1 Corinthians – Chapter 16

If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! 1 Corinthians 16:22 – Maranatha, likely a word you don’t use to often in your vocabulary, but possibly a word you’ve heard in the church sphere before. It’s the Greek word for “Our Lord, Come!” It’s a plea and praise for us who believe who are looking forward and desiring the return of Jesus. Maybe today, due to the heaviness of the season you are walking through, you would happily proclaim, “Maranatha, come Lord Jesus!” Yet truly would you desire Jesus to come right at this moment? Are there aspects to your life that aren’t honoring to the Lord that you’d rather have put behind you before He comes? Are there people in your life that you know don’t follow Jesus that you’d like to share the good news with before Jesus comes? This is the direction of the first part of the verse. If someone is claiming to be a follower of Jesus, even declaring the Lord to return, but doesn’t have the Lord’s love active in his life, there is something wrong. If there is not a love for the Lord being displayed with their life, and if there is not a love for others being displayed as Christ commanded us to display, Paul’s words are intense. Let him be accursed. This is another Greek word, “anathema,” which was the third stage of three of Jewish punishment for sinfulness. And individual in this stage had progressed through all the other steps, with no healing or reconciliation happening, and there was now no longer any chance of reconciliation with the Jewish community and were no longer treated as a Jew. How then does this all apply to us? Be serious about your walk with Jesus. Don’t be claiming your desire for Jesus’ return if your present life isn’t faithful to Him. If there is no love for the Lord and no love of the Lord being shown to others through you, make the change now before the Lord actually does return and it’s too late. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3123

On the first day of each week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. (v.2) Giving to God our tithes and offerings seems to have a growing disinterest to the body of the church as a part of their personal worship to God. I mean from a worldly stand point it makes sense to not give. Give to God your time and talents, alright, but giving Him your money…how is that going to help you? Again, looking at tithes and offerings from a worldly stand point doesn’t make sense. How could giving away money actually make you more financially, and other ways as well, secure? Well there is a truth about tithes that I’m sure we all are aware of yet maybe have forgotten. God doesn’t need your money, He looking for your obedience. To God, money means nothing, but He knows it means a lot to us. That’s one reason why Jesus spoke more on money than Heaven or Hell when physically on earth. He knows it’s a challenge for us to let go of it, but He also knows that if we show Him our faithfulness, He’ll show us His. That’s the part the worldly side doesn’t see or understand. It isn’t about the amount of money, it’s about the amount of faithful obedience. God knows He’s able to take care of you, your tithe and offerings is your way of acknowledging to God you know that too. – Daily DEVO 21

For a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. 1 Corinthians 16:9 – Here we have scripture teaching us a lesson we need to listen to. God will open doors for real, powerful work to be done in His name and we need to take full advantage of those opportunities. At the same time though our enemy will be noticing those doors opening and continue his efforts to stop us as well. Meaning just because a door is opened doesn’t mean there won’t be any pushback as we try to go through it. Example, you may get the chance to share about God’s love at school/work yet someone hears about it and complains. Door opens yet pushback. Just remember God didn’t open the door for you to not go through it. It’s open and while yes the enemy is going to pushback, that doesn’t mean we can’t keep moving forward. If God opened the door, He’ll also help us through it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 718

Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. 1 Corinthians 16:1 – Note this collection of funds is being collected not for their local church, but to support the saints in Jerusalem who were under persecution. Yet what we see in this passage is a couple truths that hopefully are present in our local body. One, we should be aware of the needs of other church families. Two, we should partner with other church families who are doing well to support the ones not doing as well. Our local church isn’t all there is to THE church. Yes, celebrate when God is blessing our church home, but if we hear another church family isn’t doing as well we should embrace them and bless them. Yes they may do things different than us, but if they are preaching Jesus and Him crucified then we need to support their presence within our community. You can begin by simply praying for the closest church to your home. You may know nothing about them except their location because you drive by it all the time. Pray for their pastor, their unity, and their gospel presence. This is a beginning way to love the church. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1783