Daily Devotional 11-29-2021
1Co 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. After kicking out the props of false security, Paul pointed toward the One on whom the Corinthians could rely. The temptations that seized the Corinthians were like those people had always faced. They could be met and endured by depending on God, who is faithful. Part of the Corinthian problem, of course, was that some in the face of temptation were not looking for a way out by endurance, but a way in for indulgence.
Daily Devotional 11-10-2021
1Co 4:9-13 For I think God has displayed us, the apostles, in last place, like men condemned to die: We have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to people. (10) We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! (11) Up to the present hour we are both hungry and thirsty; we are poorly clothed, roughly treated, homeless; (12) we labor, working with our own hands. When we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; (13) when we are slandered, we respond graciously. Even now, we are like the scum of the earth, like everyone’s garbage. Paul was no fool. He did not like suffering. He wished they were right. But they weren’t. The apostles followed the path of Christ’s humiliation. As He marched a parade…
Daily Devotional 11-01-2021
Luk 6:35 But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High. For he is gracious to the ungrateful and evil. Therefore Jesus repeated that we should love our enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return. Such behavior is distinctly Christian and marks out those who are the sons of the Most High. Of course, this is not the way men become sons of the Most High; that can only happen through receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. But this is the way true believers manifest themselves to the world as sons of God. He is kind to the unthankful and the evil. When we act like that, we manifest the family likeness. We show that we have been born of God.
Daily Devotional 10-15-2021
Rom 15:2-4 Each one of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. (3) For even Christ did not please himself. On the contrary, as it is written, The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me. (4) For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures. Here the principle is this: don’t live to please self. Live to please your neighbor, to do him good, to build him up. This is the Christian approach. This is the example the Lord Jesus Christ left. Even He did not please Himself. He came “to do the will” of the Father who sent Him and to please Him. To support this statement Paul quoted a part of a verse from a messianic psalm. Christ was insulted by…