1 Corinthians 2

I am reading 1 Corinthians 2 today.

2:2-5 - a Great reminder not to try to preach with eloquence or human wisdom. It is so easy to try to preach so that people will enjoy it instead of preaching with the power of Christ where people will benefit from it. I am all for good preaching.but we have to be careful that we don't put creativity in front of truth.

2:4-5 - My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, SO THAT your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power. - This is the reason we avoid trying to preach so the people will like it. People need help not entertainment. they need to have their faith on Jesus and not on their preacher. We can actually hurt people's faith when we focus on being better preachers at the cost of being better Christ followers. Let the truth of God coming through you and out of you be what teaches and not just some truth you found, wrapped up neatly and then presented with a sideshow. Let people see a demonstration of the power of God's truth to change their life. God forbid that anyone put their faith in me. After all, like one man said, we are just glorified newspaper boys selling someone else's truth. may they always see the truth and forget about me.

2:7 - The wisdom of God comes with mystery. In our culture we have lost our sense of awe because we try to explain and understand everything. sometimes the best thing you can do is sit back and enjoy God instead of trying to understand Him all the time. Not that we could unravel all the mysteries of God, but why try? Leave a sense of mystery in your faith and it will help you worship him.

2:9 - What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard and what no human mind has conceived - these things God has prepared for those who love him. - Besides really digging how good the things God has planned for us, I love the use of the word prepared. He has ALREADY done it. they are already waiting. It isn't like there is anything left to chance. God has already got it ready and He is just waiting on us now.

2:12 - We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. - Love this verse. God gives us the Spirit so we can understand the truths we need to know that will encourage us.

2:14-15 - Having the Spirit is critical to understanding.

2:16 - ... but we have the mind of Christ.

Love, Michael