Chapter 1
Verses for Thought:
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
I love this verse. Sometimes I am discouraged when I hear other believers use words I don't understand. I feel like I need to carry a dictionary around with me! I don't think it's wrong to have a extensive vocabulary, but this just encourages me that even Paul didn't use words that people wouldn't understand! God CAN use my words, as elementary as they are!
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
This verse just shows how magnificent God is compared to man. It reminds me how stupid I can be when I think I have it all together- when I unintentionally tell God I can handle my circumstances and I don't need Him. I do this by not laying my circumstances at His feet until the circumstance is so overwhelming I realize I've been trying to get through it on my own. God is so all-knowing, He is the best One to take all things to.
27-29 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even the things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
These verses shake me. I love that God is exalting Himself and showing that its NOTHING a man can do- but ALL what GOD can do. That purposefully He chooses people that the world would say are nobodies, so that they cannot be glorified, but He. There are SO many examples of people in the Bible who were nobodies. Here are a few:
David was a shepherd boy. God used him to defeat Goliath the
giant. He became the king of Israel. (1 Samuel 16:14- 2 Samuel
8:18)
Joseph was sold as a slave by his own brothers into Egypt and
ended up serving Pharoah in his palace with authority over all of
Egypt. (Genesis 37-41:45)
Saul was a persecutor of Christians and imprisoned anyone who
followed Jesus. He was hated among many people and yet God
wanted to use him for His purposes. God transformed his heart and
gave him a new name- Paul. Paul wrote 13, possibly 14 books of
New Testament (Romans through Philemon, possibly also
Hebrews) (Acts 8-9:27)
The Twelve Disciples were men who were not educated in the Bible to be
considered disciples at that time. Disciples had to go through
rigorous training and Scripture memorization to be accepted by a
rabbi. Jesus chose twelve men among them were fishermen and
a tax collector! (Matthew 4:18-22, 9:9)
Mary, the mother of Jesus, a woman who lived in small town- so small
that it was overlooked as being nothing. God told her through
an angel that she would bear a son who would be the Savior of the
world!
I encourage you to dig throughout the Scriptures and find more amazing stories of how God used incapable people to do awesome things through His power all to fulfill His purposes and plans for humanity. Amazing. Let us remember who we are- apart from Him we are nothing. So let us not be proud in who we are but be proud to be called His.
- Leanne 12-11-11
Reflection Questions:
1. How might verse 17 encourage you to be more bold in sharing the gospel?
2. How can you better trust the Lord with His plans rather than thinking you have it all together? What do you need to surrender to the Lord today?
Isaiah 55:8,9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways, my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
3. How often do you feel discouraged that God can't use you because you are not stong in faith or your feel like a nobody? How do the examples in Scripture, of God using ordinary people, encourage you?