Personal Devotions
Notes from Mark's personal Bible reading and meditation
With a goal to apply one truth from each day's reading to my life that day
Oct 5, 2024, 11:04 AM
Passage Read: 1 Corinthians 14-15
Meditation Verses: 14:36-38
Thought
This is so true, not just in regard to Paul's teaching on the role of women in the church, but in every matter about which he taught. The Word of God did not originate with me or my generation, so what business do we have to change anything written in it? What business do we have to argue with anything recorded in the Scriptures?
Oct 4, 2024, 11:06 AM
Passage Read: 1 Corinthians 12-13
Meditation Verse: 13:8
Thought
Love, agape love in this passage, is not a spiritual gift, but a spiritual discipline. It is learning and choosing to care for the needs, especially the spiritual needs, of others. Spiritual gifts can certainly be a part of helping others, but Paul says here that when true agape love comes, the spiritual gifts will take a back seat and even be laid aside. Spiritual gifts are exciting, but they can be used more to exalt self rather than seek the good of others.
Oct 3, 2024, 11:08 AM
Passage Read: 1 Corinthians 10-11
Meditation Verse: 11:16
Thought
This issue of men and women and their differences in life and specifically in the church has been a source of contention from the beginning of the Church. For Paul to mention that if anyone wants to be contentious about it means he has received blowback before, when talking or writing about it. Recent generations were not the first to debate it or reject it. But Paul laid this teaching as a foundation of the Church.
Oct 2, 2024, 11:09 AM
Passage Read: 1 Corinthians 8-9
Meditation Verses: 9:25-27
Thought
There are actually some who preach the Gospel but do not obey it or the Lord they preach about. They are called hypocrites. They may preach and teach correct things about the Lord and His Gospel and how He wants His people to live, but they themselves do not abide by their own instruction. They disqualify themselves from receiving the prize they encourage others to pursue.
Oct 1, 2024, 11:10 AM
Passage Read: 1 Corinthians 6-7
Meditation Verse: 7:22
Thought
"He who was called while free, is Christ's slave." Several times in these two chapters Paul teaches this concept in different ways. He who belongs to Christ should no longer live for his own agenda, but be willing to submit himself to other, wiser believers to settle disputes. Indeed, we should prefer to be wronged rather than fight with another brother. We are not our own, but bought at a price and we should live to please the Lord, and give up the things of this world and life in order to please Him.
Sep 30, 2024, 7:22 AM
Passage Read: 1 Corinthians 4-5
Meditation Verses: 5:9-11
Thought
There are two standards: one for how we treat brothers and one for how we treat unbelievers. The brother we hold to a high standard of righteous behavior, because he has claimed to believe in Christ and therefore has been changed and made to walk in righteousness. The unbeliever needs the Gospel; we have no expectation that he can walk in righteousness so we must go to him and teach him about Christ.
Sep 29, 2024, 7:23 AM
Passage Read: 1 Corinthians 2-3
Meditation Verses: 2:4-6
Thought
Paul didn't depend on wise words or polished speech, but on the power of the Spirit. The Spirit worked through him to confirm him as a man who was backed by real power. He preached the Gospel, a message of truth and God's wisdom, but the natural man couldn't understand it. So it was confirmed by the Spirit with demonstrations of power. Paul's desire was that no one would be converted by human wisdom but with powerful evidence of the reality of God.