YEAR 1, WEEK 24, Day 3, Wednesday, 12 June 2024

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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Wednesday, 12 June 2024:

1 Corinthians 7:5 – Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

Satan tempts us by targeting our lack of self-control. Self-control is a spiritual gift that must be empowered by the Spirit. Pray for self-control. Also, protect others where they lack self-control. Be strong where others are weak, and have someone watching out for you too.

• Galatians 5:22-26 — But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
• Proverbs 25:28 — A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.
• 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 — Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
• 2 Timothy 1:6-7 — For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
• 2 Peter 1:3-15 — His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

1 Corinthians 7:12-15 – To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace.

God expects us to take responsibility for our decisions and to keep our vows, regardless of the personal cost. It takes faith to believe that God will bring good out of a bad situation.

God’s purpose for our lives is that we “be conformed to the image of His Son,” which means conformed to His character, where our decisions and behavior manifest God’s attributes and will. (Romans 8:29) So, what character traits are we to embody as our life ambition? Well, God is faithful despite our infidelity (2 Timothy 2:13); He says, “I will never leave you or forsake you,” and that nothing can separate us from His love (Hebrews 13:5; Romans 8:35, 39). Jesus says, “Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34) So, why do you think, concerning marriage, God says, “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate”? (Matthew 19:6)

1 Corinthians 7:21, 24 — Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity….) So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

We tend to worry too much about our circumstances and not enough about how we are responding to our circumstances. We tend to worry too much about where we are and not enough about who we are and why we have been placed where we are by God for his purposes. No matter where we find ourselves or how we got there, we are surrounded by opportunities to both glorify God and enjoy His presence. Whether in a palace or a prison, we can proclaim and testify to the glory of God and experience the joy of fellowship with Him.

The Lord has placed us in our current situations for His purposes. If we can improve our conditions, then that is great. However, we need to make the most of the opportunities God has placed in front of us today, where we are now. If we are not careful, we can become so concerned with what we don’t have or where we wish we were, that we fail to appreciate what we do have right in front of us in the place where God wanted us all along.

Consider the lives of people like Noah, Joseph, Moses, David, and the many other people we have read about who God used mightily. Would you want to change places with Noah who witnessed the destruction of all civilization; or Joseph who was sold into slavery by his own brothers, then wrongly accused and cast into prison indefinably; or Moses who spent forty years in the desert as a fugitive with a death sentence over his head and then another 40 years in the same desert trying to lead millions of weak-willed people who more than once conspired to kill him; or David who spent much of his life running for his life or in battle, eventually running from his own son who led a rebellion against him? None of them would have chosen the paths down which God led them; but if they had chosen their own paths, they would not have developed the character and competence that made them so usable by God, nor would they have experienced the close relationships with God that they enjoyed. It is exciting to know that God has placed you in your current circumstances on purpose. Remain faithful with today, and see what develops for tomorrow.

Finally, remember that one of Satan’s primary tactics to deceive you and distract you from God’s will is to get you to focus on lack and to question God’s goodness. Remember, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were in the center of paradise, surrounded by an abundance of all they needed, to include God’s presence. What did Satan do? He got them to focus their attention on the one thing they didn’t have (freedom to eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), and he convinced them that this lack was a withheld blessing from God rather than a divine protection. He convinced them they should step outside of God’s will to get what God did not provide them, and it cost them everything. Don’t let Satan deceive you into believing that, in your current conditions, God is denying you what is best for you and that you have to sin to be safe or satisfied. Rejoice in the now – you are richly blessed!

• 1 Thessalonians 5:18 — Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
• Psalm 118:24 — This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
• Colossians 3:17 — And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
• Psalm 136:1 — Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
• James 1:17 — Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
• Colossians 3:15 — And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
• Hebrews 12:28 — Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe….
• Acts 24:3 — In every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude.

1 Corinthians 7:25-40 – I want you to be free from anxieties.

As a general rule, we should seek to remain as free of contractual obligations or debts as reasonably possible. We should maintain as much personal freedom as possible and avoid entanglements with the world. We should live life as simply as possible, avoiding the temptation to make things complicated and stressful. “Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

1 Corinthians 7:39 — A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives.

Marriage is permanent, whether you, the government, or anyone else says otherwise.

“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 12 June 2024: “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15, 16) Today, see all your circumstances as an opportunity to grow closer to Christ, to walk the Him, to serve Him, to glorify Him, to proclaim Him, and to enjoy Him. Trust God with your situation (along with your mistakes and failures), and have peace and joy. Nothing can separate you from the love of God, and He will work all things (even bad things) together for good, according to His purpose, in perfect love, and to conform you to image of His Son, Jesus.