Category: Morning Musings

Morning Musings: 1 Corinthians 12:4-6

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“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

It takes a lot to make the church work.  There are all kinds of different roles that need to be filled.  Some of them are out front and flashy.  Some of them are entirely behind the scenes and go completely overlooked…unless they’re not being done.

The challenge this presents the church is that we tend to assign value based on external factors only.  If something is visible, we count it as more valuable than something that is invisible.  If something draws our eyes because of its prominence, we count it as more valuable than something which is not as eye-catching.  Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Psalm 99:8

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“O Lord our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

One of the things that can be so frustrating about the Scriptures is that over and over they take two ideas which seem to be contradictory, declare them both to be true, and, rather than resolving the tension, simply leave it in place.

Some examples of this would be divine sovereignty and human responsibility, Jesus’ full humanity and full divinity, and the three-persons and one-person nature of the Trinity.  Right here we see another tension.  The psalmist declares God to be both a forgiver of sins, but also an avenger of wrongdoings.   Read the rest…

Morning Musings: 1 Corinthians 10:13

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“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.  God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Temptation is everywhere we look.  The Siren song of sin sings sweetly at every corner.  Sometimes it feels like all we ever do is drift from one temptation to another.  And yet, Paul’s observation here is true and powerful.  I think there are several things we can say about our efforts with the Spirit’s help to walk in the righteousness of the Lord based on what Paul says here.   Read the rest…

Morning Musings: 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

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“For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.  To the Jews I became as a Jews, in order to win Jews.  To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.  To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.  To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak.  I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.  I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

The lengths to which Paul was willing to go in order to see someone connect with Christ were vast.  If someone had asked him to stand on his head and shout the alphabet backwards and then they would do it, he probably would have done it then and there.  Nothing was as important as this and so everything was worthwhile to do to help advance someone in that direction.   Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Psalm 97:1-5

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“The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!  Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.  Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around.  His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles.  The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

We work very hard to make the Lord relatable for people.  We talk about Jesus and how God wants to be our friend.  We delight in His coming near and giving us the gift of His presence.  All of this is right and good and true.

But, we cannot forget along the way that God is also holy.  He is mighty.  He is powerful beyond our imagination.  He is glorious, and not in the loudly-singing-angels kind of way.  He is glorious in the shine-you-out-of-existence kind of way.  His glory is fearsome and terrible.  Were we to behold it we would come to an end.   Read the rest…