When Marcia initially asked me to write the devotions for this week, I briefly glanced at what the daily passages would be. When I saw some Corinthians, I remember thinking, Cool, I like Corinthians – it’s got some good stuff like the love chapter and resurrection chapter. Oh golly, did I underestimate the book of 1 Corinthians. I mean, I know Paul wrote some “hard to understand” things (2 Peter 3:16 NLT). I just didn’t realize, until today, I would have to write a response to some of these things.
Teaching, wisdom, and humility are some overarching themes in today’s text from 1 Corinthians chapters 1-4. Upon my first read through, I was stumped, and really wishing someone smarter than me had these chapters. I longed to search through my old notes from Bible college to see what my professor had to say. I have all my old notes – and Bob Jones, if you’re reading this, I have my handouts organized by theme in TWO collapsible file portfolios. 🙂 Unfortunately, everything is labeled somewhere in a box that has yet to be unearthed since my getting married and moving from Nebraska to Missouri. It then occurred to me I could spend hours diving deeper into the complexity of these four chapters with the aid of the internet. Seeing as it was 2pm Wednesday afternoon, Marcia needs my devotion tonight, and I’ve got a Thanksgiving Bible Study dinner at 5:30, I decided that wasn’t the way to go. So, I got out my interlinear Greek New Testament and started reading again, this time briefly summarizing the main ideas as I went. What I came up with was the Emilee Christian Simplified Version of 1 Corinthians 1-4. Doing this helped me better understand what Paul meant. I will share with you what I came up with, in hopes it does the same for you. This may be more informal than what you are used to reading – bear with me, please!
1:1-3: Paul and Sosthenes are writing a letter to the Corinthian church.
1:4-9: Speaking as Paul: I thank God for you. God loves you. God wants to use your church.
1:10-17: I hear you’ve been fighting – knock it off!
1:18-20: Earthly wisdom has no power against the cross.
1:21-31: God likes to use the weak and unexpected things of this world to further show His power. Side note – I particularly like this section and immediately thought of these four seemingly unexpected things God has used: a manger, shepherds, fishermen, and women as first witnesses to the resurrection.
2:1-5: When I came to you, I spoke in plain simple terms so you would understand that Gospel message.
2:6-11: I use more complex language while speaking to spiritually mature believers. This is different from worldly wisdom. Perhaps people were accusing Paul of using worldly ideas to explain the Gospel and this is his defense.
2:12-15: I’m talking about spiritual matters that do not make sense to those attempting to understand with worldly wisdom.
3: 1-3: Remember when I came to you I simplified things. I am still having to simplify things because your arguing and disagreeing is preventing you from understanding more complex spiritual thought.
3: 4-9: Summarizes what they’ve been arguing about. Explains that it doesn’t matter who brought you to the faith in Christ, what’s important is that you now have faith in Christ.
3:10-15: Christ is the foundation of our faith. Anyone may build upon this foundation by spreading the Good News. God’s judgment will reveal if one has done a good or bad job at expanding the foundation. We mere humans don’t need to burden ourselves with making those judgments.
3:16-17: The Church is God’s holy temple so behave and be holy – get your act together Corinthians!
3:18: Sounds like Paul saying he hopes the proud get knocked down a few pegs so they will in turn learn true wisdom.
3:19-20: Again there is a difference between God’s wisdom and the world’s understanding.
3:21-22: Don’t be boastful, don’t be prideful – all things belong to Christ who belongs to God.
4:1-5: It’s God’s place to judge.
4:6-7: So quit arguing about who is better – it’s not your job, it’s God’s.
4:8-13: Seriously, quit bickering over us Apostles! It’s rough enough out here spreading the Gospel we don’t need to deal with your infighting, too.
4:14:I’m not trying to shame you in saying these things, but you need to be disciplined because you are acting like children.
4:15-16:I feel responsible for your faith because I was the one who first told you about Christ – so I’ve got a right to call you out when you’re acting like children. Shape up. Do better.
4:17: I’m sending Timothy to help you.
4:18-21: I hear you want me to come visit, but is that what you really want? Because if I came to visit you now I would be mad and disappointed. Get your act together so that when I do come, we can have a good visit.
Food for Thought: I have to wonder if writing in lengthy complex statements was sort of Paul’s point. In trying to put spiritual things into the context and words of men, it seemed to me to make less sense. Is that a part of Paul’s argument? Perhaps Paul is demonstrating that to have complete understanding of God is foolish and what we should seek is to have faith.
Reflection Questions
What are some examples of what the world says is wise that God says is foolishness? When have you found yourself switching over from worldly wisdom to Godly wisdom?
If Paul came to your church, or wrote a letter to you, what might he say?
What arguments have you allowed to come between you and your brothers and sisters at church? What can you do to fix the problem?
Acts chapter 14 ended with teaching us that God had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. In chapter 15, the disciples are met with a conundrum because some men from Judea were teaching that, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
I think it is good to remember that post Jesus’s accomplishments on the cross, most of the Jewish Christians were still behaving like Jews – they were still going to synagogues on the Sabbath, they were still preaching from the Old Testament (because that’s the scripture they had), and were still engaging in many of the activities that they learned from their culture that were good.
I don’t think that the Jewish Christians were ever told to stop “being Jewish.” But they were told to follow Christ, not Moses, when it came to doing God’s will. In the book of James, we read that they were instructed to follow the law of liberty, which I believe is in applying (doing) the New Covenant commandment to ‘love as Jesus loved’ to all aspects of our lives. He taught us how using several Old Covenant commandments in light of the New Covenant command of love. He learned how to do this from Jesus. Jesus taught in this way in his Sermon on the Mount (e.g., instead of murdering your brother, don’t even get angry with him).
I don’t think this means that we are to keep the Old Covenant commandments, nor even to do the things Jesus said to do (hear me out), AS LAW, that we must keep in order to enter the Kingdom of God. Rather, we are to seek God’s wisdom about a matter (such as with being angry with a brother), with the motivation that Jesus had to love the brother, in order to do what God wants us to do in the situation (God’s will) to save him.
Jesus’s words are wisdom for us, not law.
For example, there will be times when we are angry with our brother, and it will be righteous anger. We need to seek God’s wisdom to know when that is the case and what to do about it to save the brother (or the enemy). There’s much wisdom throughout the Bible on this topic. But there’s no specific law outlined for us to do under the New Covenant. We have the freedom/liberty to seek God’s wisdom in the matter to know what to do to help, and then are commanded to do it. For the most part, it will be what Jesus said to do.
Jesus says that, “if you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15) – but we must understand what they mean and how they will apply to the situations we get in in order to do them according to God’s will. We do this by reading scripture (OT) and the word (the gospel; NT) for God’s wisdom, and then by doing what he says by way of the urging of the Holy Spirit. You’ll see this in action throughout the book of Acts.
Read the rest of John 14 and remember from John 6 that the Spirit gives life. “If anyone loves me (Jesus), he will keep my word; and my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). “But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” (John 14:26).
There’s no law in the New Covenant about what commandments we must keep from the Old Covenant, as we’re not under it, but there is much wisdom we can learn about why God wants us to obey many of them (look at Jesus’s words to understand what he wants us to know and do). They (the commandments God wants us to know and do) are the things we should know about Yahweh God, his son Jesus, and how to love like Jesus in order to compel others to want what we want – God’s will to be done for our own good, because it will save us. It’s the Gospel.
The new knowledge the early Jewish Christians were learning (that they were no longer to separate themselves from Gentiles) was unfolding in many of the books of the New Testament for us to gain wisdom about. We get to see how they worked out this new revelation. We also get to refer to scripture from the Old Testament that prophesied about this.
*The wisdom of God will be found in the Bible, but the understanding of it, wisdom, we must seek by asking, by way of the Holy Spirit, so that we can do God’s will and not our own, for the good of all to save them.
Paul and Barnabas had a heated argument and debate with the teachers of the “circumcision to be saved” message (meaning it is okay, and good for us to debate to get to the truth). It was determined that they should go to Jerusalem to consult with the apostles and elders concerning this issue. On their way, they witnessed Gentile Christians who were doing well and bringing great joy to all of the brethren.
However, when they arrived in Jerusalem, some of the apostles and elders who were Pharisees but believed in Jesus, also said that the new Gentile converts must follow the Law of Moses and be circumcised to be saved. All the apostles and elders then came together to discuss the matter. After much debate, Peter gave a speech that I think reiterates what is needed to be a Christ follower. He said that God wanted the Gentiles to hear the word of the gospel and believe.
Whoever does God’s will according to the gospel will get a heart cleanse and receive the Holy Spirit (a connection with God through Christ, urging us to do God’s will (life) instead of following the urges of our flesh’s desire to do our own will (sin)). The receiving of the Holy Spirit was a great witness to the Jewish Christians of the truth in this matter.
Peter told those who would teach the Gentiles that salvation came by way of the Law of Moses that they were testing God. Don’t do this! We saw how it ended in Massah and Meribah when they tested God. Teaching the Gentiles to follow Moses via the Law of Moses was placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither their fathers, nor they were able to bear. Instead, believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus – all of us who enter the New Covenant through him.
Everyone listened silently as Barnabas and Paul relayed all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles.
James, the brother of Jesus, and now head of the council in Jerusalem, confirmed what Peter said, drawing on Peter’s revelation from what God had foretold his people in scripture long ago (Acts 15:16-18; Amos 9:11-12). Therefore, it is his judgement that they should not trouble the Gentiles to keep the Law of Moses, but to abstain from things contaminated by idols, from acts of sexual immorality, from what has been strangled, and from blood. For Moses has been preached since ancient times in every city every Sabbath.
What does that mean? I think it means that James’s judgement is not to force the Gentile converts to keep the Law of Moses. But they should give the Gentiles some ordinances to help them live well among their new Jewish brethren in peace and in love.
These seemingly strange to us ordinances he gave were about the Gentile eating habits that could cause tension with Jews who would find it hard to eat with someone who ate meat they historically thought dishonored God. Gentiles were in the habit of eating meat sacrificed to idols, in horrific ways (involving sexual immorality and inhumane animal killing). Jews who heard the Law of Moses prohibiting such practices preached every Sabbath would find it hard to accept eating with a person engaging in that eating habit, though they are no longer yoked to separating themselves from Gentiles.
The church council is not creating laws that the Gentiles must follow in order to be saved. They are creating guidelines for them to follow to love their Jewish brethren, who may find it hard to stop segregating because of the Gentile eating habits.
After becoming of one mind on the matter, Paul and Barnabus were sent to the Antioch church with a letter to tell them about their judgement, along with select men who had risked their lives for the name of the Lord to reiterate these things by word of mouth. They were taking great care to help the new converts and Jewish brethren to understand why they came up with this judgement, which is also said to have come about by way of the Holy Spirit’s urging (Acts 15:28). It’s about loving God and loving people, helping them to live well with this change of lifestyle to stop segregation between Jew and Gentile under the New Covenant. The people in Antioch rejoiced because of the letter’s encouragement.
Chapter 16
In chapter 16, we find Paul’s missionary journey continuing. He and his companions were letting their journey to spread the gospel be led by the Holy Spirit. He did something seemingly contradictory to Timothy, but I think it was done with the same intention that the council had when providing Gentiles with ordinances to keep the peace in love at mealtime without segregation.
Paul circumcised Timothy so that the Jews would initially accept him as the word of the Lord was preached, particularly the part of the good news that the council came up with to be sure the Jews wouldn’t put a heavy yoke on the Gentiles, while also helping the Gentiles to be loving with their eating practices to help the Jews stop segregation. It was likely a wise, loving thing to do to aid in the spreading of the gospel, urged by the spirit. As they did this, the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were growing daily.
They continued to let the Holy Spirit lead them on their journey. It prohibited them from speaking the word in Asia and a few other places. It led them through a night vision to Macedonia. As a result of doing this, they met a worshipper of God who opened her heart to respond to the things taught. Her response was to pay for their journey to continue spreading the gospel.
They ran into some hiccups along the way, like being beaten and thrown into prison in chains, but this unjust trial was a blessing in disguise. While in prison, they prayed and sang hymns of praise to God while all of the other prisoners listened. An earthquake threatened the life of a jailer, as it unchained all of the prisoners. He was about to commit suicide, assuming he had failed his job by allowing prisoners to escape, but none tried (likely urged to stay put by way of the Holy Spirit). Instead of committing suicide, he asked them how to be saved (I’m sure all of the other prisoners were saved that day too!).
This is what our lives should be about; Saving lives, no matter our circumstance, by following the urging of the Holy Spirit to do God’s will instead of our own, because we desire for them to enter the Kingdom of God.
Paul told the jailer that to be saved, he must believe in the Lord Jesus. He spoke the word of God to him and all who were in his house, and they were baptized. The jailer’s response was to take care of his new Christian brethren, inviting them into his home, washing their wounds, giving them food, and rejoicing because he and his whole household were now believers in God by way of Jesus. What a response!
When day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers to release Paul and his companions secretly. But Paul told them no because they were unlawfully beaten in public without due process, and they were Roman citizens, which frightened the magistrates (because they would have consequences for doing that to Roman citizens). They agreed to being led out of jail and followed their urging to leave the city. They went to Lydia’s home, where they were encouraged (likely with money for their journey), and then went on their way. I think all of this was orchestrated by the leading of the Holy Spirit to do God’s will. What do you think?
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. Are Jesus’s words wisdom or law? What are Jesus’s commandments that we must keep?
2. When the church was planted in Antioch, the disciples went to great lengths to help them succeed. How can we be as proactive with the churches we plant?
3. How do you think the Holy Spirit led Paul and his companions? We know it was through a night vision to find Lydia. How else do you think the Holy Spirit led them?
The wisdom James is giving his readers sounds a lot like the wisdom given in the law of Moses (Leviticus 19), from the book of Proverbs, and from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5, 6, & 7). I can’t think of a better devotional than to review it and what I believe it means so I can apply it:
Let not many of you be teachers, because teachers will be more harshly judged. Teachers have a responsibility to seek God’s wisdom about what they are teaching others so that they will not lead others astray. They are influencers. If you’re going to influence someone to follow God’s word, take care that you are seeking God’s wisdom about how to interpret it so that you can lead by example, like Jesus did.
We all stumble in many ways. But if we can learn to control our tongue, we can be a perfect person, able to control how we behave. Jesus did this. He only spoke what the father told him, and then did what his father said to do.
Like a ship’s rudder directs the whole ship, or a bit in a horse’s mouth directs the whole horse, so the tongue bridled can direct the person’s behavior. The tongue speaks what’s in the heart of the person; the person’s own will. If the tongue can be tamed, by seeking God for his wisdom about what to speak and then do, the person is letting God lead, or letting God’s will direct her, or walking by the spirit.
Practice using caution when you speak, seeking God’s wisdom about what you should say and what you should do like Jesus did, so that what you say is what you do, and what you do is what God says is good.
Again, just as a small flame can set a whole forest on fire, so the tongue is a small thing, that can send a person to the grave. If what you speak is not of God, you’re speaking of your own wisdom and doing your own will. When you do this, death is the end result if you do not get back on the right path.
Man has tamed all of God’s creation, and yet he cannot tame his own tongue. With it he blesses his father but then curses men who were made in the likeness of God. Let’s not let it be this way, friends.
Who among you is wise and understanding? If you are, prove it through your good deeds. Notice that it doesn’t say the wise and understanding should become a teacher, though that should be a prerequisite, I think.
If you are wise and understanding, it will be evidenced by your bridled tongue. You will be a gentle person, who does the will of God.
Deeds that are not good, or not wisdom from above, include bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. The behaviors involved with these characteristics are earthly, or demonic, and they create disorder and evil. They are deeds done with the motivation of loving oneself without a care for others.
Deeds that are good, from above, will be produced from people who are first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. These are deeds that are done for the good of others, for love’s sake.
The seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. In other words, our goal is to sow the word of God in others peacefully, so that they too will bear righteous fruit; they’ll become people who also become righteous and are peaceful.
How many times do you see the opposite happen, especially online? I work from home, with fewer opportunities to spread the gospel face to face, but I enjoy doing it online. Others use this tool as well. Unfortunately, I think many keyboard warriors have missed the mark on this one. There seems to be a motivation of pride – to win an argument, with much quarrelling and name calling, rather than peaceful planting for love’s sake. If someone doesn’t want to hear your argument, shake the dust off and move on peacefully.
Chapter 4.
What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? It’s your desire to please yourself, or for your own will to be done. For example, you lust and do not have, so you murder. You are envious and cannot obtain what someone else has, so you fight and quarrel.
You do not have what you want because you do not ask. If you do ask, you do not receive because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you can spend it on your own pleasures.
You are supposed to ask to receive things for your own good and for the good of others, that is, God’s wisdom about whatever God says is good for you.
If you don’t, you’re like an adulteress, envious of something not meant for you, but you take it anyway to please yourself. When you do this, you’re a friend of the world, and an enemy of God, because you do the things opposed to his will and will therefore hurt yourself or others in the process with your own will/judgment.
He jealously desires his spirit to dwell in us, which prompts us to desire to do his will, not our own. Therefore, he gives greater grace to the humble, that is, to those who seek God’s help in making decisions (and then act on his wisdom about what to do).
So, submit to God for his wisdom. Resist the devil by resisting the urge to walk by the flesh (your own will) rather than the spirit’s urging, and the devil will flee. Remember that he fled from Jesus after his temptation because Jesus met him with this resistance. He told him he will do God’s will. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.
Be humble people. Humble people cleanse their hands (stop sinning). They aren’t double-minded, they are seekers of one will, God’s. If they were sinning or seeking to please both God and man, they need to mourn and weep their sin and circumstance. Humble people will be exalted.
Don’t speak evil about your neighbor. This means do not slander; don’t charge someone falsely with malicious intent by attacking their reputation. When you do this, you have judged your neighbor as unworthy of receiving the royal treatment of love. When you do this, you have spoken against the law (of Moses (Exodus 20:16), but as it should be applied under the law of liberty) and become a judge of it, rather than a doer of it.
Instead of seeking God’s wisdom about your neighbor and what to do, you used your own wisdom to judge him falsely according to your own will. You will be put to shame, for there is only one judge, who is able to save and destroy.
We do this when we rely on our own will to make a profit as well. When you make your own decisions about what you’ll do to make a profit, or an abundance beyond what you need, and succeed, you become boastful. When you boast in relying on your own wisdom and will to make a profit, rather than relying on God for your provision and what to do with it, you’re being arrogant. Instead, seek God’s will in the matter, and do it. You don’t know what tomorrow holds for you.
If you know the right thing to do according to God’s will but do not do it, that is sin.
Chapter 5.
If you’re rich and store up treasures for yourself on earth without regard for reliance on God for your provision, nor using your abundant excess for those in need, your wasted rotting possessions will testify against you in the end (because you’ve decided to be the judge of how you’ll behave instead of relying on God’s wisdom to teach you what to do in various matters of this life).
The context here is about the rich who have been wicked, withholding the pay to those who served them in making their abundance. Like Abel crying out to God, the cries of those you’ve mistreated will reach the ears of the Lord, whom God appointed judge.
While you were enjoying your luxuries, those who worked hard but were treated badly were dying. You didn’t save them with your wealth by helping them with it. Instead, you condemned the righteous to death by withholding what could have helped them. They died without fighting against you for help.
Instead of being like this rich man, be like the righteous laborers. Be patient until the coming of the Lord, just as the farmer is patient in waiting for the precious produce of the soil to be ready. If you can be patient in thinking on the coming of the Lord whose time is near, it can strengthen your heart, and you can endure.
Don’t complain against brothers and sisters in Christ, so that you won’t be judged. The judge is standing at the door! I tie much of what I read about unrighteous complaining to the Israelite children in Massah and Meribah. They were judged for grumbling against Moses (and in turn, God) for bringing them out of slavery only to suffer in the wilderness, with no regard for the good God had done for them. They looked back at their life as a slave and thought it better than being free in the wilderness. This showed a lack of faith/trust and disobedience to God, as it was testing God.
As examples, this wisdom from God mentions the prophets of old, how they endured suffering for doing what was right in God’s eyes with patience and were counted blessed, especially the prophet Job. Those closest to him urged him to grumble against God for his poor circumstances. He never did. We know how it turned out for him in the end, full of God’s mercy and compassion. Take him as an example to follow if you are suffering.
Above all, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes and your no, no, so that you do not fall under judgement. I think this comes from Matthew 6:33. The Law of Moses says, “Do not make false vows, fulfill them to the Lord.” But Jesus says don’t make a vow at all. Let your word be good enough.
So why would this be above all? Because oaths in Jesus’s time were used to manipulate or test God. People would use vows or oaths in the name of God to get someone to do what they wanted them to do because they’d swear by God’s name. Don’t do this!!! I believe it is also part of taking God’s name in vain (e.g., “I swear to God I’ll do what I say”).
What’s in the heart of the person who swears by God’s name? It’s not to honor their commitment but to get what they want using God. Just let your word be good enough. Don’t test/use/manipulate God. He can’t be tempted anyway so you’re just condemning yourself.
If you are suffering, pray.
If you are cheerful, sing praises to God.
If you are sick, call for the elders of the church and they will pray for you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will restore the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up.
Notice that if you are suffering, you are to pray, but if you are sick, you are to have someone else pray for you. I think this is because the sick person may not be able to pray as he would when well. But what follows should follow all who are righteous who pray; it should be a prayer like the Lord’s prayer, including asking for forgiveness of sins.
Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. I don’t think this is strictly in context with someone who is sick needing prayers for sin. It should be a part of our everyday life as Christians, as we pray the Lord’s prayer together. The prayer of a righteous person, when it is brought before God, can accomplish much, just like it did for Elijah when he earnestly prayed for no rain.
If anyone among you strays from the truth and someone turns him back, know that the one who has turned a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. Turning someone from sin is loving them. But be sure to be gentle when you do it. And be sure you don’t have a log in your own eye first (Prov 10:12; Matt 18:15-17; 1 Peter 4:8).
Our daily lives should involve helping each other be the people God wants us to be, working together to know and do God’s will. It will involve praising God together, serving each other, praying for one another, and helping each other abstain from sin or turning away from it. Lives are at stake.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. Chapter 3 places a lot of emphasis on taming the tongue. I think this has to do with stopping ourselves to seek God’s wisdom before we speak and proceed to act on our own wisdom/with our own will. What do you think?
2. Chapter 4 seems to lump things we do that don’t seem too harmful (like quarreling) with things we deem very harmful, like murder. Jesus seems to do this too when he applies the New Covenant command of love to Old Covenant laws (i.e., don’t just refrain from murder, refrain from being angry with your brother). I think he does this to show us how to stop sin from “growing”. If you can cut off anger and love your brother, you won’t murder him. What do you think?
3. Chapter 5 made me think a lot. God is for the protection of his people. His laws are for our good and the good of others, yet he calls us to sacrifice our rights in order to save others. Others in turn are to sacrifice for us. How do you decipher when to speak up and act for justices’ sake verses staying silent and suffering unrighteousness done to you by others, knowing God will judge through Jesus in the end?
How do you want to be known? James calls himself, “a slave to God and to the Lord Jesus the Christ.” Though we’re no longer slaves, but friends of Christ, it is a great grand opening to talking about how to be perfect, which is in doing the will of God until the end of our lives (because we’ve become people who really want to)!
James is writing to the 12 tribes dispersed abroad, so in other words, he’s writing to Jewish Christians in various lands. I’m not sure what persecution was going on at the time of James’s writing, but we have seen in other books of the Bible that spreading the Gospel put a target on Christians. James gives his brethren what they need to endure whatever happens to them to the end of their lives. He gives them God’s wisdom.
James encourages his brethren to consider various trials with joy, as a testing of their faith, as it produces endurance, which results in perfection. These words point my thoughts to Jesus in the garden. What was about to happen to him was happening because others hated him for what he spoke and did, and they wanted his influence to stop. They were jealous.
Jesus was in agony thinking about the cross and thinking about the disciples and early Christians who were about to be scattered for his sake, that James may be writing to now. He endured the cross by thinking about what would be accomplished because of this final trial.
This is how you endure hardships for the Lord; you think about all of the people you will influence by following Jesus’s example so that they too can desire to love like Jesus and be saved. This perspective can bring you joy. Changing your mind to have this perspective during various trials is wisdom from God.
But if we lack wisdom about what to do, especially during hardships, all we need do is ask and God will be generous to teach us his ways. But we must ask in faith, without doubting.
We shouldn’t doubt that he’ll give us wisdom about what to do when we ask because he’s proven that he’s a good God and father, who teaches us his ways for our own good. A good father won’t give his children something that’s going to harm them when they ask for something they desire, right (Luke 11:11-13)? Of course not. He’s going to give them what they need (though it may not always seem like it, such as in the case of Jesus going to the cross).
If you doubt that God is going to give you wisdom for your own good, and instead will give you wisdom that will harm you or make your situation worse (e.g., Massah & Meribah), you’re showing him that you don’t trust him. You’re like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. You’re not going to get anything from him if you don’t trust him.
James goes on to teach the dispersed brethren a bit of wisdom that we can all heed. I think it is the wisdom of God that’s of utmost importance for us to follow as his disciples. We’re not given a set of laws we must follow in the New Covenant, but we are given wisdom. Let’s desire it like Solomon did and do it like Jesus did:
A poor man knows that God is his provider. He can glory in his humility (glory in that he seeks God’s wisdom for his survival). But a rich man that does not rely on God for his means and pursues what he wants for his own personal gain can glory in his humiliation. He’s not going to make it to the Kingdom of God without seeking the father’s wisdom about his provisions (or his abundance).
Know that this life comes with trials. Trust in God’s wisdom to get through it and let it shape you into the kingdom citizen God wants you to be, so that you won’t be a person that desires harm to come to anyone, rather, you’ll be a person who loves like his son. In the end, your crown of life will be waiting.
Understand that when temptation comes, it didn’t come from God. It came because our world has been shaped by people who didn’t always choose God’s will. It came because there is a devil lurking about, persuading people to choose to eat of the tree that’s choosing their own wisdom about what’s good and evil, and then they do evil, which affects everyone. It came because we ourselves don’t always choose God’s will. Our own lust breeds sin that will always lead to death. But choosing God’s wisdom about what we should do to overcome our lust (our own will) approves us as one who wants God as our judge when we do what God says is good.
Every good and perfect gift given comes down from the father above (meaning, it was given by God, and it was his will). It was his will that he brought us forth by the word of truth (his wisdom about creating us new in Christ), that we would be a kind of first fruits among his creation. So be the first fruits you were meant to be, as lights to the world like his son.
You already know God’s word, so put away what remains of filthiness in your life that will prevent you from seeking God’s wisdom and doing his will. Be quick to hear from God, slow to speak, and slow to anger so that you will be a person prepared to receive the word implanted, which is his wisdom about what you should do to save your soul (and your neighbor’s soul).
If you hear the word of God (God’s wisdom about what you should do) but then fail to do it, you’re like someone who looks at himself in a mirror (hearing the word only), but then walks away, forgetting what he looks like. I equate this with going to church, getting filled with the Holy Spirit to do God’s will, then forgetting that you are a child of God throughout the week, and that you were meant to shine for others to see through your works. We need to actually do what we hear. That’s the word implanted. It’s continually being filled by the holy spirit so that we can walk by it (action).
Instead of looking at yourself in the mirror, look intently at the perfect law of liberty, to love as Jesus loved, so that you won’t be an effectual hearer only of the word, but a doer. Notice in this example that there’s no walking away, in contrast to the mirror. You look intently at it so that you won’t walk away and forget. Your eyes are continually fixed upon the law that says to do something, for loves sake, to save others, just like Jesus did.
Bridle your tongue to let God’s wisdom about what you should do prevail and guide you (by being quick to hear when you ask, slow to speak so that you’re sure you’re speaking God’s will and not your own, and slow to anger – God’s will about what you should do isn’t going to be to tell you to get angry, for the most part, because anger does not bring about the righteousness of God). Your own tongue can deceive you into thinking that you’re doing God’s will, but it’s just lip service if you’re not doing what God says to do.
Pure and undefiled religion is in the doing of God’s will continually, instead of our own (which is sinning). Doing God’s will will keep us unstained by the world. For Jesus, pure and undefiled religion was laying down his life for us. For us, it may be to love orphans and widows in their distress by visiting them and giving them what they need. It can be loving anyone in distress by visiting them to help them, especially the brethren.
Don’t just do good for those who society favors. If you do, you’ve chosen to be the judge of who’s deserving of God’s royal treatment, rather than relying on his wisdom about it. God favors those who favor him, who are generally the poor, because they’re humble (they rely on God for his wisdom instead of the rich, who generally rely on their wealth).
If you show partiality by way of how you treat the poor compared to the rich, then you’ve dishonored the poor. And for what? The favor you show to the rich goes to people who oppress you. They are those who have no problem dragging you into court when an issue arises, and will there blaspheme your name to win a case against you.
If you are fulfilling the royal law from scripture (Lev 19:18), “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well, because that’s God’s will (and in so doing, you fulfill all the Law of Moses and the prophets (Mat. 7:12; 22:40 with the Shema)).
If you show partiality however, that is sin. It is sin because you’re using your own wisdom/being the judge of who’s deserving of God’s royal treatment (who gets your love and who doesn’t?). It is better to be merciful to the poor than to judge them unworthy of your mercy by way of how you treat them.
And if you sin in this way, you are guilty of sin and are convicted as a violator of the Law (of Moses, I think; but also of the law of liberty). Not showing partiality is a moral law we should still “follow” under the law of liberty because we want all people to enter the kingdom of God. Treating the poor as well as we treat the rich just may show them the love of Christ, planting a seed of faith/trust that will bring them to the kingdom.
Jesus explained how to do this with some of the laws from the Law of Moses in his Sermon on the Mount. Here it looks like James is doing it with the law against showing partiality. The wisdom from God then, is the same wisdom from God under the New Covenant regarding how to fulfill this commandment. It’s in loving your neighbor as yourself – not just the rich and influential.
Under the New Covenant, we are to speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty, serving all with God’s royal treatment (treat them how you’d want to be treated because you are motivated by love to get them into the kingdom).
If you committed the sin of showing partiality under the Old Covenant, you would have to repent by making a sacrifice to cover the sin. Under the New Covenant, you need to repent to your high priest Jesus (a much easier yoke), and stop showing partiality because you realize that you want the poor to know the love of Jesus and enter the Kingdom of God as much as you want to. If you don’t show them mercy, God will not show mercy to you on the day of judgment.
You can’t rightly say you have faith without works that are evident of your faith. Your works are how you treat people based on whose will you decide to follow. If someone says he has faith but no works, it is like telling the cold and hungry person who asked you for food to, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” without actually giving him anything. This is worthless if you don’t give him what he needs when you are able.
Belief that something is true is not enough for justification’s sake. Take the belief that God is one for example. The demons believe this to be true, but shudder. They know the truth, but their actions reveal that they follow their own will and oppose the preaching of faith in Jesus. They shudder because they know they are guilty before a powerful God and will face destruction soon.
Abraham (a Jew) had faith, and so did Rahab (a Gentile). They believed that God was able to fulfill his promises to them for their good (or that God’s people would fulfill their promise because of who their God was in Rahab’s case), and so they acted based on their belief. They are included in the promises of God because of this. Likewise, let’s prove that we have faith by our works, which are acts of love, proving that we are becoming a person like Jesus, who chooses to do God’s will for the good of all; for loves sake.
QUESTIONS
1. Do you think that the sins of others in times past have affected your walk with God? If so, how can you change that so that you will affect others with the good you do?
2. Do you think the Royal law is the same as the law of liberty/freedom?
3. If we are guilty of a sin (like showing partiality) under the law of liberty/freedom, how does our high priest Jesus differ in how our sin is handled from the high priest under the Old Covenant?
In 2 Kings 20, we see King Hezekiah, a ruler who (mostly) honored the Lord and brought reform to Judah. When he fell ill, he prayed earnestly, and God mercifully extended his life by fifteen years. Yet even this godly king displayed flaws and selfish pride, especially during the end of his rule. After his recovery, he proudly showed off his treasures and bragged to the Babylons, failing to seek God’s wisdom instead. This prideful act led to Isaiah’s sobering prophecy and indeed Babylon would one day carry all of his riches away. Hezekiah also showed a lack of care or concern for the people who would come after him. He was pleased just to know that the Lord’s wrath wouldn’t fall upon Jerusalem during his lifetime. He did not set up future generations for success.
In chapter 21, we meet Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh, who reigned for 55 years. Unlike his father, Manasseh rejected the Lord completely! He rebuilt pagan altars, was engaged in every form of occultism, including black magic, fortune-telling, demon contacts, and even child sacrifice. Manasseh led Judah deeper into sin than the nations God had driven out before them. The history of God’s people was a history of disobedience toward the Lord. With the reign of Manasseh, the sin of God’s people climaxed, God’s patience was withdrawn, and the judgement of exile became inevitable.
The contrast is striking: King Hezekiah sought God yet stumbled in pride; King Manasseh abandoned God altogether. This contrast reminds us that faith must be personal, it cannot be inherited. Hezekiah’s faith didn’t guarantee Manasseh’s obedience. Likewise, partial obedience or past faithfulness doesn’t excuse compromise. God calls each of us to a life of daily trust and surrender.
Prayer:
Lord, help me walk humbly before You, not resting in yesterday’s faith, but living in daily obedience. Keep me from pride and arrogance and please lead my heart to fully trust in You and Your precious son, Jesus. In his name we pray, Amen.
Reflection Questions:
• Where might you be relying on past spiritual victories, rather than seeking renewed dependence on God today?
• Are there areas in your life where pride or compromise have crept in?
• Are there “treasures” that you show off, revealing misplaced confidence?
• What legacy of faith are you building for those who come after you?
Everyday when I get home, my sweet dog Brynleigh greets me at the door. She usually gives me a few little barks of hello and then follows me around as I settle in. This darling little corgi is so full of love and devotion, but I am not the object of her affection. When she greets me at the door, she has her orange and blue ball either in her mouth or very close by. While I’m settling in, she’s not worried about me being comfortable. She’s impatiently waiting for me to drop everything and play ball with her. She is 100% devoted to her ball and loves it more than anything or anyone on the planet. Sure she loves me or at least tolerates me in her way, but she practically worships her ball.
King Amaziah is not so different from my beloved corgi. When I see the name Amaziah, I correlate it to the word “amazing,” but we find that he wasn’t the amazing king we would hope for. It says that although Amaziah generally did right in the sight of God, he didn’t do so with a full heart. We see him go through the motions and even make some good decisions, but because his heart is not completely rooted in being a faithful follower of God, we see him fall away. We see him become proud and seemingly believe that he is, in fact, an amazing king.
After Amaziah and his army came home from battle, he didn’t give glory to God or seek His wisdom. Instead, he brought home idols that represented the gods of the sons of Seir. He didn’t just bring them home as plunder or decoration though, he actually started worshiping them. God sends a prophet who confronts him and asks in 2 Chronicles 25:15, “Why have you sought the gods of the people who have not delivered their people from your hand?” But, the amazing king just tells the prophet to stop talking. He didn’t want to hear wisdom and he certainly didn’t want to make any changes in his life.
At the pinnacle of his reign, Amaziah decides to pick a fight with King Jehoash of Israel. Jehoash dishes some major shade his way in return. Here is how I would imagine part of Jehoash’s response if it were in modern times. “Look, thanks to your massive ego, I know you think you are amazing and unstoppable but why don’t you just stay home and polish your trophies. I could crush you and all of Judah too, so don’t embarrass yourself.” In truth, I don’t know if King Jehoash’s reply to King Amaziah was meant to be as sarcastic as I’ve implied or if it was meant to be a more sincere rebuke but either way, the amazing king didn’t listen. His army was defeated, his city was plundered, and he was captured. He really should have just stayed home.
Before we start pointing a finger at King Amaziah’s downfalls and inflate our egos, let’s take a minute to see how similar we might be. Are there times that we go through the motions but don’t give our whole selves to God? Have we ever pushed away wisdom and then suffered the consequences? Of course we have. We have all fallen short, just like the amazing king.
Unlike Amaziah, my hope is that when we fall short that we would seek wisdom. When an idol gets between us and our relationship to God, my prayer is that we would be rooted firmly enough in God’s love to cast it aside. Let’s strive to be whole heartedly devoted to God who truly is amazing.
-Lacey Dunn
Reflection Questions:
• If you were King Jehoash, how might you have responded to King Amaziah’s message?
• What is a potential idol that you might have? How did it become an idol and what can you do to remove it?
• What does it look like to give your whole heart to God? Set aside some time to dig in to scripture, meditate, or have a discussion with a Godly friend about what it means to give your whole heart to God.
In Second Chronicles 22:10-12 we find the account of Jehosheba hiding her nephew, Prince Joash, when he was one year old so he is not murdered by his wicked grandmother after his father dies. Joash is hidden until he is seven years old when he becomes king, which will be included in some of next week’s readings. This is the kind of storyline we would typically find in fictional writings or movies.
Jehosheba is a hero of the Bible who saves a toddler from the evil schemes of a power-hungry authority. Consider how Moses was saved under Pharaoh’s reign, or Jesus during the time of King Herod. Even with this heroic act, we know little about Jehosheba. She was the daughter of King Jehoram and married the priest Jehoiada. These are two historical figures most people know little about. Her husband led a rebellion to instill the rightful heir of David to the throne in Jerusalem. Her father was so evil the Bible says that when he died it was to no one’s regret (2 Chron. 21:20).
I want us to consider this last fact, the daughter of a wicked king performed a righteous act that preserved the line of David. We all come from somewhere. I know some whose parents, although not perfect, may be considered by the Bible as ‘wise’ or ‘righteous’. They follow(ed) the ways of God and set a great example for their children. I am thankful that this is the experience I have. However, I also know some whose parents may be considered by the Bible as ‘foolish’ or ‘unrighteous’. They follow(ed) their own ways or the ways of the world, giving no regard to God, and setting a poor example for their children. This would have been the experience of Jehosheba. As she grew up she would have witnessed terrible things. It is very easy to follow the lead set for us by our parents.
As an adult, Jehosheba chose to do the right thing no matter the influence of others in her past. She made a choice to help rather than harm. She chose righteousness, not evil. It may be a challenge for us to move beyond the example set for us by others, even our parents, if that example was negative. However, we can see from the example of Jehosheba that we can do it. We can choose to help rather than harm. We can choose righteousness, not evil. Our past does not have to dictate how we choose to live today.
When we choose to do the right thing, it will often not look like saving a toddler from an evil Queen. This was Jehosheba’s heroic act, not ours. Sometimes our right action might be showing kindness to someone who hurts us. If our example in life has been returning an insult for an insult, then responding to an insult with kindness will be a great action! Sometimes our right action might be obeying the law, when others insist we break it. If our example in life has been disregard for authority and giving in to the pressures of bad influences, then responding with abiding the law and saying no to temptation will be a great action!
No matter our past, let’s look to Jehosheba as our heroic example!
-Michael Cisler
Reflection Questions
What other people from the Bible followed God more closely than their parents?
What are some of the ways in which they did this?
How could a person overcome some of the multi-generational dysfunctions that sometimes follow them into adulthood, and choose to live heroically instead?
In First Kings 22 and in Second Chronicles 18 we find the same account of evil King Ahab considering going to war against Ramoth Gilead. He asked about 400 prophets what he should do and they all said to go victoriously to war. When encouraged by King Jehoshaphat of Judah to ask a prophet closer to the matter about this, King Ahab’s response is found in First Kings 22:8. He says, “There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” Now remember, it is said of evil King Ahab from First Kings 21:25-26, “There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the LORD drove out before Israel.” It is no wonder the true prophet of God never had anything good to prophesy, but always bad!
It is noteworthy that King Ahab avoided the truth because he deemed it as bad. Instead, he listened to the 400 voices that told him what he wanted to hear. King Rehoboam did the same thing in First Kings chapter 12. Instead of listening to the advice of the elders, who gave advice he did not want to hear, he followed the advice of his peers. He followed what he wanted rather than what was best for him.
It would be easy to look at these kings and heap ridicule upon them in judgment. However, it might be beneficial to consider our own ways. How often do we gravitate toward people who affirm our immorality, rather than seeking the truth of God? How often do we lean into confirmation bias, rather than seeking godly ways of thinking about a matter? The book of Proverbs consistently supports the idea of seeking wise counsel. Consider Proverbs 1:5, “let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance”. Also, Proverbs 19:20 says, “Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.” Clearly, God desires that we would listen to the voices that speak His wisdom into our lives, even if we don’t want to hear it.
One more thing to consider today. Sometimes we are the ones who need to hear something from God, even when we don’t want to hear it. However, sometimes we are the Micaiah’s who have something to say that someone else may not want to hear. Progress in these situations slowly, discerning God’s wisdom to speak in love. Ephesians 4:15 says, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.” The words we speak must be spoken in love. Our goal of speaking should be for us to grow into Christ together.
Listen to God’s Word, especially if you don’t want to hear it. Speak to others in love, especially when they might not want to hear God’s Word.
-Michael Cisler
Reflection Questions
How can you actively seek godly voices in your life?
What does it mean to speak the truth in love? What does each element (truth and love) entail?
When is the right time to speak and when is the right time to be quiet?
I have appreciated the opportunity to read and share my thoughts with you across these seven days. We’ve traced the unfolding drama of the divided kings and kingdoms of Israel. We’ve watched the culture shift, the crowd move to and fro, and the pressure rise and fall, but through their stories, one truth rings clear: the faithful know that wisdom comes from God alone.
“How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” (1 Kings 18:21)
Looking momentarily at my own nation, America is a nation with deep Judeo-Christian roots, as many of our founding documents demonstrate a commitment to God as the architect of the law that governs us. Our motto makes mention of our trust in God, we proclaim His work in our patriotic songs, open government functions with prayer, and swear in our presidents with their hand on His Word. I am one of many who believe the blessings we enjoy as a nation—even in today’s troubling times—can be attributed to the enduring declaration that the God of Israel and the Father of Jesus Christ reigns here. Sadly, more and more are living on borrowed blessings as the altars of moral revision, self-importance, and political convenience are being fashioned and raised.
Today, we look to the prophet Elijah, who lived as a lone voice for the Lord in a nation God had once richly blessed. Elijah wasn’t trendy or tribal. His conversations with God were authentic and intimate, and he took action as one who was swiftly obedient. His faith was so personal that he was often fully dependent on the Lord even for his next meal—fed by ravens and sustained by a jar of oil and flour that never ran dry. How ready would we be to fight off the enemies of God, to recite and rely on His promises, and even to expect miracles in His name, if we lived with this kind of faithfulness?
Each of us is called to that kind of personal, committed, lived-out faith. It may seem like faith is inherited—passed down through our nation’s heritage or through family and friends—but true faith is never proximal. Hanging with a spiritual crowd, attending high-energy worship services, or serving on a ministry team are not guarantors of a relationship with the Lord. Personal faith is born in the discomfort of repentance, in the surrendering of fear, and in the offering up of our possessions. These are the intimate things God desires from us. In the abandonment of self, we begin to hear God’s call clearly—and are emboldened because we know our Creator personally.
“At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: ‘Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” – 1 Kings 18:36–37
In this week’s reading, we’ve seen that change in a nation is inevitable. I pray that “In God We Trust” will continue to stand as a reminder of our nation’s steadfastness for the Lord. But however long it endures, let it always point us to something greater—our personal relationship with God, built through surrender, obedience, and faith. If the Lord is God, stand for Him—even if you stand alone. Because at the end of the day, it’s personal.
-Aaron Winner
Reflection Questions
What character traits do you find in Elijah? Is there one you would like to have more of in your life? How would you go about adding more?
I will be celebrating my 40th birthday in just a few short weeks. To be candid, I’m not exactly thrilled about this milestone—but one thing I am looking forward to is being able to say, “That was half a lifetime ago.” There’s something satisfying in acknowledging that with age has come experience.
One of the longest experiences I’ve had is playing guitar. For the last 1,352 weeks, I have averaged a few hours of play and have become masterful at my style. That’s not a gloat or a flex—just an illustration that I’m familiar with my craft. Much of what I do now is second nature, developed through repetition and refined over time. The same could be said of anyone who’s practiced a craft or trade for a significant portion of their life.
But experience is a double-edged sword. It gives us the ability to say things like, “I’ve seen this before,” or “We’ve already tried that,” or “We’ve made it through worse.” That can build confidence as we develop our approach. But when we rely solely on experience or live under the illusion there is nothing to learn, we may fail to consult the Word of the Lord. We make ourselves the master of our own fate, and in time, we are doomed to fail.
King Asa was a dependable leader. After the division of the kingdom, his reign represented a season of peace and prosperity. These blessings came upon the whole of Judah because he “did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord.” Asa tore down idols, repaired the temple, and called the people to return to God. He didn’t trust in his half-million soldiers alone. He petitioned the Lord for help:
“Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.” – 2 Chronicles 14:11
As a result God delivered Asa and the people of Judah. In gratitude and commitment, Asa responded in worship. His people offered a tremendous sacrifice as a wholehearted oath to their Deliverer. Again, the Lord gave them a season of rest.
But in Asa’s 36th year—after decades of faithfulness—something changed. Faced with conflict, he no longer sought the Lord. Instead, he relied on his own strategy, forming a treaty with a foreign power. The prophet Hanani rebuked him:
“Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.” – 2 Chronicles 16:8–9
The temptation to take matters into our own hands often comes not in times of scarcity, but in times of prosperity. Our experience, knowledge, notoriety, or wealth can make us feel capable, but no matter our breadth or depth, we each have blind spots and limitations that fall far short of the omniscience of our Heavenly Father. This is the great irony: the more experienced we become in serving the Lord, the more we should rely on His voice. If anything, maturity should deepen our dependence, not diminish it.
God is ready to win battles for those who are whole-hearted committed to Him. May we be found among them—not only in our youth or our desperation, but even more in our decades of experience. Let us not confuse our familiarity with faithfulness. And when we hear His voice—whether in instruction, correction, or comfort—may we respond with the same dependence that brought us to Him in the first place.
-Aaron Winner
Reflection Questions
What did Asa do right? What did Asa do wrong? What might his thought process or motives been when he was doing right? And when he did wrong?
Consider your own life – when did you seek the Lord and He blessed you for it? When did you NOT seek the Lord, but relied on your own strength, decision making skills, and human knowledge? What was the outcome?
What does it look like to seek the Lord and rely on Him?
In what areas are you currently relying on the Lord? Where are you in danger of falling into the “too experienced”, can-do-this-on-my-own trap?
Seek Grow Love 