Sober Up

SCRIPTURE
"Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be brave and strong. Your every action must be done with love." (1 Corinthians 16:14)

OBSERVATION
In Paul's usual style, he was closing his letter to the Corinthians with an assortment of exhortations. In this verse he gives practical principles to strengthen the Corinthian's walk with the Lord.

• "Be alert"--in 15:34 he encouraged them to be "right-minded." Literally it means sober up righteously. We are to live our faith alert and ready for action. This means being aware of our surroundings, our enemy, and the pitfalls and traps that can easily trip us up.
  
• "Stand firm"--the posture of a follower of Jesus is to stand. Not to flee or cower but to trust God and hold to our convictions.
  
• "Be brave and strong"--fear has a way of working against us and causing us to give up ground. Over and over God reminds us we don't have to fear.
  
• "Do every action with love"--love is making the well-being of another person as important as our own. It is the "others first" mentality where our actions do not hinder, hurt, or harm another person. Only as we are secure in our faith can we reach out in love to others.

APPLICATION
This is certainly a challenge to live up to. My faith is to be what sustains me. God gives me strength and power to be brave in the face of fear. Jesus is my ultimate example of what means to do everything in love. I don not have to live in a defensive posture but I can make a difference in the world by living strong in the Lord. It's easy to become overwhelmed by the world around me. Perhaps that is why Paul has to exhort me to do these things. They are from my natural self. But God has given me supernatural strength so that I am able to reach out to others with love. This only happens when I'm grounded in a good place...alert, firm, brave, and strong. I am to sober up righteously.

PRAYER
Lord, you've given me everything I need for a life of godliness. With you I have nothing to fear. Help my every action to be done with love.

Get 'Em God

SCRIPTURE
"Oppose my opponents, Lord; fight those who fight me." (Psalm 35:1)

OBSERVATION
Life is filled with people who feel like we are at odds with. So we view them as opponents, as people who are out to get us. David, in this Psalm, was literally talking about people who were out to kill him. His prayer in 35:1, could be paraphrased, "Get 'em God. You take care of them." And pretty much that is what he was doing. However, he gives a great insight in verses 13-15, about how we are to treat such people. "

Yet when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting and my prayer was genuine. I went about grieving as if for my friend or brother; I was bowed down with grief, like one mourning a mother."

David was able to pray for his enemies as if they were a friend or brother. Sounds a lot like Jesus' instructions to bless those who curse us and pray for our enemies. That is upside-down kingdom living at its best (and hardest). David prayed because it honored God and it was the right thing to do. It did not change their hearts, but it changed his. In fact, in the very next verse (v.15) when he stumbled they gathered in glee. A great way to show him appreciation for his concern. They did not show him the compassion that he offered to them through his prayers.

APPLICATION
I have to admit I could get used to the "Get 'em God" prayers. Using God as a spiritual hit man. However, those prayers do nothing for my character or help me grow to be more like Jesus, who went a step beyond praying for his enemies, he forgave them. My duty as a follower of Jesus is to offer genuine, heartfelt, prayers for the difficult people in my life. The truth is, at some point, everyone in my life is difficult to me, and I am difficult to them. Following Jesus, means living life in an upside-down kingdom. Instead of praying, "Get 'em God," I pray, "Bless them God." In those moments, the compassion of Jesus is made real in my life even if they don't respond in kind. God does not give a whit about my comfort but he certainly wants to develop my character.

PRAYER
Lord, I'm one of your difficult children at times. Help me to give to others the genuine heart of compassion that Jesus showed to me.

Guiding Light

SCRIPTURE
The lamp that guides the wicked--haughty eyes and an arrogant heart--is sin. (Proverbs 21:4)

OBSERVATION
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said the eye is the lamp of the body (Mt. 6:22). If the eye is good, the body is full of light. If the eye is bad, the body is full of darkness. Then he said, "If the light is darkness how deep is the darkness?" He was not talking about the 186,000 miles per second kind of light. That light cannot be darkness because darkness is the absence of light and in Jesus teaching he was talking about the presence of a kind of light that was in reality darkness...whew. Light then is a metaphor for the knowledge we receive that guides our lives. The information we allow into our brains (we see or read with our eyes). Here, the writer of Proverbs uses lamp as a form of light. He further illustrates this lamp that guides the wicked in the wrong direction as haughty eyes and an arrogant heart. The lamp of prideful living.

APPLICATION
I have to carefully choose my guiding light, those influences that lead my life and establish my path. Pride says I will go my way, but submission says I will go God's way. How do I know which way that is? Psalm 119:105 reminds me that God's word is a light unto my path and a lamp unto my feet. I'm always using a lamp of one form or another to find my way through life (advice from friends, books, media, popular culture, etc.). I need to choose God's word to make sure I end up where God wants me. It is more than enlightenment, it is about obedience. I can know God's word but I must submit to God's word and allow it to shape my life. What prevents me from doing that? The very things the writer of Proverbs mentions...haughty eyes and an arrogant heart, pride - which is sin, because it stifles my life of listening to God and doing what he wants.

PRAYER
Lord, may your word be a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

No Plan B

SCRIPTURE
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no plans to satisfy the fleshly desires (Romans 13:14). [See additional context: Romans 13:11-14]

OBSERVATION
Paul had just reminded the Romans to wake up from their spiritual sleep. Jesus' return is closer today than the day they first believed so they should be ready by living in the light and not in the darkness. We are to be living holy and God fearing lives. We are faced with a decision: to put on Jesus, live and walk like him, or live and walk in the flesh, our natural selves that do what is contrary to God's holiness. Paul lists a few in verse 13, carousing, drunkenness, sexual impurity, promiscuity, quarreling and jealousy.

Consider it this way:
Plan A: Clothed with Decency or Plan C: Clothed with Deeds of Darkness.
However, in between is Plan B: the plans to satisfy the fleshly desires. We often don't throw off Christ and give into the flesh on the spur of the moment. It is more often than not a premeditated action. Plan B is where we start to scheme and calculate the best ways, times, and places to satisfy the flesh. Without a Plan B it is much hard to go to Plan C.

APPLICATION
I've got to stick with Plan A, remaining clothed with Christ. Pan B is where I start to debate and decide what to wear, decency or darkness? Paul reminded me to make no plans. For most things in life it is good to have a plan. Directions are a good idea when traveling. A recipe is good for baking. Assembly instructions are good for the bazillion pieces in the box. However, when it comes to walking in the light, plans for the flesh are no good. If I don't think about where I could go, I probably will not end up there. It requires me to be active, remaining awake, alert,and conscious about where I am. Ironically, passivity, or spiritual sleepiness, is a sure way to start making plans. In doing nothing I can end up doing the wrong thing.

PRAYER
Lord, I want to live with the clothing of Christ. To walk in the daylight with him as my armor against the deeds of the dark.