July 15, 2020

Over the next 16 days we will be reading through the book of 1 Corinthians together. The church in Corinth was an absolute mess! They were plagued by serious issues of arrogance, division, sexual immorality, and confusion concerning doctrine as well as the particulars of their moral living under the gospel. This church needed a wake-up call, a call to repentance and purity, to renewed devotion to Christ, to love and unity, and to zeal for the gospel. The church has changed little over the last 2,000 years, but praise God that there is abundant grace for the mess! Each of us needs this same call to humility faithfulness, unity, and fervor today as much as they needed it then. Let’s heed this call which God gave the church at Corinth through the apostle Paul and let it shape the way we live as Christ’s body!

In this chapter Paul continues to challenge the worldly perspective of the Corinthians and their proclivity to trust in earthly wisdom. He reminds them of how he had first preached the gospel among them, not using persuasive language or wise speech but demonstrating the power of the Spirit, in order that those who came to faith would put their trust in the power of God rather than in the wisdom of men. 

He goes on to explain to them that the wisdom from God is not like the worldly wisdom because it is a spiritual understood only by means of the Holy Spirit. He goes so far as to tell us that, because who believe have been indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we have the mind of Christ available to us! We can think the way that Jesus thought through the power of the Spirit, and thinking the way that Jesus thought necessarily leads to us living the way that Jesus lived. 

“The natural person”, Paul says, “does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to comprehend them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14). Apart from the gift of the Holy Spirit and His work and ministry in our lives, we would be just like the rest of the world, totally unable to comprehend the truths of the gospel and considering Christianity to be the stuff of fools. 

Thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit, that He has made a way for us, who were dead in our sins and spiritually blind, to be made alive and to have the eyes of our hearts enlightened to the truth! Celebrate the wisdom that comes from God today, and that He has given you the means, by His Spirit, to comprehend it!

1 Corinthians 2

Proclaiming Christ Crucified

2 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Wisdom from the Spirit

6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—

10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • How does having the mind of Christ available to us through the Holy Spirit work itself out practically in our day to day lives?

13 thoughts on “Daily Devotional-July 15”

  1. Dear Heavenly Father,
    Thank You for forgiving my sins and thus saving me from a life without You. Because I have put my faith and trust in You, the Holy Spirit is now living in me. This enables me to communicate with You on a spiritual level, so that I can be lead in Your ways and know Your heart. O Gracious Father, thank You for this wonderful gift and for always being here for me. It gives me much peace and comfort knowing that I will always be connected and guided through Your Holy Spirit. I can live each day with my lifeline, my savior, my all. Thank you for this wonderful blessing. Please search my heart and make me become a worthy workman approved by You. I want to know You more each day. I know our eyes, nor our minds cannot possibly conceive the glorious plans You have for us. However, I can be certain that it will be something beyond the measure of man because You LORD are immeasurable. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

  2. Father, thank you for another day. Who am I that you have plans for me? Fill me anew and afresh with your Holy Spirit. As I walk this side of glory, Father, please walk with me. Together, let’s go find one more lost soul for your son, Jesus. For it is in his name I pray, Amen.

  3. My faith will rest on the power of God, not the wisdom of man. I will have the mind of Christ.

  4. Father, even though this pandemic is around us, thank you for another day to share your word and help others. “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,” 2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

  5. Lord, grant us the “Wisdom of the Spirit”. Thank You for Your great gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit so that we are drawn closer to You as we journey through this life. Protect us with Your might. Amen.

    1. AMEN and HALLELUJAh!!! Please protect my family and friends from the corona virus. I want to walk in your grace and glory. Help the church committee to find a Senior Pastor for our church. Thank you for filling me with spirit. You are my Life, fill me with your love and Spirit. In Jesus name Amen

  6. Father, thank you, as a Christian, I have the mind of Christ. Help me to always use my mind for You.

  7. Thank you Lord for another day. Thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to dwell in me. Keep me on the path of righteousness and not to look for the wisdom of man, but only your wisdom. Thank you for loving me the way you do, thank you for your faithfulness, and thank you for your son Jesus. Amen

  8. Help me Father to always remember it does not mater what I, think but what you think.

  9. Thank you for giving me the potential to see and understand them as you do Lord Jesus. I pray the Holy Spirit will fill me today to help me be sensitive to those that are lost, and that God is pursuing through me as I share the gospel.

  11. Having the mind of Christ available to me every day helps me live my life with guidance. I am my husband’s caregiver and I am always asking the Holy Spirit what to do when I run across situations that I can not solve. He always leads me in the right path.

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