In my foolishness...

1 Corinthians 1:10-31

In this passage Paul is royally chewing out those believers in Corinth for their inability to boast completely in the Lord.  They are being divided by earthly men, men who are good yes, but these men are still not Christ!  They are boasting in the the wisdom and greatness of the men who baptized them and Paul continues on to say that he is ecstatic to say that he did not baptized most of the men that are disputing over who is the wisest man.  He says, "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel - not with clever words, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect."  

"...so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect."

That line is devastating to the way that most Christians today think.  We think many times that the message of the gospel is empty or boring or over-taught.  We think that if we don't "spice up" God's Word then it will have no appeal to the outside world.  That is completely and utterly FALSE!  We also think many times that we have to be very "wise" in the scriptures and know our stuff backwards and forwards in order for God to use us.  This again is very wrong!  Yes, we need to strive to know God and His Holy Word more and more each day; however, we will NEVER know all that we would want to know.  There will always be more to know...therefore, we must allow God to use us where we are right now!  If we are passionate and willing to share about the ONE, TRUE, LIVING God of the Universe people are going to wake up and smell the coffee.  They will not think that it is boring or empty of anything!  They will, God willing, see it as the truth and hope that it is.  As the only way, truth, and life.

Paul goes on to say in verses 26-29, "Brothers, consider your calling: not many are wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth.  Instead, God has chosen the world's foolish things to shame the wise, and God has chosen the world's weak things to shame the strong.  God has chosen the world's insignificant and despised things - things viewed as nothing - so He might bring to nothing the things that are viewed as something, so that no one can boast in His presence."

He also quotes God from the old testament, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the understanding of the experts."  God does not NEED us for anything.  However, He desires us to allow Him to reach people through us.  He doesn't need our KNOWLEDGE or the wisdom that we think we might have.  He wants us to be real with people, to love them before, during, and after we share the gospel with them.  He doesn't desire for us to share with people out of obligation or determination.  He uses our foolishness to win over those who are otherwise hopeless in sin and shame.  He welcomes us and loves us unconditionally in our foolishness.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.  Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may reside in me.  So because of Christ, I am pleased in weaknesses, in insults, in catastrophes, in persecutions, and in pressures.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."  1 Corinthians 12:9-10

All I Can Give

What really is all that I can give?  I want to convey what exactly it is that I have been feeling and thinking lately...but many times it's so hard to put your feelings and the things that you are learning in to words that can be grasped by other humans.  Obviously, God understands our babbling, but many times those reading our ramblings do not necessarily get it.  Then again, does it really matter?  We write, we sing, we sleep, we speak, we do everything that we do because of the one and only most powerful deity in the this sinful world...our Master and Creator.

God set this world in motion and has not taken His hand off of it; however, sometimes it is hard not to feel distant from Him.  That makes Him no less God, just us a little more human...?  I KNOW that God has called me to a specific purpose in His ministry.  For many years I didn't know what that meant, but in recent years I have discovered a LOVE and PASSION to reach out to those from around the world.  Although I have this great love for these people of every nation, tribe, and tongue...I still struggle with committing my time to the one that has put this passion inside of me.  I know there is something wrong with this picture, and I DESIRE to change, forever, completely.  I want nothing left of myself, although as I write this I wonder how true it could be since I have seen my constant failure of proving this nothing more than a momentary commitment.  

I'm tired of living the same life that I have always lived, with the same fears that I have always harbored...I want a RENEWED passion for the one and only God in which I serve.  I know there must be more to give of myself than I have already given.  This life is not mine to live.  

As I near closer and closer to my May 2009 graduation date, it seems inevitable that I will have to choose some path to take after this time.  Although it is a bit scary, I know that it is time.  I have considered so many different options, but the one I am really struggling with right now is the World Race.  This is a program through AIM that sends you to 11 countries in 11 months in a very intense, life-changing journey.  It has over and over caught my attention and I finally realized that I should really check into it.  Over this next week I will be filling the application out, and as I do I would like to ask for your prayer.  I am going to fill out the application, and step through this door as long as it is open.  It seems so THRILLING to go to so many countries and show people the love of Christ through physical, mental, and spiritual works.  However, I want whatever I do to be specifically orchestrated by God's hand.

Here it is...I feel inadequate, unworthy, and lacking in every way possible.  I am simply trusting in the fact that God uses broken and worthless people to accomplish His goal.  God used Saul turned Paul to be possibly the greatest missionary to ever walk this earth.  I know He will use me if I am simply willing to be used...

God Bless.