Category: “Listening to God” Devotional

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=1Corinthians+016

 

CHAPTER 16 (ESV)

13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.

15 Now I urge you, brothers—you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints— 16 be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. 17 I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, 18 for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such people.

19 The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. 20 All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

21 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. 22 If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

 

REFLECTION:

1. The Corinthian Church has many problems. Paul, with much love and courage, pointed out principles and methods to deal with these problems and urged them to go back to Christ.  I Corinthians taught us that Unity and Love in church is far more important than leadership and reputation.
2. In these final instructions to the Christians at Corinth, Paul first charges them to let all that they do “be done in love” (v14) and then to put themselves “at the service” of such people as the household of Stephanas.
3. Loving service to the saints seems to be the norm, not the exception. In what ways have I “served the saints” during the past year?  In what ways can I serve them in the future?  What could I serve in this week or this month?  Lord, show me and I will obey.

 

PRAYER:

Approach God with a fervent heart, asking Him to make me strong and courageous, living a victorious Christian life. May God assist me, enabling me to be a man like Paul, bravely facing all circumstances, big or small, challenging or easy, with love and courage. May I fear no setbacks or failures, and live wholeheartedly to glorify the name of the Lord.

 

HYMN:

The Servant Song – youtu.be/k-Pk2NHKg_o

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=1Corinthians+015

 

CHAPTER 15 (ESV)

50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

55 “O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

 

REFLECTION:

1. If someone is writing a tribute for my memorial, what would be written in it? How would I like people to write the letter announcing my death?
2. Tell Jesus all my thoughts and emotions right now. Stay quiet to allow the Holy Spirit to minister to me now.

 

PRAYER:

May God strengthen me, filling my heart with the glorious hope of the victorious return of the resurrected Lord. May God grant me spiritual wisdom, allowing me to discern in daily life what is temporary and what is eternal, living out a heavenly life on earth. May God give me greater faith, unwavering in the face of difficulties, firmly believing that all my labor will receive the reward from the Lord.
 

HYMN:

Christ Our Hope in Life and Death – youtu.be/TPT5QEDf9bA

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=1Corinthians+014

 

CHAPTER 14 (ESV)

6 Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 7 If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? 8 And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? 9 So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, 11 but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. 12 So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

13 Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. 15 What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. 16 Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? 17 For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up.

 

REFLECTION:

1. When Christians gather we minister to each other. In prayer, praise, teaching, and sharing, God can and does use what we say to build up His church.  Therefore, spiritual gifts are not given for the benefit of the possessor.  The purpose of all spiritual gifts is to build up the whole Body of Christ and those the Body serves.
2. What gifts do I have and what can I do to serve fellow-believers and help build up the church?

 

PRAYER:

Thank God for creating my unique life and blessing me with various gifts and talents. I also thank God that despite my weaknesses, His power can be fully displayed in my weakness. May God help me to use my gifts wisely, humbly and gently serving my fellow brothers and sisters, working together to build God’s house and expand His kingdom.

 

HYMN:

Take My Gifts – youtu.be/lx2kkzsGAlM

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=1Corinthians+013

 

CHAPTER 13 (ESV)

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

 

REFLECTION:

1. True spirituality has nothing to do with one’s gifts, training, or performing skills. The truly spiritual person is the individual whose attitude and actions express love.
2. Copy verses 4-7 on an index card, memorize it, or bring it out to review often. Examine my own attitude and actions often to see if there is any love expressed.

 

PRAYER:

Be still before God, offering all my worship, gratitude, and praise to Him, thanking Him for allowing me to experience such wonderful love. May God shape my life, so that I increasingly reflect the holy character and glorious image of my Lord Jesus. May God engrave the essence of this love on the tablet of my heart, keeping me on His path throughout my life.

 

HYMN:

Lover Never Fails – youtu.be/e5JiAkUJFqc

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=1Corinthians+012

 

CHAPTER 12 (ESV)

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Paul used the image of the body to explain our relation to one another. We’re all parts of the body of Christ.  Whoever you are or whatever your spiritual gifts are, you are “indispensable” (v22) to the others in your church, and in the church.
2. What is my reaction when some other Christian gets recognition and honour? Or when someone is suffering? Do I rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep (Rm 12:15)? Or am I jealous of those who rejoice and apathetic to the weeping?

 

PRAYER:

May God shape my life, enabling me to possess more gentleness and kindness to comfort those who are grieving and suffering. May God grant me greater humility, goodness, and tolerance in my interactions with fellow brothers and sisters in the church. May God unify our church, harmonizing us like many branches attached to the same vine, continuously drawing nourishment from God and bearing the fruit of life.

 

HYMN:

We Are the Body of Christ – youtu.be/1yo9gMsscVY

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=1Corinthians+011

 

CHAPTER 11 (ESV)

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

 

REFLECTION:

1. The communion service is a memorial. As the Israelites ate the Passover meal, each family relived the experience of its ancestors.  Today through the bread and cup, we return to the foot of the cross.  So, in the communion service, as we are united with Christ through faith, we share His death and His resurrection.   “Do this in remembrance” invites us to experience the awesome moment when our salvation was won.  It invites us to experience the holy God and to offer Him our thanks, our worship, and our praise.
2. If possible, kneel down to pray. Tell God all my gratitude and other emotions for all that Jesus has done on the cross for me.  During next communion service, remember to take Communion “in remembrance” of Jesus and His Sacrificial Love.

 

PRAYER:

Kneeling before the loving, holy, and just God, I worship and praise God with my heart and sincerity. I place my thoughts and intentions on the precious salvation achieved by our Lord Jesus, reflecting on the significance of the Lord’s Supper established by Jesus Himself. May God help me to approach the next communion gathering with a reverent and solemn heart, experiencing the presence of Jesus.

 

HYMN:

Remember Me – youtu.be/7qb1voi9Uq8

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=1Corinthians+010

 

CHAPTER 10 (ESV)

1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Temptation is the pressure to take our own way, to indulge ourselves, to spurn God, to plunge into doubt or despair, lust or anger, to give in to our own feelings and let them draw conclusions about our worth based on what other people say about us or what we say about ourselves. It’s an ever-present pressure.  Sometimes it’s from others, and other times it’s from within.  But Paul says not to worry for God will never let us down, never let us pushed past our limit. He will be there always. Not as a lecturer but as a helper.
2. What temptations do I most consistently have to face? Does v13 encourage or frustrate me? Why?
3. Tell it to Jesus and ask His help in acknowledging His ever-presence with me and helping me to overcome this particular temptation.

 

PRAYER:

May God’s Word cut through my soul and joints like a sharp sword, exposing every darkness within me; I confess to God, asking for His mercy on my particular weaknesses, praying that He would not let me encounter temptations I cannot overcome. May God walk alongside me, allowing me to have a resolute, loving, and watchful heart, so that I won’t stumble when facing challenges.

 

HYMN:

Speak, O Lord – youtu.be/ubRlJj8xkds

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=1Corinthians+009

 

CHAPTER 9 (ESV)

23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Can I appreciate the urgency Paul shows for this race of the gospel? Right now, am I a runner or a spectator? Do I long for the crown (trophy) that God is going to reward me?
2. Talk to God about my role right now, ask Him to help me prepare for the race.

 

PRAYER:

May God help me so that my heart desires only the incorruptible crown; may God shield me with His mighty power, making Him my fortress and high tower in times of difficulties and trials. May God strengthen my heart, enabling me to conquer myself and live a victorious life, not succumbing to the various temptations of the devil. May God grant me courage, propelling me to run straight towards the goal.

 

HYMN:

O Church Arise – youtu.be/A98YQHG8tLY

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=1Corinthians+008

 

CHAPTER 8 (ESV)

1 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

7 However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Is there something in my life that when I exercise my freedom, it becomes a stumbling block for others? Drinking? Clothing? Music? Lifestyle? Political viewpoints? Legalism?
2. Lord, is there someone stumbled because of my freedom? As I pause to listen, bring the person to mind…

 

PRAYER:

Approach God with a humble heart, may God shatter all tangible and intangible idols in my heart, so that I may wholeheartedly prioritize God’s kingdom. May God shine light upon me, allowing me to examine whether my words and actions might cause others to stumble. If so, in God’s presence, I commit to change and implore God to strengthen me to uphold such transformation.

 

HYMN:

Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me – youtu.be/zundjUFazfg

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=1Corinthians+007

 

CHAPTER 7 (ESV)

17 Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. 18 Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. 19 For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. 20 Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. 21 Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) 22 For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. 23 You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. 24 So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

 

REFLECTION:

1. We’d like to think that our married status, vocational status, economic status make us who we are. These are important but not essential raw materials which God uses to shape His life in us.  So, Paul told them don’t wish to be someplace else or with someone else.  God, not your marital status or any other thing, defines your life (v17).
2. What are some of the things that I’d like to have changed in my life? Would verses 17 & 19 provide some direction and principle?  Tell God about it and, if needed, contact your pastor for further help.

 

PRAYER:

Be still before God, may God help me understand that my identity and worth are determined by God, not by how much worldly success I achieve. May God guide me to faithfully engage in my current job, courageously shouldering my responsibilities, so that in both significant and minor tasks, I may wholeheartedly strive to seek God’s pleasure.

 

HYMN:

I Surrender All – youtu.be/xSPcuV5Sli8