Faith, hope and love

I Thessalonians 1:3 Remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

There were three things that encouraged Paul as he prayed for these believers in Thessalonica: their work of faith, their labor of love, and their steadfastness of hope in Christ.  These encouraging aspects of their Christian walk were also the object of his prayers for them.  I was thinking about this – he was praying about things in their lives that were already manifesting themselves, so why was he praying about those same things?  These are the same three items listed in I Corinthians 13 as characteristics most important in the life of a believer: faith, hope and love.  Faith that creates works that please and honor God, hope that keeps one’s faith strong and forward-looking, and love that forms the basis of all a believer is or does.  Prayer was necessary because these three characteristics of a believer are also fragile and easily weakened or lost by a loss of vision or spiritual life.  Paul understood that principle so he prayed for them even while thanking God for those being displayed in their lives.

Godly grief vs. worldly grief

II Corinthians 7:10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Recently in Sunday school we have been talking about repentance and what it means, so I was especially interested when I read and pondered this verse this morning.  One thing I had been thinking a lot about after our discussion in class was the nature of true or “real” repentance and was there true repentance outside of Christ.  Here was my answer!  Yes, in a sense there is, but repentance outside of godly grief has a totally different result.  If I am repentant in the context of my grief over my spiritual condition, that leads to repentance that produces my salvation.  As we can see in news events from around the world, worldly grief has a far more drastic result.  When I hear of riots resulting from the death of a person that a crowd considers unjust, I am seeing the result of grief from a “worldly” cause, not grief that lead to salvation.  God grief lead to no regrets … worldly grief has a totally different outcome.

Pulling back the curtains

II Corinthians 3:16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 

There is a lot about God, His Word, and even about living a godly life that is not easily known or understood.  After all, God is so great, so powerful, so all-encompassing that He is unknown-able in many ways.  It is as though there is something covering up all that.  That is what makes it such a blessing when a person submits his life to God for salvation.  In that act of faith and surrender, the veil is lifted, making it possible to know more about God, to understand more of His character, to have the freedom of living joyfully.  Then, and only as that veil is lifted, we are able to see God’s glory and be transformed into people who can reflect some of God’s glory to the world around us.  This is the glorious picture we see described by Paul the Apostle in II Corinthians 3:14-18.  Through Christ, and only through Christ, is that veil taken away, the curtain is open.  We can see what's on the other side.

One Bread, one body

I Corinthians 1-:17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body for we are all partakers of the one bread.

In this book of I Corinthians Paul gives some compelling arguments for unity among believers.  As I have been reading through this book this year, the example he gives of the bread and the body has been the most impressive to me.  I had never spent much time thinking about the example before, but this year it struck me.  In the gospels, Jesus called Himself the Bread of Life.  Everyone recognized the values of bread for life, and every culture has its own bread of bread substitute (such as rice for Chinese or yams for West Africans).  Bread is a food that unites a culture and so it is with the Christian “culture.”  Our bread, our one main uniting factor and the basic item in our sustenance is The Bread of Life.  We are all partakers of it.  We are one body sustained by one Bread.

PEACE is my calling

I Corinthians 7:15b God has called you to peace.

I am beginning to see peace in a new way.  Earlier this year I had been struck by the realization that I never have to ask God for peace ... it is a part of my “package” of benefits from salvation.  Peace is also a fruit of the Spirit of God Who lives in me as a child of God.  In this verse I see that it is part of God’s calling on my life.  The context of this verse shows me that His calling comes in spite of any circumstances, good or bad.  There is no question about God’s intention that every child of God have peace!  He gifts us with it, He grows it in us as a fruit, and He calls us to it.  It is there for my benefit and for my … peace.

Christ is all

I Corinthians 1:30 … you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification and redemption …

I think it is easy for me to forget that all I am as a Christian woman is centered in Jesus.  I would not be what I am, who I am, today were it not for what He has done in my life.  When we accept Christ as our Savior and make Him Lord of our lives, all we are centers on Him.  He is, as this verse says, our wisdom.  He enables us to determine how to use the knowledge we have.  He becomes our righteousness.  He forgives our sin and views us as spiritually clean.  He is our sanctification.  We are made holy in His sight, and set apart from the sinful world, dedicated to Him.  He is our redemption.  Through Him we are no longer enslaved to sin or its eternal punishment.  It is all wrapped up in Christ Jesus.

Christ is all I need, 

Christ is all I need,

All that I need.