Author: Michael Smith

We are called to be different.  We are to look different, act different and expect different among the family of believers.  In our culture, however, we are told to be tolerant.  The Media portrays selfish and sinful behavior as normal and selfless and Christ focused behavior as odd and judgmental.

Even the church culture has relaxed and taken the view that we are to be seeker friendly and should not judge lifestyles.  This was the same culture Paul faced in Corinth.  The Corinthians were a very secular culture with a propensity to run to sin.  Paul was clear, we have to live in the world, but within the family, we must be different.

Such is the case with our modern church family.  We have to live in our very secular culture, but we should be different and expect different from those within the culture.  Help me, Lord, to be different and to encourage different from others.

God Bless You

³ Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the Spirit.^[b] And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on this man ⁴ in the name of the Lord Jesus. You must call a meeting of the church.^[c] I will be present with you in spirit, and so will the power of our Lord Jesus. ⁵ Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed^[d] and he himself^[e] will be saved on the day the Lord^[f] returns.

⁶ Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? ⁷ Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.^{[g] 8} So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread^[h] of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread^[i] of sincerity and truth.

⁹ When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. ¹⁰ But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that.

Following Christ can take its toll.  When you decide to jump into the fray, you can expect to be attacked.  You can assume the world is going to make fun, attack and completely fail to understand you.  In addition, you can be sure the enemy will do everything to make you ineffective and useless to God.  That combination rarely equals a great time of fun.  If we are willing to face the adversity that accompanies our desire to please God—then we will see God do amazing things for and through us.  As we are journeying, however, it will always be a journey fraught with adversity and adventure.  That is why we must rely on God to carry us through.

Seek first his Kingdom.  Rely upon his strength, wisdom and provision to carry you daily.  Then, he will allow you to experience him in a way the world could only long for.

Thanks God for your provision and strength.

God Bless You

¹⁰ Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed. ¹¹ Even now we go hungry and thirsty, and we don’t have enough clothes to keep warm. We are often beaten and have no home. ¹² We work wearily with our own hands to earn our living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who abuse us. ¹³ We appeal gently when evil things are said about us. Yet we are treated like the world’s garbage, like everybody’s trash—right up to the present moment.

¹⁴ I am not writing these things to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children. ¹⁵ For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. For I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you. ¹⁶ So I urge you to imitate me.

¹⁷ That’s why I have sent Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you of how I follow Christ Jesus, just as I teach in all the churches wherever I go.

As in most areas of life, God knows when we judge ourselves and others, we are working with limited knowledge and information.  In my world, it is easy to grant myself a pass for bad attitudes or wrong choices.  I meant well, or, I did not mean to act that way…Still, God has all the info on us and others.  He not only knows the amazing things we do, but, he knows why we do them. Paul did most things right as a Pharisee–but for the wrong motive. In Chapter 13, the first 3 verses scream that motive is as critical as activity.

 If we look at folks and realize they have a back story and baggage we no nothing about, then it could cause us to reserve judgment and simply look for ways to encourage bless and serve them.  It could also allow us to look at our own lives honestly and with a desire to seek him in our attitudes and choices.  It is too easy to allow the enemy and circumstance to cloud or color our thought and judgment.  It is equally simple to hide behind a smile or mask and fool the world into believing all is good and we are perfect.  God says do not judge others and do not hide behind your own rationalizations and intentions.  Simply follow, pray and seek him each day—then allow him to do the judging. While the concept is relatively simple, it is extremely difficult to carry out.  Help me Lord to submit, listen , follow and reserve judgment of myself and others.

God Bless You

 ¹ So look at Apollos and me as mere servants of Christ who have been put in charge of explaining God’s mysteries. ² Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful. ³ As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. ⁴ My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide.

⁵ So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.

Does it matter how we spend our after we begin our journey with God? Absolutely!!! Our focus and attitudes in life as God’s Kid is the building on top of our foundation of eternal life.  We are saved by grace, but still are called to set our hearts and minds on eternal things.(Colossians 3:1-2).  It is really critical that our life as a child of God resembles the selfless and passionate pursuit of Him.  As we seek him and become like him, not only are we blessed on earth but we are building an amazing treasure in Heaven.  If, as his kids, we focus on building an earthly kingdom—we, will find that our heart reflects a stronger desire to be on earth.  We will miss countless blessings here and a bounty when we join him for eternity.  Help me Lord to live with an eternal perspective.

God Bless You

¹⁰ Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. ¹² Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. ¹³ But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. ¹⁴ If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.

Speaking a foreign language was never a gift for me.  I always avoided it in HS, trudged through it in college and have endured the cultural change that demands it in life now.  Truth is, it is so much easier to read the subtitles.  They are so nicely translated so that I can get the gist of conversations based on the kindness of a translator.  In the spiritual realm, as a citizen of heaven, I have the luxury of understanding the language of heaven.  When I started my journey with Christ, God’s spirit became my spirit.  That spirit allows me to call him dad!  (Hebrews 6).  I can see things from God’s point of view and respond to his direction and leadership with understanding and confidence.  People without the Lord in their lives think the God talk and behavior is foolish and senseless.  The language is foreign, and the behavior is not consistent with the culture we live in.

We are blessed to be able to understand and follow God’s lead in our lives.  His direction provides freedom in a world of chaos.  It is incumbent on us to be the ambassadors and translators of his word and direction.  Through us those who seek him can find him.  We therefore must practice the language and culture of our land.  Help me Lord to follow your culture and speak your language.

God Bless You

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
for those who love him.”

¹⁰ But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. ¹¹ No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. ¹² And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.

¹³ When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. ¹⁴ But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. ¹⁵ Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. ¹⁶ For,

“Who can know the LORD’s thoughts?
Who knows enough to teach him?”

But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.

God’s message is simple—surrender your burdens, sinful desires, the things that entrap you and follow me.  If you do, you will be blessed, free and have eternal life.  While the message is simple, it is also extremely difficult.  We do not surrender with ease.  We have been raised to be independent and as we have heard the term so much it is in our mind synonymous with freedom.  In the spiritual world, that is not the case.  Independence from God most often leads to slavery to the world.  We become owned by the things we think we can control.  God simply calls us to quit attempting to do this life independent of him and start to move in his power and leadership.

 Help me Lord to embrace your simple message. Help me, Lord to follow you.

 ¹ When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. ² For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. ³ I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. ⁴ And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. ⁵ I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.

⁶ Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. ⁷ No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began.