Chapter 1
Someone from Cloe’s family (unknown person) has contacted Paul regarding the lack of unity in the church. They are not following Jesus, they are following “men”. (Question: do you quote what the Pastor said, what a book or an article said, or what the Lord said?)
“I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
Wisdom:
18 For the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
Paul quotes Isaiah 29. The Word of God will sound foolish to unbelievers. It is like asking a blind person to watch a movie or a deaf person to listen to a song. If a person is not a believer, the Word will sound foolish to them-even to the smartest person. But for you and I (today)-25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. ❤️
We all talk about how much we are learning this year through this read-through. Maybe you have been reading since Genesis or maybe you jumped in much later. You have learned NOTHING from my posts. Maybe a few maps or history regarding a territory BUT everything that has been revealed to you in the Scripture has been solely from the Holy Spirit. None of this seems foolish to you because God has revealed it to you. Part of your evidence in your Salvation is the Word NOT being foolish:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
Isn’t that amazing!!
In chapter 3 we see that the Church of Corinth is not growing in spiritual maturity like they should be. Why? Because they are still living in the “world”, not set apart. Yes, it is man’s job to plant the seed on our daily missions. Yes, it is our job to water the seed by pouring into others, however, it is God who grows us. (think back now to the soil parable…maybe that’s why God can’t grow some people…the spoil is not fertile)
You can skip the rest if you want. It’s my own “comment” (beyond what is written…ha!)
Maybe something in today’s read stood out to you. I would love for you to share. If I may, I would like to share my favorite scripture from today’s read.
Chapter 4: “Do not go beyond what is written.”
I am NOT saying not to expand our knowledge by reading supplementary texts. However, I find more and more people will read the supplements, listen to podcasts, listen to pastors, read Christan books, read posts on social media WITHOUT it being directly related or relevant to what is written. (and they don’t know it is not related because they are not filtering it through the Bible or have even read it) This is VERY dangerous for 3 reasons:
- we remove ourselves from God’s Word. We read it less, study it less, and meditate on it less.
- we replace God’s Word. That is, when we stop filling ourselves with God’s Word, we start filling ourselves with something else.
- we eventually reject God’s Word altogether without even realizing it. At first, this will just be a doctrine here or there that we will reject because we prefer what the world teaches over what God teaches in the Bible.
Anything we listen to or read must not “go beyond what is written”: So as we listen to teachers of the Word, Jesus is the foundation. Supplements are the Farmers who plant and water the seed of God’s Word (1 Cor. 3:5–8), Construction workers who ensure that the church is built only on the foundation of Christ and him crucified (1 Cor. 3:10–17), Servants of Christ who only teach and preach what the Lord tells them (1 Cor. 4:1) and Stewards of the word of God—and of nothing else (1 Cor. 4:1)
Sorry to be preachy today. As I am picking my 2021 study, I have been pressed by the Lord on this VERY topic. “Do not go beyond what is written” ❤️
Reading the Bible in a Year-2020 