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10 Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. 12 What I mean is that each of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ." 13 Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. 18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:10-18 NRSV)
May the unlimited grace of God fall afresh on you and yours today, dear Friend is my prayer. I pray that that which has troubled your life be lifted in the name of Jesus as we enter this time of worship and devotion. I pray God's voice would direct you in life-affirming and life-giving words.
As a superintendent I sometimes said, from experience, Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered, there might be trouble." It was a joke and most knew that. Some would say, "Didn't He say, 'In my name'?" Yes, He did. But that also means where two or three gather, not in Jesus' name, anything might happen, including things God might not approve of. Well, here is the situation: The church is a spiritual organization. It has a supernatural enemy who deploys all at his disposal to come against the church. The more we do for God, the more the enemy comes against us. Paul wrote about this, Ephesians 6:12; "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
The case before Paul seems innocent enough; people arguing with each other about their baptisms and their baptizers. They took sides and gave more importance to the one who baptized them than to God. Some said, "I belong to Paul," others, "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas (Peter)," or "I belong to Christ." And here is where Paul begins to stress what he had stressed from the beginning; that the Church was of God's. And to detract from that main point was to further allow Satan to come in and wreak further havoc. Paul's main focus on the church was to "proclaim the gospel...so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power." And here the Apostle drives home the point we all know and treasure, "For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
We, dear friends, should never lose sight of the main purpose of the Church; to save the perishing by offering the cross of Christ. We are seeing the modern church very much in distress due to distractions. Our numbers in all areas have been falling since 1968, and until we stop and re-focus ourselves on the cross of Christ, we will continue downward. I don't mean this devotional to be depressing, yet what we face as a church is very important. We are almost to the point of screaming, but what we need are the outrageous characters of Christ, like Paul. In my podcast this morning (pimplesandwrinkles.org - "Look in the Mirror First.") I mentioned how Paul accomplished what he did because he was outrageous. He feared no one or anything, only God and failing Him and His commission to make disciples. We, too, dear friends, should fear God and we must do something to reach the world for Him. And it can start maybe in your own home.
PRAYER: Loving God, we want to be courageous and outrageous characters like Paul. Empower us, embolden us, and deploy us; even if it is with the person sitting next to us. This we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Be outrageous today in sharing Jesus!
Receive my blessings of love and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
