1 Corinthians 2
No matter what our formal training is, sometimes we have to leave it behind when it comes to the work that the Lord may want us to do. Now our captain is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is to be our leader and the one who brings all things into our remembrance. We must rely on the Holy Spirit throughout our walk with God. If we fall back and trust in our own wisdom, our own programs, our own education and our own ideas, we may hinder the true work of God. God is the one who knows what message will reach a certain audience. For instance. A very emotional message by a preacher who preaches with fire will no doubt attract an audience and it will take one like that to reach certain types of people. There may be some however, who may be intimidated by that type of preaching and God may have to use a gentler, softer voice. The message may be the same but the method may be different according to the type of people being reached with the gospel. I sometimes cringe when I hear people think that the sign of an anointed preacher is one who is loud and emotional. Don't get me wrong. I love those kind of preachers myself and I've heard many who were anointed. However, the loudness or the emotions of a person does not mean he or she is anointed. It is the message that is anointed, not the way it is delivered. Sometimes God speaks with a still small voice. What I see lacking the most is anointed bible teachers or the verse by verse study of the bible that I use to hear growing up. I love the in depth study of the word. We really have to read and study on our own at home for this is lacking in many churches today. It could be that there is such a limited time and perhaps if a pastor announces a bible study, very few shows up. We are fast becoming emotional people who desire to go to church to feel happy and be lifted up. We need the word taught and preached. This doesn't mean we neglect congregational worship. That is very important also. We come together to learn, teach and exhort but also to worship God in prayer and singing. This will strengthen us in a great way. Balance is always needs both in worship and in teaching but most of all to learn to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit should He desire to change things around, add a song or change a message. I've seen preachers many times get up to preach one topic but the Lord changes it at the last minute and he preaches something else entirely. Paul here laid aside his own former knowledge in the law to allow God's spirit to anoint him to preach the message to the church that was needed at the time. We have to lay aside our own ways and yield to God's ways.
He was fearful I believe because he knew that he was totally dependent upon the Lord at this point in his life and there was nothing he could say or do in himself. He lost his confidence in his own talent and had to rely on the power of God. The word preached was followed by the demonstration of the Spirit. In other words, signs followed them that believed to confirm the word. It showed the people that Paul was speaking the truth. Notice though that the signs confirmed the word. The word was never laid aside for signs and wonders to become the emphasis. The word was the main focus and signs accompanied and confirmed the word. Signs were not the main focus and the gospel of Jesus Christ remained the main theme. All things....praise, prayer, worship, teaching, preaching, signs following do fervently but be totally Christ centered. He not man (woman) receives all glory.
That is where our faith has to stand because, if it stands only in the wisdom of men, it will fail just as soon as the men make mistakes. Our eyes have to remain upon the Lord. Men will fail, God does not. We can't be so wrapped up in their church or in the pastor that we can't stand up on their own. We must be independent of any source other than God. We have the word and have access to God by prayer. We don't have to be dependent upon people. Depending on the power of God to confirm the word may not just mean outward healings, miracle etc. that we see on occasions. The power of God's Holy Spirit is within us to confirm the word also. This explains why we can attend public school, work on our jobs and be among unbelievers who believe differently and yet we still believe in God, in the creation and in the work of Christ that saves us from sin. We have that in our hearts by the power of the Holy Ghost. That is why we still can believe even though we hear those around us that believe in evolution and other nonsense. Yet I will emphasis the need to have fellowship with other believers. It will strengthen us spiritually to pray and worship with believers in the same mind and one accord. Yet if we get separated from them by moving to another place, we should be able to stand on our own yet with God's spirit within us. We may get separated from the brethren but never should we be separated from the spirit of God or His word within our hearts. If we trust Him, God will lead us to other believers though for we are not meant to go it alone. I look forward to attending church or believer's meetings. It encourages, strengthens and edifies.
The world's wisdom is nothing compared to the wisdom from God. There is much wisdom to glean from the word of God and from God's spirit which is our teacher. None of us know it all yet. Each day we can add more and more to our lives by studying the word. How much we miss and rob ourselves of if we neglect the word.
If they had only known who it was that walked among them. The creator, the savior, the one that loved them more than anyone else could love, the giver of life, the giver of eternal life, walked among them for that short period of time.
This is taken from Isaiah.
We do not yet know the half of what God has prepared for them that love Him but we can begin to partake of these things when we first repent of sin and turn to Christ for salvation by faith in His death, burial and resurrection. This is just the beginning of a walk into the glorious ways of God. The word and the spirit can abide with us on a continual basis to reveal to us more and more about the things of the spirit.
This is why walking in the spirit is a necessity. There is no substitute for a life in the word and in the spirit. We can know the deep things of God, line upon line and precept upon precept. Nothing that is necessary is hid from those that love and seek God continually. We will not be kept in the dark. There are some things we might not learn until we get to eternity but many things will be revealed now if we seek Him and walk in His ways. If we are kept in the dark, it is most probably our own fault.
We don't always know why some are healed and some are not. We don't always know why storms come and destroy and why some storms do little damage. There is so much we do not understand but we can be assured that God does understand and we can know some things by seeking Him for answers. Meanwhile we can walk by faith and trust Him to know and take care of His believers.
Although God will take care of necessary things we need in the material realm, I don't want to enter into a discussion of prosperity and material things. There is enough of that being preached. This is speaking of spiritual wealth. It is a wealth that the world can never have. These deep spiritual things are not worthy to be compared to the material wealth so many are substituting for the gospel in today's world. God will freely give to us the deep spiritual things that will last into eternity. When I was growing up in the church, being blessed by God was considered spiritual not material. Since there were mostly poor people that were believers at that time, the prosperity doctrine would not have been understood. It was the spiritual blessings that were sought at that time. We still should be seeking the deep things God has for each one of us. We can have God's spirit deep within us now. It is more than anything we could find in this world. The spiritual riches are needed. We don't want to be as the church of the Laodiceans which were rich and increased with goods but in reality they had nothing.
The Holy Ghost will reveal things to us daily when we begin to seek God for more of His spirit and a deeper understanding of His word.
All men can get rich in this worlds goods but all are not rich in the things of God. So we see from these passages and in all the bible that God's blessings are spiritual. Both unbelievers and believers can be rich materially but only those who repent of sin and become children of God can understand the things of the spirit. If they assume God's blessings are material wealth then those that live ungodly would be considered blessed of God also. The ungodly cannot receive the true riches. Seek the true riches that are through the word and the spirit. Jesus said not to lay up treasures in this world. It takes the Spirit of God to understand the written word and how to apply it.
As soon as one begins to live for Christ and be filled with the Holy Spirit, we begin to have the mind of Christ instead of our own thinking. Lord give us the mind of Christ, the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, and compassion for the lost. Help us not to lose that first love spoken about in the letter to the Ephesians church in Revelation chapter two. Help us to love our neighbor as ourselves and love God with all our being. AMEN. *DJC* |
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