Welcome to Corinth

Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:6-8

You hear a lot of complaints about leadership these days.

Protests cry out against corporate leadership. Pundits and polls cry out against political leadership. And I know by my emails every week that there are quite a few individuals who have issues with church leadership, too.

As a culture, we are obviously looking for new leadership, and I can tell you today that the only leadership that can help us is godly leadership. The Apostle Paul tells us what that looks like in 1 Corinthians, giving us several attributes of godly leadership.

First, he says that godly leadership is called by God. It isn't elected. It's not nominated by men. It's chosen by God. You only have to go as far as Samuel when he went to anoint a new king to replace Saul to find out why. He looked at David's seven older brothers, thinking, Surely this is the one! with every one of them because of their size and strength. But God said, Keep going, for man looks at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart. When God chooses the leader, He chooses according to something we cannot see-the heart.

Second, godly leadership comes with authority. This was missing in Corinth, where everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes, but a lot of us have a problem with authority, too. If I'm preaching and I tell you to write down a point I'm making, there are people in the room who refuse to do it. They say, Who are you to tell me what to do? That's a problem with authority!

Third, godly leadership is all about God's purpose. Paul didn't want to go to Corinth, but God blocked every other path and Paul delighted to follow God. Godly leadership, by definition, has to lead the way that God directs, and therefore must always be asking, God, how do you want to use me? Where do you want to take us?

This is godly leadership-from God, following God, and with authority to direct. Check your heart today. When you see godly leadership, do you have a problem following?

Prayer Father God,

Thank You for godly leadership in this world! I want my heart to be right before You so that I have no problems following the people You call to leadership in my life. Please set me straight so that I can know that I'm following You!

Amen

Knowing God's Plan

His delight is in the fear of the LORD, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. Isaiah 11:3-4

They were about to be surrounded. They knew it was coming, and there wasn't any hope to be found.

Living in a powerful nation like America, we maybe have a hard time identifying with the people of Israel in this story. The Assyrian army was coming, a brutal force known for ripping open pregnant woman and throwing children to their death from city walls. They did not simply defeat a people and subjugate them to slavery; no, they ruthlessly destroyed the nations they conquered.

No one had ever beaten them before, and now they had their sights set on Israel.

We know the history of Israel, that God had delivered them against all odds many times before. They knew their history, too, but faith in the God of your history is a lot harder when it demands that you take action.

God saw His people in that moment and knew they needed Him. They needed a fresh encouragement that He was still their God and would be faithful to them. Isaiah the prophet delivered the message, There is someone coming from God who will not be like the rulers of the world that surround us. He will not make decisions based on what He sees with His eyes or hears with His ears, but He will judge the lowly by what is right and just.

The promise was that God saw their need. He knew their desperation, and He did something about it.

What are you desperate for right now? You may not be surrounded by an army, but perhaps you feel surrounded by something else. Is debt sharpening its sword against you? Are you in despair that your marriage is falling apart or your children are walking away from the Lord? Does sickness threaten your life?

First, know that we do not always see our circumstances the way God does (He does not judge by the way things appear). Second, know that God has a plan to save you.

Trusting God in your circumstances is an act of worship! Turn to Him and ask for Him to deliver you.

Prayer Lord God,

I am desperate for You right now! No one but You can save me from what I am facing. Please give me wisdom to change my circumstances, help me to see things the way You do, and deliver me!

Amen

The Be-Ready Attitudes

...Be at peace among yourselves. 1 Thessalonians 5:13

It is amazing how the word peace has become a divisive word. It's almost like it has been said too much; we have heard it so often that we do not hear it anymore.

But here Paul gives us no choice. We have to listen because he commands us to be at peace among ourselves.

This is not a passive objective in our mission. If it is a command, then it has to be an ac-

tive pursuit. We must pursue peace. Wherever we find a vacuum of peace, our job is to create it.

An amazing thing happens when we do this. God's name is, Jehovah Shalom-I AM your Peace. He is also called the Prince of Peace and the God of all peace. This means that when we cause peace to enter a situation, we bring God into it. Or perhaps I should say it this way-when we bring God into a situation, He brings His peace with Him.

Is there strife, division, broken relationships, anxiety, or fear in your life? Can you think of anyone right now with whom you know you should reconcile?

Paul's command is to make peace. No matter whom we need to reconcile with, we need to do it. I challenge you-give the broken relationship to God and ask Him to help you make peace, then watch what He will do!

Prayer Father God,

Thank You for the promise of peace! Empower me to be a peacemaker in my relationships.

Amen

Hijacking the Lo-Jacker

Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters...After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So Job died, old and full of days. Job 42:1213,16-17

I wonder what Job would say if he knew that his name was synonymous with suffering and loss.

Would he agree with us that his life was defined by the things he lost? Or would he argue that his life was better depicted in his faithfulness through the trial and the blessings he received in his latter days?

I think we can know the answer very easily, because Job's response to his loss tells me where he found his identity. We can learn a lot from him, so let's look at his journey.

Job's story picks up when he is already the richest man in the East. He is blessed beyond blessing beyond proportion beyond measure. He was the man with the Midas touch in his day. And not only that, but he had a great family, too.

He lost all of that in literally one day. Everything came crashing down and he was left with four servants who had nothing to do and a bitter wife who wanted him to die. Then, next thing he knew, he began suffering from excruciating boils so that his suffering was great both internally and externally in every way.

Yet through it all, he never turned from God. He remained patient and faithful. And in the end, God gave him double what he had lost, even giving him another seven sons and three daughters.

What sustained him through it all are the things the devil could never take away from him-his faith, his identity, and his will to honor God in his words and his attitude.

Because his life was defined by God and not by his possessions-even his children-then he was not destroyed when he lost those things, even though it was painful. He was able to remain steadfast and wait for the faithfulness of God to redeem him.

Are you grounded in a God-centered identity? If you are, then you can be like Job as he would want to be remembered-unshakable regardless the storm or pain, faithful to the end, and rewarded of God.

Prayer Lord God,

You are my God and my faith is in You alone! I will not put my faith in the things I own, because You are my provider. No matter what, I choose to stay in You, and trust that You will redeem and restore my life no matter what I may face.

Amen

Jonah-Jacked

Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.' But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. Jonah 1:1-3

Our country is falling to pieces, isn't it? It is going to Hell in a hand basket.

Hollywood produces nothing but filth. The music industry is filled with indecency and R-rated lyrics, and the music videos are even worse. On top of all that, the economy is tanking, Wall Street is corrupt, and Washington's dragging the country the wrong way while collapsing in upon itself.

I guess it's just time to hole-up and wait for Heaven, right?

Wrong. God wants to hijack our country. He wants to transform Hollywood, Nashville, Broadway, Wall Street, and Washington. In fact, He wants to save them, just like He wanted to save Nineveh. But when He wanted to save Nineveh, what did He do?

He sent Jonah.

But Jonah didn't want to go. He wanted Nineveh to be destroyed, so he ran from God's presence and tried to hide. He wanted the Jews to have God's salvation, but he wanted Nineveh to die.

And why not? After all, Nineveh was a huge city full of wicked people. When Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, went to war, they would even cut open pregnant women with their swords and throw the babies from city walls. I mean, this was a wicked people!

But God loved them. He was not willing to just let them perish, but desired that they should come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). Therefore, He sent Jonah, because how could Nineveh have heard about God's mercy unless someone went to tell them?

Romans 10:14 asks, How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? The answer, of course, is that they can't.

If we don't go, then we doom the world to hell. If we don't speak, then no one will be saved. And if we abandon our country in all of its sinful parts, thinking we can just hang on to our private salvation, then we should not be surprised when depravity grows around us.

God is calling us today. It is our job to go.

Prayer Father God,

Thank You for having mercy on me! I realize that You want to give mercy to the rest of the world, but that You've chosen me to tell them about You. Please give me courage and wisdom to speak however I can so that this country may be saved.

Amen

Return of the King

And the LORD shall be King over all the earth. Zechariah 14:9

Are you tired of politics and international drama? Then just wait, because God's promise is that He is coming to be King over all the earth.

When Jesus came the first time, He made it clear that His Kingdom was not of this earth. All the people around Him, even His disciples, waited and waited for Him to call them to action and overthrow the oppressive Roman government. They said, Come be our King!

It wasn't that all the Jews were wrong; they just had the wrong timing. The purpose of Jesus' first coming was to restore the relationship mankind had with God before Adam sinned. We are now in a season of grace during which everyone on earth has the option to bend their knee willingly to King Jesus. This season, however, will not last forever.

A day is coming when Jesus will return, and on that day all decisions will be final. Those who bowed willingly will rule with the King. Those who hardened their hearts against Him will be destroyed. And Jesus, the LORD, shall be King over all the earth.

He will physically dwell on the earth and all peoples and nations will be under His rule. It will be the ultimate fulfillment of the Lord's Prayer, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

That day will come to the whole earth one day soon, but it can come in your life right now. Is the LORD King over your life?

Prayer King Jesus,

Thank You that You are King! Come fully be the King of my life!

Amen

Can You Believe This?

For when one says, I am of Paul,' and another, I am of Apollos,' are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 1 Corinthians 3:4-5

Everyone likes a good debate, right? We especially love it right now with all the political candidates hammering out their various issues for all of us to see. The crazy thing is that all these candidates divide up one party into separate camps, hoping that they can somehow call them back together again when they're done arguing.

Maybe this works in that arena, but let me tell you one place where this doesn't fly: The church.

In the world you can say, I follow this person, or, I follow that person, or, This one is my favorite. We have our Twitter accounts and we all follow all these different people. But in the church, we only follow one person. We follow Christ.

This is a problem Paul had to address with the Corinthian church, calling them on the carpet for allowing divisions to split their body into sects that aligned themselves with a specific teacher. So Paul wrote to them to say, Listen, these aren't guys in whom you believe, but through whom you believed. The point is still about Christ Jesus and always will be.

Paul wanted them to know that it is good for different teachers to be involved in our lives. Each one plays a different role that we need, but that doesn't make one more important than the other, and it shouldn't draw us into divisions based on whom we think is best.

It doesn't come down to the teachers in our lives, but the message those teachers bring. It comes down to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do they proclaim Christ crucified? Do they preach the power of the cross and the resurrection? Do they teach that our hope is in Jesus Christ alone, that we can be saved by no other name but His?

The gospel is what matters. Don't get distracted by the person who preaches the name of Jesus. Instead, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus Himself.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You that You are the truth by which I live my life! You are the focus and goal of my life! I look to You alone and ask for Your help to follow You more no matter which teacher speaks into my life.

Amen