Tag: God

God is not a God of confusion

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” (1 Cor 14:33a)

Indeed our God is not a God of confusion. He desires His people have order and understanding. God’s desire is one reason we have His Word. It provides us understanding as well as it helps us know how we are to operate so that there is order.

As Paul begins to bring his letter to the Corinthians to a close, he deals with order in the church. He specifically highlights prophecy over tongues because prophecy provides understanding whereas tongues has a high potential to confuse.

When the church gathers together, understanding and order should be at the top of the list. We are not gathering together to make much of ourselves, rather we gather to make much of Jesus. Nor do we gather to confuse one another and hinder outsiders from understanding the gospel. Instead, we are to teach, encourage, reprove, and rebuke with God’s Word. In other words, we are to build one another up in the Lord. Disorder and confusion do not lead to building up of the body of Christ nor does it lead others to an understanding of the gospel and salvation. In most instances, disorder and confusion leads to stagnation and even decline.

May we be a church that seeks to build one another up in the Lord by intelligently speaking the Word of the Lord to one another in an orderly fashion when we gather.

Glorify God in everything you do!

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10:31)

In whatever we do we are to give glory to God. Glorifying God means we make much of Him. We show His worth, value, wisdom in how we live and act. When we follow His commands or mirror His character, we glorify Him. We make much of Him showing He is worthy.

In this particular instance, Paul, writing to the Corinthians, takes up a discussion regarding idolatry. In Paul’s day, food was sacrificed to idols before it was sold and set on the table. It was a way of recognizing and worshipping the local gods for provision. As Christians, we don’t believe there are local gods who provide for the local people. Thus, no gods should be worshipped, or are worshipped when meat is offered to them for sacrifice.

Some Christians believed the pagan sacrificial system was of no value. The people were not really offering sacrifices to gods because no gods existed. Others, however, still believed in the gods. When they saw other Christians eating meat offered to the gods, they were misled into the practice of syncretism. They believed they could worship Jesus alongside these other gods.

So as not to mislead other brothers and sisters in Christ who have not matured in their understanding, Paul advocates they not partake of meat offered to idols, particularly in front of another whom they know would be misled. Nor are they to eat meat at the house of a non-believer who expresses at dinner that the meat they are serving has been offered to idols. They are to give up their right to the meat so as not to lead another into idolatry. As well as they are to give up their right so as not to give the non-believer the impression that it is ok to worship Jesus alongside the local gods.

Giving up our rights is done out of love, not out of a legalistic spirit. Jesus willingly died for us out of love not because He was forced. When we give up our rights, as Jesus gave up His, we glorify God. We show His action of self-sacrificial love worthy to be emulated. As well as we show we value God more than our own right to eat or drink whatever we choose. Furthermore, we glorify God because we show he is greater than any so called god.

Our eating and drinking in regard to idols is one way we glorify God. As well as we glorify God in our willingness to give up our rights so as not to lead another brother or sister in Christ astray. There are many other ways we can glorify God. We should take every opportunity to glorify Him.

We should glorify God in everything we do!

You are God’s Fellow Worker

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.” (1 Cor 3:9)

What a privilege it is to be called God’s fellow workers. As believers, we have not only experienced salvation but we are also used as God’s instruments to bring others to faith in Christ as well as to help others grow as disciples of Christ. We are His fellow workers.

If God thinks of us as His fellow workers, we must think of ourselves in the same way. We must not shrink back from Jesus’ command to make disciple-making disciples. We must get to work.

While we must get to work, seeking to accomplish the mission Jesus has set before us, as God’s fellow workers, we don’t work alone. The God of the universe, the All-Sovereign, Creator, and Sustainer of all things works alongside us as we seek to work for Him. We work with the power provided us by God Himself.

Do you recognize you are counted as God’s fellow worker? Do you trust God to empower you for the task of making disciple-making disciples?

May the Lord strengthen your soul today!

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.” (Ps 138:3)

The Lord hears the prayers of His saints. He is not a distant God. He is not asleep. We do not have to wake Him with shouts or sacrificial actions. His ears are attuned to the prayers of His people. He hears us in the morning, midday, and throughout the night. He is attentive to our needs.

Our prayers don’t go in one ear and out the other. He hears us and He answers us. To be sure, His answer doesn’t always match how we want Him to answer. But He answers our prayers. In the case of David, we learn that the Lord strengthened His soul. He did not immediately take away the difficulty he was experiencing. Instead, the Lord provided him strength so that he might continue to press on, worshipping and serving Him despite the difficulties.

May the Lord strengthen you as well. May He provide you what you need in order to keep on keeping on. In order to worship the Lord even when the world is pressing in on you. May you continue to be a witness to the Lord in the midst of a world that rejects His rightful rule over them.

May the Lord strengthen your soul today.

Our inadequacies don’t limit the Spirit

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, EvangelismLeave a comment

“But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:24)

These were not just words spoken. Paul lived these words out each and every single day. Plots were concocted against him. He was slandered, beaten, arrested, and chased out of cities. He left good friends behind to continue his mission. He followed the urging of the Holy Spirit knowing that afflictions and imprisonments awaited him in every city (Acts 20:23). Paul was determined and a unique man.

But his determination and dedication to the gospel was not due his personality. He was captivated by Jesus. Paul wanted others to be captivated by Him as well. To experience the same hope, joy, love, and blessings he experienced. He traveled around the known world sharing the good news of Jesus with all who would listen despite the difficulties he faced daily.

Admittedly, Paul’s love of Jesus is convicting. When I look at my life, I don’t risk as much as Paul did. I don’t risk relationships, comfort, bodily harm, or even my life for Jesus. That doesn’t mean Paul was super human. He wasn’t super human, instead He was empowered by the Holy Spirit.

The same Holy Spirit that empowered Paul empowers us as well. Though we might feel inadequate for the task of making disciple-making disciples, we aren’t inadequate. The Spirit empowers us for the task at hand just as He empowered Paul. While we all might not travel around the world sharing the gospel, starting and strengthening churches, we can accomplish what God has planned for us. We can be used by Him to accomplish His will, despite our felt inadequacies because the Spirit empowers us to do the work of ministry.

Are you a responsible and accurate theologian?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, PracticalLeave a comment

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,” (Acts 16:25)

What strikes me about the apostles is there rejoicing in the midst of persecution. Paul and Silas found themselves in prison for helping a poor innocent girl. She was being used and abused for profit by local business men. Possessed by a demon she was able to reveal the fortunes of others. They were content to allow her to continue in this state of darkness for their own gain. Paul and Silas were not. They exercised the demon, freeing her from bondage.

Once these men realized their cash cow was gone, they lied about and slandered Paul and Silas to the local authorities. They had them beaten and thrown into prison. Even though they were wounded and shackled in the inner prison, they prayed and sung hymns to the Lord. Not to themselves but openingly so that all the other prisoners could hear.

  • Would we rejoice in the Lord openly in a situation like they were facing?
  • Would we praise God even as we were being persecuted by Him?
  • Would we continue to be a witness for him as we were being punished by the local authorities for following the Lord?

These are tough questions. Ones we won’t know the answer to until we are in the situation.

That, however, doesn’t mean we can’t prepare for the situation. I believe Paul, Silas, and others rejoiced in the Lord because they knew the Lord. They didn’t just know of Him, but they knew Him. Their relationship with Him was real and intimate. As well as they knew His character and His actions. They were theologians. We should be theologians as well.

No, you don’t need to go to seminary to be a theologian. Everyone is a theologian because everyone has an opinion about God, which means right now, no matter what degree you have or don’t have, you are a theologian.

The question is: Are you a responsible and accurate theologian?

If we are going to stand firm for Christ in the midst of persecution we must be responsible and accurate theologians because what we know about God will determine how we respond to difficult situations.