I have recently had my mind focused on one major idea.
Focusing on the Cross instead of focusing on our sin.
It seems like the best thing to do when we are struggling would be to ask the Lord for help and guidance. But when we start constantly praying for help with our sin we begin to focus only on the sin and not on the power of the cross. Jesus has already died to save us from our sin and if we are only thinking about that sin then we forget what he has done for us.
This verse was in my devotional this morning.... what do you guys think it means?
"And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."
1 Corinthians 2:3-5
Love you guys. Let me know what you think.
Always,
Lindsey
Thank you SO much Lindsey! I was actually thinking/journaling about this last night...(PS..the journal I started at Sky Ranch is ALMOST full!) ANywhoo... I was thinking about how a lot of times I personally dwell on what I'm doing wrong..and a lot of times I worry about the mistakes I have made. What I don't realize is not only will Christ be there to help pull me out of sin, but he also forgives too! That's not to say that I can just continue to sin and just think.."Oh, Christ will forgive me..." and continue sinning. I'm pretty sure there's a verse on that somewhere in Corinthians..I'll have to find that. But here's the thing. Christ says, "For eeryone who ASKS receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." Luke 11:10. I think it's really i mportant for us as Christians to realize, YES we are broken..but we need to ask Christ and acknowledge our brokenness sometimes in order to receive the help we are asking for.
ReplyDeleteHope that helps! I love your post Lindsey!!
Hannah B.
Alright Lindsey. I've given this some thought. and i might comment again later, who knows?
ReplyDeletehere's what I got out of it the first time:
When Paul was with the church at Corinth, he came in "weakness and fear, and with much trembling." I think he's saying that he came knowing that the Lord was strong, in control, mighty, and sovereign. SO Paul, here, is incomparably weak. He didn't know what was going to happen, or how he would be taken, but he did the work of the Lord despite that. ok, so i wasn't really sure about verse 3, but verse 4, i really really loved. it seems to me that Paul's saying "hey, it doesn't matter how i preach, how i present the Word of God to you, because it's up to God to reveal the truth to you, not me." Paul and his words are ultimately not responsible for the salvation of his listeners. that's God's job. so basically, unless the Holy Spirit works in a person's heart, the preacher's eloquent language won't do a thing. the Spirit's power must be present. Paul wanted to make certain that the people's faith was not based on his own words, but the words God himself has written on their hearts. he wants God's unfathomable power to be known and responsible and glorified, so he puts this out there to tell the people at the church of Corinth that.
wow girls... yall are total studs.
ReplyDeleteHannah - you are so right on. The Lord calls us to a higher standard. To abuse his grace is such a horrible thing. We must treasure his forgiveness and praise him for the sacrifice he made through his son. you are so on target!
Alexa - girl... get serious. you make SO much sense! I love what you said about it not being about us (rather Paul in this situation) but about the Lord. WE are not responsible for bringing people to Christ... we are responsible for making disciples. I think this is what my next post will be about :)
and i'm sure you know well enough how hard that next post is going to hit me.. ha. but i need it right now
ReplyDeleteOkay, this is crazy how much this applies to my life right now! Lately I've been so frustrated with and critical of myself because I've been feeling like I'm not spreading the gospel "good enough." The other night I told someone my key story, and I was so mad at myself afterwards because the story didn't come across like I wanted it to...and it didn't have the same effect it usually does. But then today I read your post and saw that verse! I LOVE how there's always a verse that goes along what I'm going through! We shouldn't be mad at ourselves when we don't spread the gospel perfectly...it's God's job to speak through us, and we are only human!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for posting! :)