1 cor 3:2
I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.
What a slam! Love to here some comment on what is milk and what is solid food. Many beleive that solid food would mean the ability to debate and give commentary on scripture that is not clear in meaning. We have already discovered in chapter one and two that many beleivers in Corinth were struggling with boasting in man rather than Christ. They were struggling with Holiness and Character. They had issues with one another and were quick to judge. Solid food is loving your enemies, laying ones life down for another. Solid food is being a person of character the type of character that radiates Christ. He laid down his life for those who spat on him, cursed him, rejected him so that they might accept them. If you can lay all your dreams and passions down for the sake of loving others especially for those you just don't care for to me that is some solid food. I would rather be a person to give a cup of water to someone in need rather than give my view on end times to an audience of thousands.
v.9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.
Father grant me the capacity to love others as you do. Make me a man of Character...Holiness is what I long for...
This post was filled with double shot espresso...
Joe
8 comments:
Milk does a body good!, unless you're lactose intolerant. That's what I think happens to those who don't mature. For some reason they don't digest the milk. As we spend time, humbly before the Lord, and meditate on HIS word we begin to understand more about who HE is and desire to be more like Him. It's not an "intelligence" thing, it's about Wisdom. Wisdom is knowing the Holy Spirit and being sensitive to follow HIS lead, allowing HIM to mold you and then your growth will come automatically. - Next stop vegetables and then meat. I'm hungry already. "Lord help us not stunt our growth. May our souls process the milk of your word and become more like you."
Thanks for the double shot!
Be blessed!
Oh man! I dig this one...
"...Are you not acting like mere men?"
Cor 3:3
Our world makes being\becoming a man something of an achievement. We are offended when people call us less than a man, so we grunt and scratch and drink ourselves stupid and use being a man as an excuse to be vulgar and crude. We are embarrassed when women think of us as less than a man and so we buy gym passes and pump ourselves full of enzyte, or Viagra or whatever other miracle drug can "make you more of a man" We fight our way as far up the mountain as we can so that we can say we are the most manly. (And by the way, I'm not saying going to the gym is wrong, more pointing out the motivation of this world we live in.) The same is true for women. Fill in the blanks but it is absolutely a status thing.
What I love is that Paul calls out that way of thinking almost 2000 years before you could get your truck lifted. Makes me wonder if there were bro-camels...
We are called to be so much more than men. He uses the words mere men as an insult. We are to look beyond the men in our lives, even the Godly examples and never strive to be anything less than Jesus. We are called to be Christians! Christ-like! I think we have all found ourselves in a place where we look up to someone, follow there example, and are disappointed somehow. Then what happens to us. It stunts our growth as we try to recover, which stunts the growth of those who are trying to look to us for an example.
I'm not saying that it is wrong to seek out wisdom and discernment from men who can speak into our lives; I'm simply saying that if you make a copy of a copy, the quality will always lessen the further you go down the chain.
"So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future-all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God."
Cor 3:21-23
The Holy Spirit lives in every one of us, therefore, every one of us has the means to be so much more than mere men. It is such a comfort being not of this world but still living in it to know that.
"I(Paul) planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase" (V6) We all have significant roles and we all need one another in order to do the work of God. Without someone to break the ground, then another person to plant the seed, then another person to water it the seed will not grow, but it is by God who does the growing. It is God who has given us the talents, abilities and gifts to be the person who breaks ground, plants seeds, and waters. It is done by Him. For me this puts life and ministry in perspective. I can be "doing" all these awesome and amazing things, i can be gifted in evangelism, or teaching, or whatever, but still it comes from God and Him alone. It is not I but He who lives in me. God is the enabler. So regardless of how "successful" (whatever that means) I am in ministry, it is not me at all. But His Spirit in me. The foundation has been laid and that is Christ Jesus. That which His temple has been built with are His gifting's,His workmanship, His blessings. That temple in which He resides in is me(v16). He is the one who has built me and stabilized me.
That is what has changed in me. To know that it is Him alone who does everything.
Don't you love it when people give God all the glory. That is what it is about. We as a body of church need to be united for even if one little part of the body is in division then that throws off the whole body of Christ. We need not to be shallow about our intake of God's word. We can get plenty of mild but lets move onto solid food. "Truth and Love" then we can be united, selfless, and humble. With a foundation of God's word " which is Chris Jesus" we can watch our Spiritual Grow sky rocket. Now to let me clarify that isn't how many verses we have memorized "But that is good" but it is how we treat our brothers and sister in Christ and those called to be in Christ.
We must also remember to keep ourselves holy.
Verses 16-17 " Do you not know that you are the temple of god and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is HOLY, WHICH TEMPLE YOU ARE."
We are the temple of God which means GOD LIVES IN US. The Spirit of god dwells in us. Which makes us Holy. How rad is that! So lets keep our temples clean and remember
[23]"...you are Christ's, and Christ is God's"
Thank you Lord for tough Circumstances.... being called from glory to glory teaches us to walk in your freedom by applying your instruction.....
Thanks for the Shout out Hogan...
*Toes*
It's all about the foundation baby!! God is going to reveal the true foundations of the houses we built through fire...and those still standing will yield the reward that’s promised! [v.14]
Paul reiterates the foolishness of boasting in wisdom, which is seemingly repetitive…but in the context of current Corinthian affairs, I’d say very necessary. If we count ourselves wise, we must begin in foolishness. Sounds like something right out of Confucius, or a backwards mantra that needs to be fully grasped in learning the ways of the Samurai!
I love how Paul breaks it down to the Corinthians: in verbiage that understandable to the layman. People must crawl before walking, must first use Lincoln Logs (yesssss!) before building structural abodes, and progressively must start with milk before solid food. In the same context, we are fleshly beings moving toward the spiritual, being given new tools along the way, similarly as our own teeth develop, with which to build and complete the foundation that will be our goal of Christ-likeness.
I was thinking about an excerpt from Donald Millers book, Blue Like Jazz, equating the tools necessary to build a lasting foundation. He simply states what God desires from us, that when put together, is virtually indestructible: a FRUITFUL, TANGIBLE, INTERACTIVE and PERSONAL relationship with each one of us. Only You, God, are worthy of our praise!!
Oh, and the blog is now official: I saw the mark of the Toes...and I peed a little when I read about Brandons bro-camels...love it..I'm out!!
Cheers,
nathan l.
Go Bro-Camels!
Anyway.
I was thinking about what it would look like to build with precious jewels and gold etc. and I came to the conclusion that it has alot to do with encouragement. Yes sound doctrine is staple and completely essential. But relationship and encouragement are the things that will spur the people we are discipling on into putting this sound doctrine into action.
I don't even know if that was the point of the passage but that's just kinda what i came out with.
And then, of course, the imagery of being the temple of the Spirit of God fills me with joy like nothing else! I love the Holy Spirit.
haha you guys are awesome and your thought processes are rad!
Gott ist gut.
nathan
Ouch! Chapter 3 is the ultimate slam. I know all the men got so much out of discussion how to be more thna mere men and that was awesome to read. Women struggle with the same things - in fact, they often overshadow the fact that men have the same struggles too. (EX: Women often feel horrible about their bodies and that is discussed so much it's easy to forget that men do the same thing). Anyway - look at that - it's barely my 5th sentance and already I went down a bunny trail. (for those of you never in my Monday night study, that means a tangent).
What i wanted to comment on this was verses 10-15 and the image of the foundation of the temple. We know from scripture Christ is the Chief Cornerstone - the ultimate foundation. Then when Paul went to Corinth, and as e still do today, he laid the foundation by preaching who Christ was. Then of course others like Apollos built on it and so on.
But i love the image of verse 12-14. I'm thinking about it right now in the context of relating to other Christians. When we build on each other and we sharpen each other, what is it with? Is it with spiritual things, things that stand up to fire - like silver gold and costly stones. Or do we only have the time or interest to put in superficial, temporary things like hay or wood. This puts things into perspective and challenges me to pay attention to what I seek to deposit into people. When i see people am i genuine, am I real in my prayers, do I say I pray for them every day when it's really once week? Because if all I ever build into others is wood and straw then when the fire comes they will not stand. This is horrible for them, but also Paul comments it's not good for us either. We suffer a loss, even if we are saved in Him. We miss out on the relationship, we miss out on the benefits, and often times we are also not well built up in return. So when fire comes on us... we sizzle. I want to deposit things of worth into others and I hope that others seek to deposit good things into me. We are God's temple and we must remember that others are too! :)
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