“For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16 ESV). The apostle Paul reminded the Corinthians of his credentials as an apostle and a preacher of the gospel. He called them to
“This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know” (1 Corinthians 8:1-2 ESV). The Corinthians felt that they had superior knowledge about things such as food offered to idols. They knew that the idols weren’t real and they felt
“Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found” (Psalm 32:6 ESV). David wrote of a time when his unconfessed sin weighed heavy on him. He finally decided to stop trying to hide his iniquity and to confess his sins to the Lord. When he did,
“Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him” (1 Corinthians 7:17 ESV). In the apostle Paul’s response to the Corinthians concerning marriage and singleness, he said that status before God is more important than status in the world. He encouraged them to
“Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love!” (Psalm 31:16 ESV). David requested God’s help based on God’s attributes rather than on his own worthiness. He didn’t negotiate with God, offering to make a sacrifice or some other payment. No, he based his supplications on God’s ability and willingness to
“Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods” (Ezra 8:21 ESV). As Ezra prepared to lead a remnant of the Israelites from the Ahava River near Babylon back to Jerusalem,
“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness” (Psalm 30:11 ESV). David knew what it meant to mourn a loss or grieve a disappointment. He had sat weeping in sackcloth to express his repentance for sin, crying out to God for forgiveness. David knew
“And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia” (Ezra 6:14 ESV). When the Jewish exiles first returned to
“Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord…” (Ezra 4:1 ESV). After 70 years of exile in Babylon, the Jews were allowed to return to the land of Judah by the Persian king, Cyrus, who charged them to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18 ESV). It is God’s plan that the “word of the cross” should enliven human hearts, yet it is also that which certifies that others are already