More thoughts on 1 Corinthians 13:13

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I’ve been thinking more about this verse: “…three things will endure - faith, hope, and love…”

Why will hope endure? “‘Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death of sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever.’” (Revelation 21:3,4). What will we need to hope for? The things we are hoping for will be fulfilled.

And for that matter, why will faith endure? “What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is evidence of things we cannot yet see.” (Hebrews 11:1) Why will we still need faith once everything has been fulfilled?

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Needing to understand

September 27th, 2004 by Carol

1 Corinthians 13:13 - “There are three things that will endure - faith, hope, and love…”

There seems to be something missing when I look at this list. Why isn’t ‘reasoning’, ‘knowledge’, or ‘understanding’ listed here? I think I’ve valued understanding more than faith, or hope, maybe even love. I need to understand something FIRST; then I’ll do what it says. I’ve always wanted to know the reason why I am asked to do something a certain way; once I understand that, then I have no problems doing it.

But it doesn’t look like God has these things at the top of His priority list. What shortcircuits my faith? Needing to understand everything first. I usually don’t step out in faith unless I understand WHY I have to step out. Sometimes what I think I’m supposed to walk out in faith doesn’t make any sense to me, so I don’t do it. But that’s disobedience! God doesn’t tell us that we need to have it all figured out in our heads before we can follow Him. Jesus said, “Follow me.” He didn’t explain everything to His disciples first.

In our society, understanding and knowledge are held very high. As a church, have we taken on these values and devalued the aspects of faith, and hope, and maybe even love, because reasoning and understanding seem more important to us?

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Following Christ

September 26th, 2004 by Carol

I was listening to a tape of Dr. Greg Mitchell speaking today. He has some interesting things to say:

“…there are many who say they are Christians, but are not following Him [Jesus Christ].”

“…if you are not following Him [Jesus Christ] in His authority, you’re not following Him.”

“…in the church, the divorce rate is nearly the same as outside the church…The church is not following Jesus Christ! That is not a judgement; it’s an observation! You look at the church - it’s not doing it. God is raising up a church that needs to follow Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior.”

So what does it mean to follow Christ?

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You’re Not Alone

September 23rd, 2004 by Carol

You’re Not Alone
(words and music by Jason Upton)

Don’t be afraid, baby don’t you cry
Daddy’s here, it’ll be all right
You’re not alone, you’re not alone
Don’t be afraid when it’s cold at night
I will keep you warm, I will hold you tight
You’re not alone, you’re not alone

Chorus:
Look beyond the window there
To the sky above, to the open air
Look beyond where you can see
Close your eyes and just believe
The lion roars and the lamb lays down
They live together in a whole new town
They’re calling me and they’re calling you
From the cold hard facts that we’re on our own
To the age old truth that we’re not alone
We’re not alone, we’re not alone,
We’re not alone, we’re not alone

Don’t be afraid when you scrape your knee
I’ve got a bandaid waiting and a kiss for free
You’re not alone, you’re not alone
Don’t be afraid of your blind belief
‘Cause the more you fly the more you see
You’re not alone, you’re not alone

Chorus

Don’t be afraid little warrior bride,
The victory’s on the other side
You’re not alone, you’re not alone
Don’t be afraid little warrior bride,
The victory’s on the other side
You’re not alone, you’re not alone

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Marching out…

September 23rd, 2004 by Carol

“This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow, march out against them…” 2 Chronicles 20:15-16

I love reading about the kings of Judah in Kings and Chronicles; how they would go to war against armies far greater than themselves and yet God gave them the victory because they trusted in Him. They trusted God and their trust was put into action because they usually had to march out against the opposing army before God would give them the victory. They couldn’t just sit at home and expect God to ’show up’. They had to march out.

This week I chose to march out in obedience concerning something I have been wrestling with. It hasn’t been easy to step out of my comfort zone and I’ve had to choose to believe truth rather than accept the lies and what my feelings are telling me. But after the first day, I noticed something very profound. I am experiencing much more of God’s peace and confidence than I have in a long time. I’ve stopped using ‘having to have it all figured out first’ as an excuse not to obey and I’ve chosen to walk out in faith, even though I have no idea what I am doing. I’m marching out… and trusting God to handle the rest. And the amazing thing is that God is doing just that! As I walk out in faith and obedience, He is giving me everything I need in order to do what I don’t know how to do.

Our obedience to God is so important in being able to walk in God’s power. And yet, how often do I find excuses not to obey because I don’t really think God will help me? It amazes me how little faith I have that God equips his children when they simply obey.

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Choices

September 20th, 2004 by Carol

TODAY… I choose…

I choose to not give in to fear, to not allow it to paralyze me.
I choose to stand.
I choose to fight the good fight.
I choose to believe the Truth and not succumb to the lies.
I choose to believe, even though my emotions do not believe.
I choose to believe, even though my reason does not believe.
I choose to walk by my faith and not by my sight.

No more excuses for me! I know the Truth, but I must choose to walk in it, every day. Too easily I have allowed lies to rule my life. No more! I choose to base my life on what God’s word says. Not on my past experience, not on what makes sense to me, not on what is comfortable for me. I am a new creation in Christ and I must choose to believe that it is true.

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What is my worth?

September 18th, 2004 by Carol

I admit that I do not have a very high sense of my worth. And I don’t understand why. I can recognize that I was brought up in an environment that did not communicate a sense of worth to me. But that was years ago. I can read the Bible and understand mentally what it says, but it does not penetrate my heart. “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1). “But I lavish my love on those who love me and obey my commands, even for a thousand generations.” (Deuteronomy 5:10). I looked up the word ‘lavish’: to extend or bestow with profusion (’profusion’ means lavish expenditure, extravagance). It would seem I have great worth in God’s eyes.

So why can’t I grasp this? What keeps me from knowing and understanding the truth? I desperately want to know and understand my worth, but something (and I don’t know what) keeps me from believing. I was chatting with a friend last night and we are both driven by a need to be perfect; we both have unrealistic expectations of ourselves. It’s like I think I have to earn God’s love and acceptance and I can’t understand that I already have it.

Someone ‘lavished’ on me today. He thought I could use a pick-me-up. I was in awe because I do not believe I am worth being ‘lavished’ upon. Technically, I know that’s a lie, but I live as if it were true. God’s love is so much greater than what I received today. Why can’t I understand this? It’s frustating, but God is faithful. His desire is for me to be free of this lie. So someday, by His power, I will be free.

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The Power of ‘We’

September 16th, 2004 by Carol

I find that the times when it is easiest for me to fall into the cesspool of hopelessness and despair is when I believe that I am all alone. I’m not saying there aren’t people and relationships in my life. But it’s when I feel that in all reality, I must face the circumstances that I face - alone. Today I experienced the power of ‘we’.

A difficult situation came up today. There are no clear-cut answers. It’s going to take time and effort to work through it. I’m going to have to face things I don’t really want to face. My boyfriend and I were discussing the situation, thinking of possible ways to address this issue, and he used the word ‘we’. And mentally, I stopped in my tracks…”‘We’? you said ‘We’? you mean I don’t have to tackle this all by myself? you mean I’m not alone?”

A person may wonder why I thought I was alone to deal with this situation. Well, technically this issue is not my boyfriend’s problem. I’m a widow with two boys and I’ve had to do a lot of things on my own - decision-making falls soully on my shoulders. I also grew up fiercely independent. So, if you consider all those factors, it may not seem so strange that I often feel alone.

But it is not God’s design for us to be or feel alone. There is a community of believers for a reason. There is a reason we should “not neglect our meeting together” (Hebrews 10:25). The truth is, we need each other. Sometimes our pride and independence get in the way of experiencing the beauty of being dependent on each other. In those interdependent relationships, we know we are not alone and our problems don’t seem so overwhelming.

I’ve been thinking about ‘we’ all evening. Even though this situation I am in is not going to be an easy one to face, I don’t feel the hopelessness and despair I have felt at other times. I know I am not facing it alone and that makes all the difference in the world. “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

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It begins…

September 14th, 2004 by Carol

Here I am with my first blog post. Why am I here? More and more of my friends are blogging and I’ve been tossing the idea around for probably a year already. So here I am, stepping out into the universe of ‘blogdom’. My goal would be to share who I am (as I am in the process of discovering that for myself) and I hope that others might be encouraged and/or challenged by the things I am learning along the way.

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