October 16, 2024

1 Corinthians 10

“So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall.” Did you know that we have the capabilities not to sin because of Christ and the Holy Spirit that abides in us; but we are sinners, 1John 1:8, “If we say, ‘We have no sin,’ we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Let us not be prideful and think we are not sinners. The capability not to sin as a Christian may be there but will never be reached in this realm.  We as Christians are Saints that sin, because all sin is manifested by our heart, what we take in or internalize from the world, by the temptations that we experience. How do we interpret and handle temptations? Does it make us feel guilty or do we brush it off and say, “I am only human”, or like the above statement, being prideful that we have the ability to overcome sin.  Of course, we are human and as Christians the Holy Spirit abides in us, giving us strength to persevere through the temptation.

 So how do we handle temptation?  In English, the word “temptation” has a negative notation. In the Greek it has added  meaning “to prove” or “to test”. This word would only be defined by the context of the paragraph. For example, Got tested Abraham when He was told to sacrifice his son Issac, Genesis 22:1-19. The test could have turned into a temptation that would have resulted in a sin had Abraham said, “Are you sure?” and disobeyed. Job is another example of being tested. Job 2:10, ‘“You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?’ Throughout all this, Job did not sin in what he said.” When God tests us He tests us to bring out righteousness and He will not test us with evil.

Romans 6:12, “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.” Our sin begins in our bodies, the heart more specifically. The devil and his minions do not cause you to sin. They may have some external cause but the Bible is clear, “He who is in you is more powerful than he who is in the world”, 1 John 4:4. You say I was tempted but scripture is clear too, God will not allow supernatural temptations to overcome us but only that that is common to man. Oh my, how can this be? Temptations are difficult. Why does the Bible say that temptations are only those that are common to man? How do I overcome them?

Let’s look at Revelation 3:14-22. The church at Laodicea was a church that was prestigious and overconfident, rich and in need of nothing, Rev 3:17. Jesus uses the illustration of them being neither hot or cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth, Rev 3:16. The hot or cold is neither good or bad but is referencing the aqueducts to move hot mineral water in from Hierapolis and cool fresh water in from Colossae. The water from both aqueducts had to travel many miles to reach Laodicea and the hot water cooled down and the cool fresh water became lukewarm. The mineral water had medicinal benefits for the body to bathe in and the fresh water was for consumption. The point: both, the hot mineral water and the cool fresh water, had its benefits but because they were far from the original source the benefits were reduced to vomiting out of His mouth. They were far from the source, so the benefits were reduced. Jesus is our source. In trials or temptations, the only way out of them all is by enduring them, going through them, James 1:2-4, and Jesus said He would never leave or forsake us but endure, Psalm 94:14.

Jesus said, “And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Matthew 6:13. In other words, help us not to internalize our circumstances to be drawn into sin. Help us to endure through our circumstances trusting in you as Abraham did, as Job did. Not to be overconfident that we cannot be tempted because we can. Pride comes before the fall, Proverbs 16:18. We are all human, and we will all sin even as a Christian. God is faithful and will provide a way out, you have the responsibility to take that way out. In your failure to take the way out, God can still use a broken vessel, 2 Timothy 2:21. Your sin cannot take you out of His hand, John 10:28.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, forgive us of our sin. You are our source for everything. You have been patient with us through our sin. Your temple, our bodies, are dirty on the inside from time to time. Holy Spirit, cleanse us. We pray that we wait upon you, to endure the challenges of life, not to internalize our circumstances, not to blame or complain but to endure. That our patience will be perfected in You, Lord Jesus. Day by day, moment by moment let us give to You, all of us so our sin becomes less and less.

Amen

October 2, 2024

1 Corinthians 8-9

Have you noticed that “a soft answer turns away anger,” proverbs 15:1? I Have. I have also been the person with the anger that has been calmed because of someone’s soft spoken words. My testimony was preserved because of someone’s wise action towards me. Over time, I too, became aware that I can turn away someone’s anger towards me with a gentle response. My knowledge did not happen overnight. How do we learn or become knowledgeable on certain things? I think that depends on the individual.  Having knowledge of things gives many a confidence that may exhibit “arrogance” towards others. I have been guilty of that, too, just ask my wife and kids. Much of the knowledge given to me was not anchored in love. This is brought to our attention by Paul because of a question posed by the Corinthians. Paul affirms we all have knowledge (verse1) and we are to seek knowledge and teach knowledge (Jeremiah 22:17) but how do you apply knowledge? The Corinthians asked this indirectly by asking how they should respond to those who took offense to the eating of meat offered to idols. 

God separated His people by telling them to eat certain thing and not to eat certain things, Leviticus 11. This instruction was for their separation among the nations, but it was also to instruct them of being pure and to obey by faith this command. Jesus then, fulfilling the Old Testament, declares all foods clean, Mark 7:19 because it is what comes out of the body that is impure. Peter experienced in Acts 10:13-15 a declaration to “not call food impure that God has made clean.”, and eat. In Jesus, the freedoms given to us should be restrained by the love we have for Him. Because, if we sin against our brothers, who have “little” knowledge, we are sinning against Jesus. Paul knew this firsthand. In Acts 9:5 Jesus knocks Paul to the ground as he was traveling to Damascus to persecute the Christians. Jesus said, “why do you persecute Me?” Paul had to ask who He was. Jesus replied, “I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting.” In a larger sense, whenever and however we sin against our brothers in Christ, we are sinning against God, against Jesus, against the Holy Spirit. 

The Corinthians were not the only people with knowledge combined with love problems. You remember Romans 14 about the weaker brother and the more mature brother. Like a marriage, a weaker vessel to the stronger vessel. We should not consider the weaker vessel the “lesser” vessel because they aren’t. Can you imagine treating your spouse as the lesser vessel? Some do, in some religions the woman is considered the lesser vessel. The weaker vessel should be cared for, nurtured in Christ that their growth will be sufficient in Christ. You, as the stronger vessel, will also grow. Your compassion for those who continue to be burdened by worldly things, continue to be burdened by lack of knowledge of Jesus, will grow in your walk with Christ, humbly by the Lord, Micah 6:8. 

You will not stay the same. Paul illustrates in chapter 9 his credentials and the responsibilities he has to the church and the church has to him. Paul has been upholding his part and even called himself an apostle to the Corinthian people, verse 2. The Corinthians from what I read, did not support him financially. However, Paul did not hold his authority over them to gain financially but did hold it over them to guide them morally and to instruct them in their culture change, from worldly idol worshipping to trusting by faith in One God, One Savior, One spiritual relationship in Jesus, the Christ, our Savior.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, Forgive us our sins. Please keep us learning Your ways for our lives that we may instruct a weaker believer. Help us to consider us as a weaker believer in comparison to the vast knowledge and illustrations You give us in your Word and in our experiences. In our learning Lord, help us to learn. In our witness, help us to exhibit in love. In our teaching, help us to instruct with love. You have taught us with love by Your patience. You have witnessed Your love for us on the cross. May we desire this love You possess more and more daily.

Amen

-David MrRoz

September 25, 2024

1 Corinthians 7

The simple message of this passage is verse 17, “Let each one live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in all the churches.” We are to continue in our life path as long as we are not in defiance to GOD’s way. Our inner self should change, and we should be better husbands/wives, we should be better at our jobs, we should be better friends, etc. When I suggest we should be “better” I am saying internally. Our attitudes towards our circumstances. 

The Corinthians needed guidance in their new walk. Some felt a new Christian should get a divorce to be totally devoted to the ways of the Lord. These were the Gentiles. The Jews felt they needed to be married to carry out the Lord’s instruction to “be fruitful and fill the earth”, Genesis 1:28. It is thought Paul was married because he was a member of the Sanhedrin which required members to be married. We never read about her in scripture and Paul would say, “I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain as I am.” (Verse 8) Notice he includes widows, so the thought is Paul’s wife had died. The last thought being pure speculation, Paul continues his instructions, “But if they do not have self-control, they should marry, since it is better to marry than to burn with desire.” (Verse 9) So there is a choice to be made and in either choice you will not sin. 

Having the gift of singleness is not always easy as well as having the gift of a spouse not being easy. Both should be praised and honored. The issues many single people face today can be exaggerated with the thought that no-one wants to be with me. Depression can set in. A single person who knows the LORD should exam their life and become prepared to not have the gift of a spouse. Perhaps in time God will provide for this as he did for Isaac, Genesis 24:15. A single person needs uplifting and we as their brothers in Christ should uplift them.

Therefore, be thankful if you are not married because your concerns would be divided, those for your spouse and those for God. Having the gift of a spouse, we are instructed not to divorce but to be in continual relationship with our spouse’s. Being a Christian means we are a better spouse internally. We have many instructions in scripture on being a better spouse. We are to remain in this aspect of our lives. Can you imagine the chaos if all Christians got a divorce? God is not the creator of chaos. 

So, may I challenge you?   You married and single people, become a better person by obeying God. Internally, your walk with Christ will become stronger. Your compassion for the lost will grow. You will be less about yourself and more for Jesus and His gospel for others. Externally, your “American Dream” will become less about worldly, material things and more about your humble walk with GOD. You will become less, and Jesus will become more, as John the Baptist said in John 3:30, and that will be ok with you. In everything give thanks to God, (1 Thessalonians 5:18)  and be about the things of God. What are the things of God you ask? It would be different for each of you but reading scripture and prayer and counsel with other godly people can help lead you. 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, forgive us our sin. Lead us in all aspects of our lives. Help us to be about Your ways for us. Help us to be godly in our responses. Help us to be better single people, married people, to be a better friend, a better worker, to be better internally with gratitude and appreciation towards Your will for our lives. 

Amen

-David MrRoz

September 11, 2024

1 Corinthians 6

As we reflect on these first 6 chapters concerning the early church, we see problems that existed then, are still present today. Our eagerness to follow Christ once we become saved can become a zealousness of energies that may lead us to stagnation. You ask, “that’s an interesting statement, how so?” Well, I am glad you asked. By faith we become saved, trusting in Jesus that His death and resurrection paid our sin debt. I believe that. You believe that. We are then instructed to go to church, read our Bibles, join a small group but somehow, some of us just don’t “get it”. Our small group has had men come and go. They were on fire to learn the “ways of God” Psalm 25:4, “Make me know Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths.” But some have fallen away. Could it be the 4 types of soils Jesus taught?  It’s as if the illustration of the four types of soil presented by Jesus in all Three gospels become a reality. (1) Seeds, or the message, fall on the path being walked on quickly get eaten up by birds, so the hearer ignores the message for salvation. (2) Some fall on rocky ground and begin to take root, eagerness, but quickly fades because there was no leadership or guidance when hard times came, interest waned. (3) Some fell where weeds began to choke the message, indicating culture events and one’s own life events have taken priority over maturing in Christ. And finally, (4) seed that fell on good soil which produced a good harvest indicating maturing and living for Jesus. We have all been in one of these stages. As we progress through this life we become more or less receptive to the gospel message. Take charge of your heart by surrendering your heart to Christ through prayer. Charles Spurgeon said, “Prayer itself is an art which only the Holy Ghost can teach us. He is the giver of all prayer. Pray for prayer-pray till you can pray.” And we studied in Romans 11:36, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” If you have a thought or an inkling to pray, you must pray!

We should be in a surrendering state to Jesus, to the Holy Spirit, so we will not be misled by a talented speaker who is in the preaching business for money. Remember, God gives, freely and generously, wisdom and knowledge to those who ask but to ask in FAITH, James 1:5. 

Cultural guidance will lead to destruction, we see that everywhere. This is the world’s wisdom. And what did we learn about the world’s wisdom? It is foolishness and those who cherish it cannot learn of spiritual wisdom, 1 Corinthians 1:19. Culture says, “I have my rights and you violated them therefore I am suing you,” I am guilty of this, out of ignorance though. Sensuality and debauchery are cultural. Sex is everywhere and tempting us with physical pleasures. Have we read our Bibles to better understand the consequences.  We read our bodies are the temple of God, the New Covenant. The temple of God is no longer a building. We have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Do not defile God’s temple, your body, with immorality. Be of the mindset that all your actions are being watched by our Savior. I pray it persuades you away from defilement of God’s temple. 

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, forgive us of our sin. Help us to have an eagerness to learn Your Word, to be followers of Your guidance and to cherish all opportunities as gifts from You. Help us to return to You in our time of disparity. 

July 24, 2024

1 Corinthians 4

We, who are now keepers of God’s past mysteries, things that are now known for our salvation, have been instructed to proclaim the gospel of Jesus the Christ, if at all, by the way we live and conduct ourselves. Human wisdom is the natural man, the unsaved person, and cannot understand the spiritual man’s ways. Being judged by others or the courts that man has put together should have no impact on our commitment to living a godly life. Our actions will speak greater than our words in this judgmental world. The judgement we will all face will come from God, first our salvation, being displayed by faith, then our works. Our salvation will not depend on our works, but our works will be judged as gold and other precious gems to survive a fire or wood and hay to be burned, 1 Corinthians 3. This judgement will depend on the motives of our heart. In thinking of our motives, I ask last week, “why do we do the things we do?” Have you had a chance to think about that? The opportunity to contemplate this came to me a few days ago. My thoughts took me to self-preservation, to avoid “missing out” on things, a justification that I was offended and if I got caught, I could bring up the past. Your thoughts and reasons could and probably are different. Do any of them revolve around Christ and Him crucified as we studied in 1 Corinthians 2? Probably not. My point is this, whatever we do in life even die we should do as an example to glorify Jesus, 1 Corinthians 10:31. We will soon study this chapter. Let’s pay attention to this until we get to this study. Are we glorifying God in ALL we do?

God’s Church is not a political battlefield, pitting one person over another. The unity of the church depends on the maturity of those leading and the maturity of those following. In Acts, the Bereans became spiritually wise and united to the truth because they researched what was being told to them by Paul, Acts 17. In our witnessing, either by example or by conversation, we are told to not add to the scriptures, or “not go beyond what is written.” (Verse 6). John writes in Revelation 22 “not to add or take away from prophecy of this book” and so I am encouraged that the teachings of scripture can be searched in the scriptures, and can be verified through the scripture, praying as we earnestly seek God’s wisdom and guidance. Be reminded that James 1:5 encourages us to ask for wisdom and God will give to us generously and do not doubt God but trust Him for this wisdom. Men, you are the humble, seeking wisdom to better understand scripture and you are receiving this wisdom with each study. Now apply it. The natural man will try to convince you seeing is believing but we say believing is seeing and the mind of God begins to instruct you because the Spirit lives in you and the Spirit knows the mind of God, 1 Corinthians 2:16. Therefore, ask for wisdom in your studying of the scriptures.

In your studies of scriptures, there will be many who have some knowledge and can guide you through understanding. They can take you as far as they have gone, then the student becomes the instructor. Jesus said in Luke 6:40, “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” I suggest your studies be more in the Bible than about the Bible. We can go to commentaries but keep committed to prayer that God will show you the answers in the Bible. Your answers very well could come from a commentary but check the references that are made. 

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, forgive us our sins. As we walk through this life help us to recognize Your control and Your guidance. Place in our paths godly men who trust you, men who can instruct us of your ways. Keep us from placing anyone and anything over your Headship of us. We love you!

Amen

-David Mroz

July 17, 2024

1 Corinthians 3

Isn’t it interesting how kids today want to be adults; to be on their own, making adult decisions, to driving, to making an income, and all the freedoms that come with being grown-up. Yet when that time comes many are poorly prepared. They may be of age, but they still need parenting. Christian growth is similar because we live in worldly surroundings, not “spiritual” surroundings. I have “spiritual” in quotations because we do live in both realms, the spiritual world is harder to see but with Christian maturity it becomes more noticeable. We become comfortable with what we are familiar with and live as natural humans and not spiritual humans. Now, to be certain we understand, spiritual humans are not people who have some sort of cultic beliefs that go against Biblical scripture, that’s demonic. Spiritual people have the mind of Christ (chapter 2:16) and faithfully believe that Jesus is the Christ, purchased us on the cross, was buried and was raised on the third day. In effect, spiritual people become spiritual by faithfully believing that last statement as their foundation in which to continue building their faith on.

 Where does this foundation start? Genesis 3:15, “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike His heel.” An internet search has come up with 365 prophetic verses about the coming Messiah, which was Jesus, and 100 prophetic verses about the faithful in that coming Messiah in the Old Testament. In building on a foundation, we do not add to the foundation. The foundation is strong and can never break or be broken. But, by the Spirit, we build our faith to be witnesses of Jesus. Have you ever thought, why do I do the things that I do? Is it because I must do these things? Maybe, but that would be of a slave mentality with very little or no joy. Or do I do the things I do because I want to do them? It brings me joy. May I suggest that a believer in Jesus will learn to build on His foundation in doing things for the kingdom, for Jesus’ sake, which brings joy because it is something they enjoy doing. They have learned that, when tested by persecution, their beliefs and convictions will carry them through. A good illustration of this is Paul and those early Christians who were martyred for their beliefs in Christ. A more recent example was Dietrich Bonhoeffer who held Biblical scriptures of Jesus and His salvation to Dietrich as he was in Hitler’s prison and would eventually be hung. 

Our foundation must begin with Jesus and His atoning work on the cross. Our building on this foundation must be based on the scriptural understanding and the growth that comes with it. Our unity in Christ has solidified His Church and we “are servants through whom “others” (my words) will believe, and each has the role the Lord has given.” (verse 5)

We briefly discussed our teaching and preaching to others last week. That we should rely on Scripture and the Holy Spirit to lead us as we do those things. And not to think too highly of ourselves because we did not come up with the word structures being spoken but were given to us by the Spirit. Now it become obvious that we should remain humble and obedient, “For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved- but only as through fire.” Test your heart, men. Do not be misled by a “good sermon” that you give. Fluffy and elegant words are not for your uplifting but for redemption of those hearing; that Christ is honored by the words given to you through the Spirit of God.

A few weeks ago, I was in a customer’s home who is a therapist. He was walking me around his home showing me all the artwork his wife had done or was working on, his wife died last November. As we talked about her legacy as a painter the discussion of Jesus came up. He told me his career started out in the Catholic Church as a family counselor. He told me his training and the people he had read and been associated with and then he began to talk about his beliefs. I think he read too many therapist books because he did not believe in the same God as the Bible, at least from what I could understand of him. God says, “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God”, verse 19. This may sound silly, but I am grateful that this is true. I am one of those who is foolish, but I know that I am. The scriptures also say, “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God- who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly- and it will be given to him.” James 1:5. The context of James’ statement is that all of us lack wisdom, so don’t think you are immune to human wisdom (godly foolishness). 

Chapter 2 ends with this statement, “But we have the mind of Christ.” And chapter 3 ends with this statement, “and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.” So, if this is a true statement for you, meaning you have been saved and are being saved, then the explanation of worldly wisdom being foolishness to God is more understandable to you. We have the ability to understand spiritual things because we have the mind of Christ. This also means that those who do not have the mind of Christ will not understand us, 1 Corinthians 2:14.

Prayer:

Father, forgive us of our sin. Help us to build our faith continually on the foundation You have laid and prepared for us. Help us to understand that nothing we have can be given to You to strengthen Your foundation. We come to you with nothing for Your salvation. We pray for Robert in his witnessing to his friend, Martin. Bring him to salvation. 

Amen

-David Mroz