1 Corinthians 10:31 Glory Work

1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God

The keyword in this is “whatever you do.” Eating does not bring us closer or farther to God, drinking is the same…unless you drink to much of alcohol (which I advise not to do. Don’t cause others to stumble)….But in everything that we do, it should be for the glory of God.

How do we bring glory to God? Jesus states it very nicely in his prayer. John 17:4  I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work (action) you gave me to do. We bring glory to God by doing HIS work, by putting action to our zeal. What is His work? The greatest command is to love God first, then love people. (Selfless servant?)

How are you gonna love on people today?

It’s interesting that my QTs are mostly about being a servant….I think God is telling me something…

1 Corinthians 10:10 Part 1:Complain?

1 Cor 10:10 And do not grumble (discontentedly complain AMP), as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. (Along side Numbers 16)
The story in Numbers talks about a group of leaders who created a faction against Moses about the leadership of the Israelites (which is one of the OBVIOUS acts of sinful natures Gal 5). In turn, Moses told them that God will choose he who is holy. An interesting thought is this. v9 talks about how these Levites rising against Moses was given many things, and yet they wanted more. Also, Dathan and Abiram was saying to Moses to the effect of “We have yet to receive what you promised us!” (v14) This goes back with yesterdays application. Are you content with what you have or are you going to complain about what you don’t have? Are you content with what you have received or do you focus in what you have not received?

Now the idea of complaining….(the context is to grumble or complain about the situation and what God has done but we’ll look ahead to the other complaints) I looked back on my life and asked myself, “why do I complain and what are the reasons and what happens when I do?”

I remember telling God many times:
1)Why don’t I have this certain thing?
2)Why do I have to do this thing?
3)Why do I have to go through this thing?
I see the error of my ways. The way I see it, what I’m telling God, just like the Israelites, is:
1)Why are you taking so long to give me what I want?  (Cause you know that the Lord will give you what you need [Matt 6:33/Ps 37:4])
2) Aren’t I the master and Jesus is my servant or aren’t I better than Jesus? (You may not be saying this to yourself, but you’re implying it. John 13:15 Jesus is washing His disciples feet and says “I have set an example that you should do as I have done for you.” The idea is Jesus laid down what He had, the power of God v3, and served his disciples. If you don’t like the idea of serving, always complaining when doing something, you’re implying that you are better than Jesus and that you are his master (v16a “I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master…” so you not wanting to serve is telling him I’m better than this.)
3) “I don’t want to be like Jesus. I don’t want to be what God wants me to be.” The reason why people go through trials is so that one can be stronger, more complete in their faith (James 1:2-4). (This is for the blog) I remember hearing people say, “Come as you are,” or “I don’t have to change to come to Jesus.” This is totally true…..up to a point. People tend to leave out the second half of this part. The reason why you would come as you are is so that God can turn you into what He wants you to be. He molds you, shapes you, and polishes you to be like Him. My pastor gave a really good illustration about the fire and gold mentioned in 1 Peter 1. An impure gold is placed in a furnace so that the impurities would rise to the surface. It would then be wiped off and placed in the fire again until the impurities are gone. Then they would rub something really irritating on it so that it can be polished with the final product showing a reflection of the cleaner. It’s the exact same thing in life. The fires, or trials, also mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3, bring out the impurities in you. Have you noticed that when you go through crap, the real you comes out? Then you get rubbed by all the roughness in life so that you can reflect to others the one that polished you, God.
So this is the idea. If people say to come as you are, do you come that way every single time? If you were made Christian and you still “come as you are” from the first time you came, would God be happy? Don’t you expect growth from your children? Peter started off as a fisherman. Did he stay that way?

There will be a part 2. It’s interesting to write the blog at the end of the day. I realize how many times I’ve failed at what I’m trying to apply…

Isn’t it interesting that you don’t realizing that you’re failing until you already fail…?

1 Corinthians 10:6-7

1 Cor 10:6-7
6)Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7)Do not be idolaters, as some of them were, as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.

Paul basically talks about the history of Israel during Moses’ time. I remember history teachers always telling that the reason why we study history is so that we don’t follow the same mistake as our forefathers did, the same reason Paul is telling us the history of Israel.

I went to Exodus 32, where the Paul quotes the latter half of verse 7.
1When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
Their relationship with God was dependent on man. When Moses doesn’t come back, they stray away from God. I am guilty of this. My walk with God, at first, was dependent on my pastor to the point where his words were almost that of God’s (which it technically was since he used Scripture constantly). Where’s your dependency on? God and his word that will last forever or man whose glory will fade like the flowers (Isa 40:6-8)

2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.”
In verse 22, Aaron gave his reason to why he did this. He was scared of the persecution and the “consequences” that these people would give. Even now, as I write this in my class, I feel a bit uncomfortable with my bible and me typing this thing out, but I gotta remember, persecution comes with Jesus (no servant is greater than his master John 15:20) and that Paul was not ashamed of the gospel (Rom 1:6) and that if I were ashamed of Him and His word, I’m in a world of trouble (Luke 9:26) Do you let others influence you on your walk with God?

3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron.
Those who don’t follow the Lord and His word will end up making their own aspects of God. 2 Tim 4:3-4 gives you the idea that at one point, people will just listen to what they want to hear and not follow His word….

4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
This aspect really shows that God has placed eternity in the hearts of man (Ecc 3:11), but in this case, they put placed theirs on things that were not of God. It’s an easy concept. What is an idol? Anyone can say, “Oh, I have no idols,” but when you really rip up your day, can you say that with confidence? What takes more time, God or the world? As Jesus says,  No servant can have two masters (Matt 6:24). Rip up your day, see for yourself.

5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.”
Seeing how riled up they got, how passionate they got, you can’t help but to think Aaron felt it too. Why else did he build an altar and plan a festival? It doesn’t say that he was told to, he did it on his own, probably through the emotions he was feeling. The problem is, his actions aren’t based on the word and look where it takes him. Do we base our decisions and actions on the word? If we don’t, how else will we know what He wants? Rom 10:2-3

6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

They were committed to something, and very committed seeing that they rose up early…. Do you show your commitment to Christ?….This would be a very beautiful picture, if it was for God, not the calf…

Application:
Is your day going to be about God or something else? Plan it.
Will you make your decisions going to be based on the word? Read it, plan it, do it.
Are you showing your commitment to God NOT MAN? Do it.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. Ps 1:2

1 Cor 9:26a

1 Cor 9:26a Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly;

Million dollar question: Do you run like you’re running aimlessly? Why would you run aimlessly? Because you have no idea where the goal is. I would go even as far to say that you think you know where your goal is. So according to verse 24-25, which prize are you going for? The crown that will last or wont last? God or the worldly things? Pick one and “Run in such a way as to get the prize.” It shouldn’t be both. You should be either hot or cold, “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth” Rev 3:16 You can’t have both, as Jesus says “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money (the world)” Matt 6:24

For the runners running towards the crown that lasts forever (heaven): When we run, our minds, our eyes and all of our efforts (running means you give it your all. If you don’t give it your all, you’re jogging or walking) on the goal. Where is our goal? “Heb 12:2a Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,” Jesus is the goal. So if we know our goal and our destination, how do we get there? Jesus tells us that “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” John 14:6 so the obvious idea is to live by His word and his teachings. Simply put, the Word is our guider. 2nd Tim 3:16 says “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” Do you submit to God’s words? Or more importantly, do you read God’s word in a way to change your life? To change your week?

In reference to following to Jesus’ example, Phil 2:6-7

6)Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, (did not refer to his rights; selfless) 7) But made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness. (Became a servant)

He became a selfless servant. Apply it.