Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NASB)
1 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
This morning I wanted to spend a few moments considering these words written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth. They give us a wonderful picture of not only what made Paul's ministry so effective, but they also challenge us to consider how we conduct ourselves. Paul was a highly trained Pharisee, schooled in the law and traditions of his faith. It would have been easy for Paul to use intellectual arguments and reasoning as he went about his ministry, since he had the training to do so. Paul instead chose to focus on nothing other than Jesus Christ. In doing so, the power of the Holy Spirit was able to work freely through him. It was this demonstration of power that was so life changing to so many.
Today I want to challenge you to examine your own life. Have you committed yourself to forgetting all that you know for the sake of only knowing Jesus. When we begin to make this adjustment in our life that we see the power and presence of God begin to work through us and all around us. In our interactions with others, they may not remember the words that we spoke, but they know that what was said was powerful. This is the beauty of our relationship with Jesus. When we let go of the reins, He begins to do things in and through us that we could never imagine otherwise.
Until next Monday, may God's richest blessings be yours this week.
Carl
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NASB)
1 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
This morning I wanted to spend a few moments considering these words written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth. They give us a wonderful picture of not only what made Paul's ministry so effective, but they also challenge us to consider how we conduct ourselves. Paul was a highly trained Pharisee, schooled in the law and traditions of his faith. It would have been easy for Paul to use intellectual arguments and reasoning as he went about his ministry, since he had the training to do so. Paul instead chose to focus on nothing other than Jesus Christ. In doing so, the power of the Holy Spirit was able to work freely through him. It was this demonstration of power that was so life changing to so many.
Today I want to challenge you to examine your own life. Have you committed yourself to forgetting all that you know for the sake of only knowing Jesus. When we begin to make this adjustment in our life that we see the power and presence of God begin to work through us and all around us. In our interactions with others, they may not remember the words that we spoke, but they know that what was said was powerful. This is the beauty of our relationship with Jesus. When we let go of the reins, He begins to do things in and through us that we could never imagine otherwise.
Until next Monday, may God's richest blessings be yours this week.
Carl
