A Deep Look at 1st Corinthians 16:30, Day 3

New International Version:

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.

Be Courageous, Be Strong

If you have read this part of 1st Cor. 16:13 in other translations, you might have been startled to see it written as "act like men."  I've read that the Greek for the first direction above is decidedly masculine, not in that it excludes women but in the sense that it is calling us to a manly action.  Like warriors: be brave, be courageous!   We are not to fear the enemy because we stand with God the Creator of all things!

The fourth command is to “be strong.” Strength here is defined as spiritual maturity.  Just as we are standing firm in faith, we are to be strong in that faith.   

When you were a baby, you enjoyed toys like rattles or something with lights.  As you grew you became interested in other toys, LEGOS or Barbies.  As a teenager, you are now interested technology, media, cars...  The point of this is we understand that a teenager still playing with rattles indicates something wrong with their maturity development.  This same principal applies to your faith. 

Why are so many Christians satisfied  with a spiritual maturity of a baby? Spiritual immaturity is what has weaken the Church.  A Barna Research Group statistic revealed that only 2% of students at Christian colleges are biblically literate, as determined by their answers to 10 basic foundational questions.  Questions like how to attain salvation, who is the Holy Spirit, does hell exist?   Only 2% could answer these correctly, and the answers are not complicated, they are laid out simply in the bible for us to read.  A child could recite these (in fact, my boys are learning this right now).  Babies can be fed with milk, you should crave spiritual steak!  Begin with the basics and move onward.  A strong and brave faith is a mature faith.  

1st Corinthians 14:20 says, "Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults."

Let's not confuse a mature faith and when we are called to have "faith like a child."  A child-like faith is a faith of wonder, and not questioning the ways and miracles of God, just accepting them.  A child-like faith is one not preoccupied with desires, dwelling on those things that tempt us. Rather, babies are preoccupied with having their needs met (as ours are met by God our Father).  A mature faith can be child-like in this way, but like a mature adult in how we study the word, and pursue God before other priorities. 

How is your faith child-like?

How is your faith spiritually mature?

What actions do you need to take to live out the directions "be brave, be strong?" 

A Deep Look at 1st Corinthians 16:30, Day 2

New International Version:

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.

Stand Firm in the Faith

This second direction concerns not only an action but the content referenced in that action. We have to be concerned about faith, what we believe. “The faith” is the contents of the Word of God. This faith is the faith of doctrinal content, it is the Truth of God. 

Colossians 2:6 says. " As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,  rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving."

Jude 3: " Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints."

As we gather from these verses, we must know who we believe, what we believe, and  why we believe. The Christians life is not based on fairy tales, fiction, or feelings but upon a well-grounded faith.  We believe what we believe because God said it in His Word, and then He sent His Son to be His Word in flesh here on earth.  God blesses us with moments, miracles, experiences that shape our testimonies and help us to find reasons why to trust Him and believe His word, but these moments shouldn't drive our belief.  God's Word and  the gospel should drive our faith.  If you don't know WHY you believe the foundations of the faith, how can you hope to pass it along to others? 

There is nothing as broad as God but there is nothing as exclusive as God.  The Bible places such emphasis on the oneness of God because there is only ONE God, not many.  Defining and standing firm in our faith does not make us narrow-minded and ignorant, it frees us to accept those things that are beyond the realm of human possibility. 

If Christians do not develop an appetite for the Bible, they cannot develop into spiritually mature believers. Christians cannot live on spoonfuls of the Word; they need daily doses of spiritual nourishment.  Feeding our souls is of vital importance, just as feeding our bodies is vital.  

And it is upon the Bible that we are standing firm.  We are unwavering on our belief because His word, a biblical foundation is steady, sure, and unmovable.  This is why Christ Church has used this verse to define the parish through current trials (Come Stand With Us).  

Are you standing firm in the faith?

What changes could you make it your daily life to live out this direction?

How strong is your biblical foundation?

A Deep Look at 1st Corinthians 16:30, Day 1

Hey my ladies! I am sorry I haven't posted much in the last two weeks.  With VBS and continuing to restore the house I have been busy.  To make up for that I have a three day devotional for you.  Katie asked me to write some devo material for her youth camp next week, and I thought I would pass it along to you.  I did draw inspiration from a commentary, but I can't seem to find the source to direct you too, but if I do stumble across it I will post it as an edit.  

1st Corinthians 16:13--

New American Standard Version:

Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 

The Message:

Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you've got, be resolute.

New International Version:

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.

King James Version:

Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

Be on the alert

There are several quick, fast directions in this verse.  The first direction in Cor. 16:13 is to "be on the alert," which in short translates as "watch".  The New Testament uses "watch" 22 times, and different translations might use awake, be vigilant, watch. All carry the same meaning. The author, Paul, warned the Corinthian church about internal problems throughout 1st Corinthians.  He is telling them: this world is rife with spiritual danger, so be alert!  When the Christian lets his guard down, he puts himself in spiritual jeopardy.

God’s commands are not merely good advice and they are not meant be to optional for the Christian.  We are to stay alert, looking for the enemy, Satan, to tempt us and lead us into situations and actions that break God's heart.  We are to watch our hearts and minds and make sure our thoughts and desires are honoring to God, and not dwelling on sinful ambitions and desires.    

It does not take much for a believer to grow cold towards godly things.  There is little desire to fellowship with God’s people, read the Bible, or present ourselves to God in prayer when our hearts are not on fire for Christ. 

Read the following verses:  Matthew 26:41; Romans 13:11;  1 Corinthians 15:34; Ephesians 5:14; 1st Peter 5:8.

How do these verse enlighten your understanding the first directions given in 1 Cor. 16:13?

How is Satan described in these verses?

What actions do you think you have to take to live out the direction of "Be alert/ be on guard"?

How To Pray for a Future Spouse

“She is out there. My Cinderella. She is real. She exists. I pray for her constantly. May God satisfy the desires of her heart, draw her close, consume her. May He claim her passions, her identity, her refuge, her hopes, her strengths and weaknesses, every fiber of her being. May she treasure and cherish her Savior more than anything of this world and cling to His will with every ounce of her stamina. By all that she is, does, and strives to be, may He draw near to her and she to Him.”
- Adam Young (Owl City)


Girls, change the gender and pray for your future spouse.  Pray for yourself in this manner too.  How you live now will matter to your future self later, so weigh out your decisions carefully in the dating arena.  


Do not conform to the world in this area.  Our culture today has destroyed boundaries, and tried to convince us that no commitment and meaningless everything is what you actually want in a relationship, but broken hearted woman a few years older than you are now show us that these lies fade away to loneliness and discontent.  The truth is most of us are created for communion with a spouse that mirrors the church's communion with Christ, honoring Creator God.  You do not have to date a thousand people to understand what it is you like in a guy-- you simply need to look for a guy running hard and fast after Christ, and God will likely step in and reveal one that happens to enjoy similar tastes in music, books, etc.  Although I can tell you that Joey and I differ in about every way other than our faith and love for Christ and call to student ministry and God has stepped in and made this marriage work for His glory for 10 years now. 


If you are going to be worthy of the guy running hard and fast after Christ, you must be running the race well too.  Keep a steady pace, and date those who are running next to you.  Don't slow down to wait for a guy to catch up, he should be running alongside!  


So here are the verse for today, all keeping the in  RACE theme.  Run the race well, ladies.  


Hebrews 12

 ¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

 ²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. ²⁷ No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Geese & the Gospel

Hebrews 10:24 reads

"And let us consider how we may spur one another towards love and good deeds..."

I would like to think that this could be apart of a summary of your small group experience.  I have always felt you girls kept me on my toes and pushed me towards good deeds.  I certainly felt my heart grow in order to love you more and more, as Christ compelled me to do.

I attended Latechurch with Hallie at some point last year and one of the sermon illustrations for the night has stuck with me all this time.  The sermon series was about the Body of Christ (the church), and how we cannot go it, the faith journey, alone.  God calls us to fellowship and communion, which we saw modeled through Jesus' ministry on earth not only to the people, but his ministry with the twelve disciples and his relationship with His three closest men (Peter, James, and John).   The pastor that night used a flock of geese to represent the people of Christ.  At one point he gave this statistic: geese that migrate with a group are able to travel 79% further than the goose that flies alone.  Point: The community spurs on us, encourages us, strengthens us, and helps us succeed in our journey.

1 Corinthians 12: 12-18 reads:


Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.


  Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.  And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?  But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.



Here are the points I really hope you walk away with:

1- You cannot live faith alone.  Yes, your faith is a personal relationship with God the Father through Christ the Son, shaped by God the Holy Spirit.  You have the ability to connect one on one with the Creator of the world through prayer, through scripture, through worship.  However, just as God Himself models community through His triune nature, He created our very being to desire community and to function in whole when you are apart of His community.  Together we can fly further, like the geese mentioned above.  

2- When you depart from the community, you are still apart of the body.  What is departure from the community?  Not attending worship services and lack of involvement in bible study, a small group, mission, service, the life of the church.  When you don't attend church (where ever you are during your college adventures) God is still there, worship still happens.  However the community is missing a part of their body (whether you are the hand, the foot, the nostril), and you are mission the Body.    

3- Why are you still apart of the Body?  You became a part of the Body of Christ, and are now a smaller part of a much larger being.   As said in the passage above you are an important part of the body, no matter how you serve the body.  When you allow your prayer life, your habits, your walk with Christ to deteriorate you are allowing yourself to be unhealthy.  And because you are apart of the Body others might see the Body of Christ as unhealthy, sick.  You could also risk spreading this to other members of the Body.  This is where your connections to small group can really help you.  Keep yourself healthy, and tend to the others in need.  Encourage one another, raise each other up in prayer, and serve The Body of Christ well.

4- Embrace the part of the Body God has created you to be, and the ministry he has called you to join.  That's how you serve the Body well.

5- Geese are cool.

Love to you all, H