures say, ‘Who can know what is on the Lord’s mind? Who is able to give him advice?’

But we have been given Christ’s way of thinking.” I Corinthians 2:8-16 ERV

If you’re having difficulty understanding the things of God, ask the Holy Spirit who lives within you – He’ll be more than glad to help!

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Wood, Hay, Stubble

Each day we have the opportunity to build something lasting and meaningful or something temporal.

“But we must each be careful how we build, 11 because Christ is the only foundation. 12-13 Whatever we build on this foundation will be tested by fire on the day of judgment. Then everyone will find out if we have used gold, silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw.” I Corinthians 3:10-13 CEV

It’s important that we keep the eternal value of things in mind as we live our daily lives. Jesus’ example is the best we have. What’s really important is touching others with the love of Christ and being true to His word.

Strong as a brick house!

You remember how the story goes: three little pigs, one built their house of straw, one built their house of twigs, and one built their house of bricks. The big, bad wolf huffed and puffed and blew down the first two houses but when he came to the house of bricks he huffed and puffed and huffed and puffed and huffed and puffed and he couldn’t move the house.

Did you realize that’s an example of the believer who is standing on God’s word?

“You believers are like a building that God owns. That building was built on the foundation that the apostles and prophets prepared. Christ Jesus himself is the most important stone in that building. 21 The whole building is joined together in Christ, and he makes it grow and become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in Christ you are being built together with his other people. You are being made into a place where God lives through the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:21-22 ERV

The cornerstone or foundational stone for our lives as believers is Jesus Christ. We are in Him! And in Him, the Spirit of God dwells, so the Spirit of God dwells in us empowering us for victory.

“Whoever hears these teachings of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 It rained hard, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house. But it did not fall because it was built on rock.

26 “Whoever hears these teachings of mine and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 It rained hard, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house. And it fell with a loud crash.” Matthew 7:24-27

Jesus is called the “Word made flesh” so when we accept Him as our chief cornerstone and realize that He is the true foundation for our spiritual lives we will be secure in our position of being grounded on the rock.

Following His example, obeying God’s word, and trusting in His promises give us the foundation to withstand the storms of life. The Father will build us together with others who also need to be strengthen.

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He Is Good

That might not sound very profound to you because of course, doesn’t everyone know that God is good?

No, some don’t.

God’s goodness is called into question every day; fires, floods, earthquakes, family crisis, world events, loss of work, mental distress. You’ve heard the questions – if God is so good why does He allow things like this to happen? I’ll answer that the way I think Jesus did.

“A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so everyone would have life, and have it fully.” John 10:10 CEV

There is one who rules the earth and he delights in stealing, killing and destroying all that is good and making sure God gets blamed for it. We battle a real enemy but we win. In fact, we have already won.

“ I am grateful that God always makes it possible for Christ to lead us to victory. God also helps us spread the knowledge about Christ everywhere, and this knowledge is like the smell of perfume.” II Corinthians 2:14 CEV

“But thank God for letting our Lord Jesus Christ give us the victory!” I Corinthians 15:57 CEV

“ What can we say about all this? If God is on our side, can anyone be against us? 32 God did not keep back his own Son, but he gave him for us. If God did this, won’t he freely give us everything else? 33 If God says his chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them? 34 Or can anyone condemn them? No indeed! Christ died and was raised to life, and now he is at God’s right side, speaking to him for us. 35 Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death?…37 In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us.” Romans 8:31-37 CEV

We have won more than a victory. How can there be more “than victory”?

I asked the Lord that once and He gave me this reply. It’s more than a victory because I fought the battle for you. I stripped Satan of his powers when I went to hell and came out victorious, that’s what is means when it says “in Christ” you triumph and have victory.

” God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross. 15 There Christ defeated all powers and forces. He let the whole world see them being led away as prisoners when he celebrated his victory.” Colossians 2:14-15 CEV

God is good! He is just, righteous, love. He is our peace and our strength. He is all we need in this life and for life eternal.

There is a segment of the song “Gratitude” that I love. It was going through my mind and heart this morning as I was writing.

“Oh, come on, my soul
Oh, don’t you get shy on me
Lift up your song
‘Cause you’ve got a lion inside of those lungs
Get up and praise the Lord”

Our praise is a weapon that strikes the heart of our enemy. Our praise is also a sweet aroma to those around us that draws them to the goodness of God.

Get up and praise God for He is good!

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I Will Stand

Yesterday’s blog was “God Can” and in fact, He already has. He’s given us all the promises we need for this life and when we give our lives to Him, He has given us an eternal life with Him in heaven.

“ We have everything we need to live a life that pleases God. It was all given to us by God’s own power, when we learned he had invited us to share in his wonderful goodness. 4 God made great and marvelous promises, so his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world.” II Peter 1:3&4 CEV

It was another very early morning. Time to get up and pray. Pray for those who are weary and struggling. Pray for those who need the determination to stand.

When I finished praying, I was reminded of a time when I struggled with weariness. I wanted to give up. I was ready to quit. We had a “Scripture Scroll” on the wall in our living room. Each day or two we could wind the scroll, and another Scripture was there for the reading. I had expressed my frustration and weariness to Dave. I was crying, I wanted sympathy.

We prayed together and as he walked out of the living room he read the verse on the scroll.

“Don’t get tired of helping others. You will be rewarded when the time is right, if you don’t give up.” Galatians 6:9 CEV

“That’s not fair”, I blurted out. He rolled the scroll and read again.

“But thank God for letting our Lord Jesus Christ give us the victory! 58 My dear friends, stand firm and don’t be shaken. Always keep busy working for the Lord. You know that everything you do for him is worthwhile.” I Corinthians 15:57-58 CEV

He was silent and let that sink in. I was frustrated and felt as if he was using Scripture against me. I hadn’t realized yet that God was using these little verses to encourage and strengthen me. He rolled the scroll one more time.

“Christ is the one who gives me the strength I need to do whatever I must do.” Philippians 4:13 CEV

This time instead of tears there was laughter! Ok Lord, I get the point. Thank you for the power of Your word and the instruction it gives me for daily living.

Now these next verses weren’t on the scroll but they should have been.

“ To end my letter I tell you, be strong in the Lord and in his great power. 11 Wear the full armor of God. Wear God’s armor so that you can fight against the devil’s clever tricks. 12 Our fight is not against people on earth. We are fighting against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness. We are fighting against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly places. 13 That is why you need to get God’s full armor. Then on the day of evil, you will be able to stand strong. And when you have finished the whole fight, you will still be standing.” Ephesians 6:10-13 CEV

To end this blog (letter) I leave you with this list that gave me strength all those years ago:

  1. Do not grow weary and faint
  2. Be Steadfast and Immovable
  3. Do not give up or faint
  4. Be strengthen by Christ
  5. Stand

Jesus gave His all to give us the victory. Because of Him we have great and precious, unbreakable promises. Because of Him – I will stand!

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Always and Forever

Yesterday I shared with you a few verses on the Father’s character that NEVER change. Today I want us to look at a few that are ALWAYS the same.

Realizing that God has chosen to hold Himself accountable to His word gives me such tremendous confidence in the Lord. He will ALWAYS keep His word.

Just this morning I was reading in the Psalms and saw this verse:

“The Lord is always kind to those who worship him, and he keeps his promises to their descendants 18 who faithfully obey him.” Psalm 103:17-18 CEV

This ties in with the verses we read yesterday from I Corinthians 13. Love, God, is never jealous or rude. There is also an always verse in I Corinthians 13.

“Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting. 8 Love never fails!” I Corinthians 13:7-8 CEV

One of the last things Jesus told his disciples before He ascended back into heaven was this:

” Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 20 and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.” Matthew 28:19-20 CEV

I will be with you always is a promise without an end date. Always means exactly that – always.

Just a couple more before I end my thoughts on the Father’s unchangeable character.

“ I am grateful that God always makes it possible for Christ to lead us to victory. God also helps us spread the knowledge about Christ everywhere, and this knowledge is like the smell of perfume.” II Corinthians 2:14 CEV

Now, that’s a lot to process. ALWAYS kind, always supportive, always with us and always leading us to victory!

“Your kindness and love will always be with me each day of my life, and I will live forever in your house, Lord.” Psalm 23:6 CEV

Forever and always our heavenly Father’s love will not fail.

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Thankful for Never

There are two words in the Bible that stop me every time I read them. Those words are never and always.

Today I want to focus on never.

“ Let your character [your moral essence, your inner nature] be free from the love of money [shun greed—be financially ethical], being content with what you have; for He has said, “I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!” Hebrews 13:5 AMP

“Jesus Christ never changes! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 CEV

We can confidently go about our lives each day, knowing that we are not alone. Our Father has promised that He will never, under any circumstances, desert us! And He follows up with a second promise, He never changes. He is always the same. What He promised when the Bible was written is still a valid promise today.

Let’s take a look at a few more “Nevers”.

“Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth. 7 Love never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits.8 Love will never end.” I Corinthians 13:6-8a ERV

That’s a lot of “nevers”. But that’s how God is – never gives us, never stops trusting, never loses hope, never quits! God doesn’t quit us! Yes, we fail; we disappoint; we even walk away but God never quits us! He’s always there waiting, hoping, trusting, unfailing!

The “Never loses hope” part reminds me so much of the Prodigal Son’s father. The Scripture says that each day he would watch the road, looking for his son’s return. Even when we walk away from God the Father, He watches lovingly, patiently, unfailingly looking for our return.

Do we do the same with those that walk away from us, or do we just write them off? Love never fails – as we experience God’s unfailing love, we can begin to show the same to others.

Love never gives up!

Remember Peter asking the Lord how many times he had to forgive when he was wronged? Peter thought he was making some grand gesture when he asked, “seven times seven?”. Jesus brought forgiveness out of man’s perspective and into God’s when He told Peter, “seventy seven”. Love never quits and forgiveness is an act of love.

” Peter came up to the Lord and asked, “How many times should I forgive someone who does something wrong to me? Is seven times enough?”

22  Jesus answered: Not just 7 times, but 77 times!” Matthew 18:21-22 CEV

We must look at forgiveness from the Father’s point of view. He forgives and forgets even when it’s our 100th screw up of the day. He doesn’t give up on us – He’s always there waiting and reaching out to us. He’s never refused anyone yet.

I’m so thankful for God’s nevers. His love never fails!

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