Good morning, all!

Father, we are determined to trust in Your love for us, to know that Your hand is always upon our life. Let us be determined to believe the very best of You, to know you will never leave us or forsake us. Let us be determined to believe the best of one another and know that we ALL belong to You, Amen.

1 Corinthians 2

1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t try to impress you with a bunch of fancy word regarding the mysteries of God’s plan.

2 For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
For I made up my mind that while I was with you, I would forget everything except seeing Christ in you, and the old nature that was crucified.

3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
I came in humility, and in reverence and much anticipation.

4 And my speech and my preaching [was] not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
And my message and my preaching were very simple and honest not with a persuasive speech but rather power of the spirit of grace.

Bottom line

So what is Paul really saying to us this morning? God is who He IS and requires no convincing. In other words, Paul is NOT looking to sell us on God or faith, it’s not some insurance policy that requires a sell job. He didn’t come with a fancy suit and a bunch of bravados, instead he came in weakness and with trepidation. Was he really weak?

[1Co 1:25 KJV] Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. Listen, God just needs a willing vessel to pour His spirit in, and He will take care of the rest from there. The truth is the spirit of Christ inside of us is all the power we need, in fact, it needs NO words.

[Act 5:15,16 NIV] As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by…and ALL were healed. Peter never spoke a word, he didn’t even touch them, his shadow alone was power enough to heal them all…wow! You see Paul knew full well the power of Christ dwells in all mankind, that’s why he was DETERMINED to see nothing else but Christ and him crucified. Wasn’t Jesus crucified? Yes, but it’s a picture to show us what is NOW dead and NO longer an influence in our life.

[Rom 6:6 NIV] For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. The OLD me was crucified with Him, you know who the old me was? PRIDE, the know it all, the one that likes to use enticing words, the one that thinks he’s always right. Pride was crucified on Calvary, it is the only ENEMY of God, you know why? It will NOT forgive; it’s the exact opposite of weakness…HUMILITY. There are two natures in this world, one will produce death…PRIDE and the other will produce life…CHRIST. Paul tells us to be determined to find the Christ in one another and if we see anything else in one another know that it was already crucified…it has NO life. Calvary produced a resurrected life, a new life, the life you NOW have is in Christ…it just is, there isn’t anything we can do to attain it or change it. The only thing you and I and the rest of the world can do is disguise it, hide it, misrepresent it but make NO mistake Christ resides in us all!

[Col 3:11 NIV] Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Definitely one of my favorite verses in the bible, it removes all doubt, all works and any sense of pride…Christ is ALL that matters and HE is in ALL…here endeth the story. When I understand this verse, it helps me to look at humanity and be DETERMINED to see the CHRIST in them and NOT the old man. The old man tells me it’s CHRIST plus something else, but that is the lie according to Colossians 3:11…how determined are we to believe that? To accept that? And to live like that? CHRIST plus nothing else, that is a picture of His new covenant of grace. Grace says Calvary is ALL that was required, nothing else to add, all we have to do is walk in the fulness of grace. Paul tells us three times in the New Testament “the just live by faith” or said another way we should JUST live by faith, believe CHRIST is ALL that matters and believe we ALL have Him.

Point to Ponder

What is the opposite of grace? [Jas 4:6 AMP] But He gives us more and more grace [through the power of the Holy Spirit to defy sin and live an obedient life that reflects both our faith and our gratitude for our salvation]. Therefore, it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD and HAUGHTY, BUT [continually] GIVES [the gift of] GRACE TO THE HUMBLE [who turn away from self-righteousness]. Don’t hide His grace, make sure it’s the only REFLECTION the world will see in you!

Let’s all be determined to believe the best of one another, In Him Phil
Faith – Family – Friends