2/25 1 Corinthians 9:14-18
14 In the same way, the Lord gave orders that those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it. 15 Yet I have never used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that I would like to start now. In fact, I would rather die than lose my distinction of preaching without charge. 16 For preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t do it! 17 If I were doing this of my own free will, then I would deserve payment. But God has chosen me and given me this sacred trust, and I have no choice. 18 What then is my pay? It is the satisfaction I get from preaching the Good News without expense to anyone, never demanding my rights as a preacher.
HOW
How should we live? What if things aren’t going my way? I would encourage you to put your life in the hands of Jesus. Ask Him what you should do and how you should do it. Let Him give you guidance and follow that guidance. Take time to consider your course and then do what the Lord prompts you to do. If you are a tradesperson, do all to the best of your ability all the while representing the Lord Jesus Christ in all you say and do. Glorify God by the way you live.
Category - Devotionals
2/24 1 Corinthians 9:11-13
11 We have planted good spiritual seed among you. Is it too much to ask, in return, for mere food and clothing? 12 If you support others who preach to you, shouldn’t we have an even greater right to be supported? Yet we have never used this right. We would rather put up with anything than put an obstacle in the way of the Good News about Christ. 13 Don’t you know that those who work in the Temple get their meals from the food brought to the Temple as offerings? And those who serve at the altar get a share of the sacrificial offerings.
VALUE
How do you value your life? Do you believe it is more blessed to give than receive? Do your life choices and actions reflect that? Make sure that you are living carefully in this increasingly pagan era. Anything you can’t give away owns you. The Lord wants to bless you and one of the ways He will bless you is through your generosity.
2/23 1 Corinthians 9:7-10
7 What soldier has to pay his own expenses? And have you ever heard of a farmer who harvests his crop and doesn’t have the right to eat some of it? What shepherd takes care of a flock of sheep and isn’t allowed to drink some of the milk? 8 And this isn’t merely human opinion. Doesn’t God’s law say the same thing? 9 For the law of Moses says, “Do not keep an ox from eating as it treads out the grain.” Do you suppose God was thinking only about oxen when he said this? 10 Wasn’t he also speaking to us? Of course he was. Just as farm workers who plow fields and thresh the grain expect a share of the harvest, Christian workers should be paid by those they serve.
VALUE
The Lord establishes value: He has said that each one of us is valuable. We need preachers and teachers and other ministry workers. We are partners together with the Lord when we invest our resources in them. Seek to serve by your gifts and your wealth. Give to the Lord’s work. That too makes you a part of the kingdom work.
2/22 1 Corinthians 9:1-6
1 Do I not have as much freedom as anyone else? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord with my own eyes? Isn’t it because of my hard work that you are in the Lord? 2 Even if others think I am not an apostle, I certainly am to you, for you are living proof that I am the Lord’s apostle. 3 This is my answer to those who question my authority as an apostle. 4 Don’t we have the right to live in your homes and share your meals? 5 Don’t we have the right to bring a Christian wife along with us as the other disciples and the Lord’s brothers and Peter do? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have to work to support ourselves?
CALL
The Lord decides whom He will call. He chooses that person and equips them with the ability to answer His call. Guard against seeking someone else’s call. Refuse to be seduced by envy or selfishness. Give of yourself and the Lord will use you. Bloom where you are planted because that is exactly where the Lord will use you.
2/21 Psalm 138:4-8
4 Every king in all the earth will give you thanks, O LORD, for all of them will hear your words. 5 Yes, they will sing about the LORD’s ways, for the glory of the LORD is very great. 6 Though the LORD is great, he cares for the humble, but he keeps his distance from the proud. 7 Though I am surrounded by troubles, you will preserve me against the anger of my enemies. You will clench your fist against my angry enemies! Your power will save me. 8 The LORD will work out his plans for my life — for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me.
FAITHFUL
The Lord is faithful. He knows where we are and what is going on with us. He is seeking our best good. The truth is that we find our path of “best good” by obedience and submission. The Lord wants the best for us, that we would be filled with His spirit and that we would know the victory of His work in the world.
2/20 Psalm 138:1-3
1 A psalm of David. I give you thanks, O LORD, with all my heart; I will sing your praises before the gods. 2 I bow before your holy Temple as I worship. I will give thanks to your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness, because your promises are backed by all the honor of your name. 3 When I pray, you answer me; you encourage me by giving me the strength I need.
LIVING
We serve a living Lord. He is alive and involved in our life. He will lead, guide and direct us if we will obey. Obedience first out of which our relationship grows.
2/19 Isaiah 58:13-14
13 “Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the LORD’s holy day. Honor the LORD in everything you do, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly. If you do this, 14 the LORD will be your delight. I will give you great honor and give you your full share of the inheritance I promised to Jacob, your ancestor. I, the LORD, have spoken!”
DISCIPLINE
It takes personal discipline to set aside our own desires. We must discipline our self to listen to the Lord and so what He says. God comes first. When we make God first in our life everything else will be in the right place.
2/18 Isaiah 58:8-12
8 “If you do these things, your salvation will come like the dawn. Yes, your healing will come quickly. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the LORD will protect you from behind. 9 Then when you call, the LORD will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply. “Stop oppressing the helpless and stop making false accusations and spreading vicious rumors! 10 Feed the hungry and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as day. 11 The LORD will guide you continually, watering your life when you are dry and keeping you healthy, too. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. 12 Your children will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as the people who rebuild their walls and cities.
ACTIONS
Our actions speak louder than words. When we do the right thing the end result is that the right things happen to us. See those around you as valuable as the Lord sees them. Valuing others increases our own value.
2/17 Isaiah 58:4-7
4 What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. 5 You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like a blade of grass in the wind. You dress in sackcloth and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the LORD? 6 “No, the kind of fasting I want calls you to free those who are wrongly imprisoned and to stop oppressing those who work for you. Treat them fairly and give them what they earn. 7 I want you to share your food with the hungry and to welcome poor wanderers into your homes. Give clothes to
those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.
RELIGION
Religion is man’s attempt to control God. Christianity is God’s effort to save man. Quit playing church and trying to fool the Lord. Bend your knee to Jesus and let Him save you. Give you heart to Christ and He will give you life and light for living. You will know you belong to Jesus when you take up your cross and follow Him.
2/16 Isaiah 58:1-3
1 “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Tell my people Israel of their sins! 2 Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to hear my laws. You would almost think this was a righteous nation that would never abandon its God. They love to make a show of coming to me and asking me to take action on their behalf. 3 ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say. ‘Why aren’t you impressed? We have done much penance, and you don’t even notice it!'”I will tell you why! It’s because you are living for yourselves even while you are fasting. You keep right on oppressing your workers.
FACADE
The facade we display will not change the way the Lord sees us. HE sees our heart. He is not swayed by how we want Him to think or even what we plead with Him to see. The Lord sees our heart and knows our deepest thoughts. Do not think you can fool the Lord. He knows the real you.