Good morning everyone. I was up earlier due to the storm, and I have had some great time in 1 Corinthians this morning. These scriptures really leaped of the page at me, and Matthew Henry had some powerful commentaries that I seemed stuck in for quite some time to. If you really want a better understanding of your bible, try picking up some quality commentaries sometime such as Matthew Henry, John Darby, and I love John MacArthur. They really have a great gift of helping to shed light on the Word. Much of today’s verses deal with pride, and as I have revealed before, I am a prideful man that God has been chipping away at for some time now. “Pride is the root of all sin” as Pastor Dean said one sermon. We have to humble ourselves to gain the glory of the Gospel and all our God has for us. Without it we can do nothing.

On another note, I hope that your New Years resolution has went well. Yesterday I watched more of the news than I wanted to trying to catch the weather to find out about this storm. It just turned my stomach, and I ended up muting it and keeping changing channels just in time to catch the weather. I think this is going to be a long term thing for me.

I have also secured a domain name, and web blog under construction to continue what you have helped spur me onto doing in writing these devotions every day. I am shooting for a launch Feb. 1.

Know it all?

1 Corinthians 1:17-18        For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

We think we know it all. Paul was preaching a simple message that neither the Jews or the Greeks could understand. The Jews were expecting a great king, and the Greeks rested on their intellect and could not accept the simplicity of the Gospel. They both thought they knew it all, and missed the eternal blessing. Matthew Henry said, “It is just with God to leave those to themselves who pour out such proud contempt on divine wisdom and grace.” Paul could have come with eloquent preaching with the wisdom he had gained in his upbringing, but he knew he would be glorified and not Christ. He realized he was nothing without Christ.

Once God grabs a hold of your heart, and you let Christ in, things change. The bible begins to make sense for you have the Holy Spirit residing in you, guiding your understanding of the scriptures. You will not understand the bible until you accept Him. The Light is given to us to be able to comprehend the great mysteries that were before us. We do begin to realize that it is the power of God that is at work in us. This becomes even more humbling, and even draws us closer to Him. You can have all these things, but you can have none of these things if you think you can do it on your own wisdom, without Christ you can do nothing.