Today’s Bible Reading is :

 Job 34; 1 Corinthians 4; 1 Corinthians 5; 1 Corinthians 6

Scripture

• 1 Corinthians 4
• 1 Corinthians 5
• 1 Corinthians 6

Observation:

I’m not sure even my own journal will be able to fill these there:

All three chapters of Corinthians, just really had me going, at lunch time, I’m going to have to get my commentary and really just pore over these chapters, read them again.

On days like these, I call them, my “powerhouse” readings; Readings that are so powerful that there is too much to digest at once or “comment” on and just days, that I know, I need to spend a little extra attention to God’s Word.

If you have the chance today, I encourage you to take the time to really read each chapter, the passages and the verse, for they are very encouraging and convicting and challenging passages that are reminders to us as believers and as a individuals who find ourselves, interacting not only with non-believers but with our brothers and sisters.

 ² Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. ³ But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.

⁴ For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. ⁵ Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.

Then each one’s praise will come from God.   
⁶ Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other.

⁷ For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
(1 Corinthians 4:2-7, New King James Version)

Paul isn’t shy. He seems to let us know….we are no better than the next, as he says in verse 7 ,“For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”

I have seen and even personally experience people who judge me on the basis of where they think I am in my walk with our Father; I have had some who have treat me as a child, because in their eyes, I was still “young in my Christian maturity” as if in some ways that disqualified me and made them better.

I’ve heard people boast how long they have been a Christian and wear it as a badge or right over others. We are strongly reminded in verse 5,”Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God. ”

I need to figure out a way to create a graphic, but our pastor describe the Christian walk yesterday.

Christ is the center.

Prior to knowing Christ, we sinned but for many, there are either a huge leap or baby steps toward Him. When we accept Him as our Saviour and ask forgiveness for our sins, we are at that moment in the “center” with Him.

We work toward becoming an image of Him and for some, once again, it’s by leaps and bounds, for others it maybe baby steps.

Though we are saved by Christ and a new creature in Christ, we still sin, we still make mistakes.

There is no ending point, it’s a continual process.

The “goal” is to keep working toward being an image of Christ where we are a reflection and vessel of Him.

For some.

They stay at the cross.

When that happens, there isn’t really growth. We’re not going forward, but we’re not really going backward too and to really experience God’s grace and work in our life, we can’t stay hiding. We need to take a deep breath and take those baby steps, but there is no promise it would be easy or given to us on a silver platter.

Sometimes we take three steps toward Him, but we may end up taking two steps back; It doesn’t justify continual sin, but rather, it justifies, we’re human and He knows it and He knows that at essence we have all sinned and our natures is something that we don’t ‘fix” overnight.

The key is do we grow or do we use sin to make excuses not to grow.

It’s a continual process.

However, the danger in this is that, the reality is, we are all prideful. Who among us doesn’t boast? And we can sometimes, without realizing it, become critical of others to the point that we become stumbling blocks.

In verse 5, Paul writes,” Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.
“

Truth is…You and I and everyone have and will have different life experiences that have and will shape us. It is not for you, me or anyone to judge anyone where they are in their Christian walk.

How are we to bring God’s word to a world that is broken and in need of His word, if we spend enough time, judging from within. What does that have to say for ourselves?

“For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?“-1 Corinthians 4:7 (NKJV)

Paul doesn’t use sugar when he writes. He is very brash and abrasive, like sandpaper, but what do we use sandpaper for, in the first place?

To smooth the rough edges…..

And he knows its not going to be an easy journal and doesn’t try to be a “Pollyanna” about it; When he converted, people still gave him a hard time and question him. After all, he was known as Saul and wasn’t the nicest person, you wanted to hand out with, particularly if you were a Christian.

So people doubted him and question him and his walk and his maturity.

And didn’t like it when he pointed out things that they didn’t wanted pointed out like:
 ¹ It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife! ² And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. ³ For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed.

⁴ In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁵ deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

⁶ Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? ⁷ Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. ⁸ Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.   

⁹ I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. ¹⁰ Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.

 ¹¹ But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.

¹² For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? ¹³ But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.” (1 Corinthians 5, New King James Version)

That had to be uncomfortable when they read:

9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.

11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.  12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”

Paul wasn’t worrying about if they were reaching the unsaved souls of Corinth; He was caring about how they were acting; I heard a sermon, I think it was by Dr.Jeremiah, but it could have been another, of how the pagans in Corinth, couldn’t distinguish the Christian believers from the pagans and thought the believers were worse than the pagans were acting!

Ouch.

That’s not what we want. For the world to be unable to distinguish us from that of the rest of the world and how does that bode good testimony to the word of our Heavenly Father.

It would be easy for them to say, “Why become a believer if I could do the same thing as an unbeliever”?

It would be great if life was easy, but as believers, we walk a very fine line and we may not like it, but the truth is that the world watches us more closely than if we weren’t a believers.

Look at the headlines.

It seems that those who sin, get more excuses and passes, but if the person was a believer and fall, look at how quick the pitchforks and the torches come out.

Yet…how about our own?

Do we walk the fine line of encouraging to sometimes just being judgemental? And in the name of who?

It’s ironic that we raise our children that the company we keep, does define who we are. If not just to our fellow believers, but to the world. We may say we are one thing, but if our actions declare another, it is our actions that more often defines us.

 ¹ Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? ² Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? ³ Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? ⁴ If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? ⁵ I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? ⁶ But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers!
⁷ Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? ⁸ No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren! ⁹ Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.   
¹² All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. ¹³ Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.
¹⁵ Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! ¹⁶ Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” ¹⁷ But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
¹⁸ Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ²⁰ For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Corinthians 6, New King James Version)

It floors me how Paul writes, verse 5,” I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren?”

He doesn’t care what they have to think because he knows the truth; GOD will be the one to judge us, not you, me or anyone else, that’s where it’s going to really count, if we don’t start cleaning up our act.

He’s already established in 1 Corinthians 4:2-5 (NKJV)

² Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. ³ But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.

⁴ For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. ⁵ Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.

I could almost see Paul shrugging his shoulders and go, “Fine, be mad at me, ignore me, don’t talk to me; It doesn’t matter because what DOES matter, is what our Father in Heaven thinks, not men.”

Application:

Reading these passages, I feel is a stern reminder, how you and I , all of us, should act as believers; We need to be careful that we are so indistinguishable from the world, that people, go “You’re not any different’ over “Why are you different from the world”.

We need to be careful in our interaction with our fellow believers; We don’t know where someone is in their Christian walk and it’s not for us to decide or to judge, but rather, for us to encourage and have fellowship. If a member slides, encourage them to come back and help them, but not lecture them OR join them.

We are accountable to each other because in the end, we are ultimately going to be accountable to our Father in Heaven, on the time of judgement and when He walks about the flock and seperates His sheep from those who refuse to obey Him in the final end.

It is a reminder that we all started somewhere and to watch our words and our actions among new believers, growing believers and sometimes, on the fence or fallen believers.

Just as it’s important that we are God’s ambassadors to the world, we can not ignore or forget those around us and sometimes God’s calling to us, isnt’ the world, or our comfort zone, but to minister among our own in a loving and gentle way to bring them back to God.

Imagine if God just slammed the door on us so quickly.

Praise God, He insteads says, it’s never too late until the last call is made and then, those who call Him Lord truly, will  be called home and those who don’t call Him Lord or profess to call Him Lord but didn’t confess Him in their hearts, will be judge, not by you or by me, but by Him.

Prayer:

Lord, I am so grateful for Your Greatness, Your Love and the Grace that NONE of us deserves, but You in Your love give to us freely, because YOU and only You decided we  deserve it. Lord, I pray and hope our hearts are soften and open and given not just encouragement and ministering from Your Heart, but blessed with discernment, patience and our eyes open as well as our souls.

For once we are lost and now we are found and You broke the chains that bound us down.

Thank You Abba, Thank You.

Amen. 

Don’t feel obligate to have to blog about each passage to be read, but if anything, feel free to share those passages that have the most impact on you that day.

There maybe some days that you may read your daily reading and find nothing to jot down in your journal or on your blog and that’s okay, but there maybe other days, that you will find yourself inspire.

This is about you being encouraged to have a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father, and spending each day with Him, You and Him.

I also have a November bookmark with this month’s readings, that you are more than welcome to download and print for your own use, to keep up with the daily readings.

It is my prayer and hope that this will be an encouragement to establish a personal daily reading as well.

To find out more about using the S.O.A.P. method, here’s a link to an ehow article and here’s the link to the Life Journal to find out more what it is, and how you can use it for your own daily bible readings. If you don’t want to order the journal or if it’s not available through your local church, another method is simply, buy a journal or notebook or even blog about your life journal readings.

Disclaimer: I am not personally affiliated with the church that the link goes to, but merely share it as a resource of what the Life Journal is, how to order it.

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