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Love is more than a feeling! (part 1)
For most of us love is a feeling we have about someone. We tend to measure it and describe it with emotion and feeling words. I find it interesting that in chapter on love Paul uses few feeling words…
Created about 19 hours ago
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Works must be accompanied with love!
Paul has already let us know that without love, a faith that can move mountains and a wisdom that discern the truths of mysteries is worthless. In our verse for today, Paul tells us that our actions don’t…
Created 2 days ago
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Without love, nothing matters!
Just ask a married couple having relationship problems if anything matters if there is no love. When love is gone everything begins to lose its meaning and purpose. Why? Because love is the defining factor…
Created 3 days ago
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Greater Gifts
In our recent devotions we have been addressing the fact that we (Christians) have spiritual gifts that we are called to use in service to the kingdom of God. Paul has let us know that there are many…
Created 4 days ago
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"If one part suffers..."
I think there are two ways to look at this verse. The first is to view it with our local congregation in focus. The second is to view it with the global church in focus. Let’s look at the second view…
Created 5 days ago
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One Spirit - many gifts - for the common good!
The Holy Spirit does more than just create faith in our hearts. The Spirit also raises us from the death of our sinful nature and creates a new nature within us. Paul says, “If anyone is in Christ, he…
Created 6 days ago
1 Corinthians 12:7 (NIV84), 1 Corinthians 12:11 (NIV84), 1 Corinthians 12:12 (NIV84)
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The quiet, but powerful, work of the Holy Spirit!
Many reading this devotion can say with certainty that Jesus Christ is their Lord. Millions of people around the world profess a faith in Jesus. That faith is the quiet, but powerful, work of the Holy…
Created 7 days ago
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There's more to it than we think!
I hesitated to do a devotion on these verses because of the great controversy that exists within Christianity on the Lord’s Supper. I personally come to the issue with a sacramental understanding, but…
Created 8 days ago
1 Corinthians 11:23 (NIV), 1 Corinthians 11:24 (NIV), 1 Corinthians 11:25 (NIV), 1 Corinthians 11:26 (NIV), 1 Corinthians 11:27 (NIV), 1 Corinthians 11:28 (NIV), 1 Corinthians 11:29 (NIV)
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We're not independent beings!
In our Western society there is so much talk about autonomy and independence. We seek to find ourselves and see as negative any human influence that might restrict or affect that process. Paul says in…
Created 9 days ago
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"But...!"
We’ve all used the qualifying “but”. We’ve said, “That’s true, but…” and “I understand what you’re saying, “but…”. We use the qualifying “but” when we believe that something someone is saying is true,…
Created 10 days ago
1 Corinthians 10:23 (NIV84), 1 Corinthians 10:24 (NIV84), 1 Corinthians 10:25 (NIV84), 1 Corinthians 10:26 (NIV84)
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Flee from sin!
One could easily take our verse for today and restate it as, “Therefore, my dear friends, flee from sin.” Throughout the Scriptures the prescribed method for dealing with temptation and sin is to flee…
Created 11 days ago
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The truth about temptation!
Temptation is being led to do something we ought not do. Satan led Eve to believe that it would harmless, actually fulfilling to eat the forbidden fruit. Jesus Himself was led by the same enemy to act…
Created 12 days ago
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It's all about Jesus Christ!
When Paul was Saul, and breathing murderous threats upon the Christian Church, he was knocked off a horse and blinded for three days by Jesus. When the bright light from heaven knocked him off his horse,…
Created 13 days ago
1 Corinthians 10:1 (NIV84), 1 Corinthians 10:2 (NIV84), 1 Corinthians 10:3 (NIV84), 1 Corinthians 10:4 (NIV84)
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Let's avoid self disqualification!
I crack a fearful smile when I think about the fact that when I was a twenty something pastor I would hear these words from the Apostle Paul, “…so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not…
Created 14 days ago
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Live with a kingdom of heaven purpose!
We’ve certainly heard a lot of philosophizing in our society today about “living with a purpose”. The question always becomes, what purpose? There have been many self-help books written about discovering…
Created 15 days ago
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An apologetic strategy!
Lately, I have been putting a lot of thought into evangelism strategies that I think might work for the 21st century. Today’s verse takes me to exactly what I have been thinking. Decades ago, most people…
Created 16 days ago
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Are you compelled?
I absolutely love these verses from Paul. They give us a glimpse into his spiritual heart and see what makes him tick. After his conversion, he immediately began to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ…
Created 17 days ago
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We need to be other oriented!
Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden was to allow their orientation to turn inward. They were created to love God with their whole heart, mind soul and strength, and to love each other as themselves.…
Created 18 days ago
1 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV84), 1 Corinthians 8:10 (NIV84), 1 Corinthians 8:11 (NIV84), 1 Corinthians 8:12 (NIV84)
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It's about more than knowledge!
Jesus claimed that the religious leaders and Pharisees knew and taught a lot of true doctrine, but their hearts were still far from the Father. James, the brother of Jesus, in his letter states, “The…
Created 19 days ago
1 Corinthians 8:1 (NIV84), 1 Corinthians 8:2 (NIV84), 1 Corinthians 8:3 (NIV84)
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It's not about the stuff we have!
Jesus says in the Gospels, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits (loses) his own soul?” Quite a rhetorical question I would say. If one really thought that at the end of…
Created 20 days ago
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Remain Free!
But I thought any human being that was bought was a slave! If we are “bought with a price”, how can we not be slaves to whoever purchased us? But Jesus, who bought us with His own precious blood, tells…
Created 21 days ago
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What really counts?!
Have you ever heard a Christian state the date of their conversion or baptism or confirmation? In and of itself, there is nothing wrong with that. These are important moments in a Christian’s life. They…
Created 22 days ago
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What's your vocation?
When I read this verse I remember my studies of Martin Luther on the Christian’s vocation. “Vocation” is defined as one’s position of service for the kingdom of God. Often, we Christians apply the term…
Created 23 days ago
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The beauty of marriage!
So far, in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he has made it clear that what we have is not ours, but rather blessings given by a gracious heavenly Father. We are stewards of what He has given to…
Created 24 days ago
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You are not your own!
A few days ago I did a devotion where I stated that, “It’s not yours!” The point I was trying to make is that everything we have has been given to us. All of our gifts and talents have been gifted to…
Created 25 days ago
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