“Who Are We In Crisis?”
Pastor David Moore
New Testament reading: I Corinthians 1:26-31
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
I Corinthians 4:1-7
This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God. Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other. For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
Galatians 6:14: I will only boast in The Cross.
Old Testament reading: Jeremiah 9:21-26
Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our fortresses; it has cut off the children from the streets and the young men from the public squares. Say, “This is what the Lord declares: ‘The dead bodies of men will lie like refuse on the open field, like cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather them.’ This is what the Lord says, “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understand and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord. “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh—Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the desert in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
Today’s theme is centered on how boasting can be a misguided attempt by people to invent their own meaning in life, their own place in the world. ~D. Moore
Soren Kierkegaard, “Faith is whom the self wants to be itself, grounded transparency in God. Sin is trying to become a self without God and when you do that, your identity is like a king without a country or one when subjects who would deject him/her at any moment.”
Money is temporary, house is temporary, car is temporary, career is temporary, God is eternal.
I’m not working hard and practicing day in and day out so that I can please other people. My audience is God.
Galatians 6:14: Far be it from me to boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The highest calling in a believer’s life is to know the heart of God. “…let the one who boasts about this that they understand and know me.” Jeremiah 9:24
The questions to ponder today and this week are:
What is my identity?
Is it self-made?
Or, is our identity a reflection of God perfecting Himself in our lives as we trust in Him in the unfolding of our Christ-centered identity?
Have a good week, God bless.