Daily Devotional 3-18-2022
1Co 2:1 CSB When I came to you, brothers and sisters, announcing the mystery of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom. The apostle now reminds the saints of his ministry among them and how he sought to glorify God and not himself. He came to them proclaiming the testimony of God, not with excellence of speech or of wisdom. He was not at all interested in showing himself off as an orator or philosopher. This shows that the Apostle Paul recognized the difference between ministry that is soulish and that which is spiritual. By soulish ministry, we mean that which amuses, entertains, or generally appeals to man’s emotions. Spiritual ministry, on the other hand, presents the truth of God’s word in such a way as to glorify Christ and to reach the heart and conscience of the hearers.
Daily Devotional 3-10-2022
Mat 6:24 CSB “No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. The impossibility of living for God and for money is stated here in terms of masters and slaves. No one can serve two masters. One will inevitably take precedence in his loyalty and obedience. So it is with God and mammon. They present rival claims and a choice must be made. Either we must put God first and reject the rule of materialism or we must live for temporal things and refuse God’s claim on our lives.
Daily Devotional 3-6-2022
1Co 1:19 CSB For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the intelligence of the intelligent. The fact that the gospel would be offensive to human wisdom was prophesied by Isaiah: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” As he often did, Paul illustrated his point by an example of Israel who, following humanly wise counsel, formed an alliance with Egypt as a defense against Assyria, when in fact only the miraculous intervention of God was able to save them. How true it is that God delights to accomplish His purposes in ways that seem foolish to men. How often He uses methods that the wise of this world would ridicule, yet they achieve the desired results with wonderful accuracy and efficiency. For example, man’s wisdom assures him that he can…
Daily Devotional 3-4-2022
Jas 1:5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him. We don’t have to face the problems of life in our own wisdom. If, in the time of trial, we lack spiritual insight, we should go to God and tell Him all about our perplexity and ignorance. All who are thus exercised to find God’s purposes in the trials will be liberally rewarded. And they need not worry that God will scold them either; He is pleased when we are teachable and tractable. We all lack wisdom. The Bible does not give specific answers to the innumerable problems that arise in life. It does not solve problems in so many words, but God’s word does give us general principles. We must apply these principles to problems as they arise day by day. That is why…
Daily Devotional 3-3-2022
Rom 11:33-36 CSB Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways! (34) For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? (35) And who has ever given to God, that he should be repaid? (36) For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen. As Paul ended his discussion on the revelation of God’s righteousness in His sovereign choice, he burst forth in a doxology of praise to God. He exclaimed, Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! The plan of God for the salvation of all people demonstrates God’s infinite knowledge and His ability to use it wisely. God has revealed some of His judgments and His paths (“ways”) so that…
Daily Devotional 11-18-2021
Pro 10:13-14 Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of the one who lacks sense. (14) The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool hastens destruction. These statements contrast the wise and the fool. While the discerning person is characterized by his wise statements, one lacking judgment experiences trouble. He may be punished by a rod on the back. A wise person stores up knowledge; he holds it in for the right occasion without spouting off his knowledge. What a fool says, however, causes him trouble and eventually ruin because he foolishly speaks the wrong things and gets himself in trouble.
Daily Devotional 11-15-2021
Psa 27:1-3 Of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom should I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—whom should I dread? (2) When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh, my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell. (3) Though an army deploys against me, my heart will not be afraid; though a war breaks out against me, I will still be confident. David expressed great confidence in the Lord: because the Lord was his Light… Salvation, and Stronghold, nobody could harm him. Light signifies understanding, joy, and life and the stronghold signifies defense. With these provisions from the Lord, whom shall a believer fear? Obviously the answer is no one.
Daily Devotional 11-06-2021
1Co 3:18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool so that he can become wise. In Christian service, as in all of Christian life, there is always the danger of self-deception. Perhaps some of those who came to Corinth as teachers posed as men of extreme wisdom. Any who have an exalted view of their own worldly wisdom must learn that they must become fools in the eyes of the world in order to become wise in God’s estimation.
Daily Devotional 10-21-2021
1Co 1:23-24 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. (24) Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, But Paul did not cater to their desires. He says, “We preach Christ crucified.” As someone has said, “He was not a sign-loving Jew, nor a wisdom-loving Greek, but a Savior-loving Christian.” To the Jews, Christ crucified was a stumbling block. They looked for a mighty military leader to deliver them from the oppression of Rome. Instead of that, the gospel offered them a Savior nailed to a cross of shame. To the Greeks, Christ crucified was foolishness. They could not understand how One who died in such seeming weakness and failure could ever solve their problems. But strangely enough, the very things that the Jews and the Gentiles sought…
Daily Devotional 10-18-2021
1Co 1:30 It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, This verse emphasizes even further that all we are and have comes from Him—not from philosophy, and that there is therefore no room for human glory. First of all, Christ became for us wisdom. He is the wisdom of God, the One whom God’s wisdom chose as the way of salvation. When we have Him we have a positional wisdom that guarantees our full salvation. Secondly, He is our righteousness. Through faith in Him we are reckoned righteous by a holy God. Thirdly, He is our sanctification. In ourselves we have nothing in the way of personal holiness, but in Him we are positionally sanctified, and by His power we are transformed from one degree of sanctification to another. Finally, He is our redemption, and this doubtless…