Sydni G.’s Journal

We are to follow Christ's example as He followed His Father God. We need not cast judgment, but follow through with all of His directions.

With the present Olympics in London, this verse seems to fit this time period. As Paul said all the runners in a race are mentally determined to get that gold medal. Sure two other people get medals...silver & bronze, but they know that they didn't win. God calls us to run the race, but we don't have to come in first because it is His desire that we plant the seeds of His gift of salvation with every step of the race. Run for Christ Jesus so that we may share the gospel with all who will listen. We should never stop running unless God tells you to stop. His stops for us are moments that He wants to speak with us and times for us to listen . This may take place through Sunday School, a sermon series, a revival, a special speaker, music, Bible Study, a conversation with a friend over coffee, and much more. God comes to us in whatever way we best hear Him. And, when He is ready for us to start running again, He will place our feet on the blocks and shoot the gun as we bolt forward on the path of sharing God's Will. Remember we are sharing the gospel by spreading the seed and the ultimate prize is not earned, but it is by accepting that we are sinners, believing Christ Jesus as Savior, and confessing our sin and asking God into our hearts forever. Jesus is our ultimate prize. He is even more precious than that Olympic Gold Medal!

A direct truth God gave to Paul when he wrote this letter to the Corinthians. They had been making food sacrifices to idols (gods) and were directing sinning again GOD! They were weak in their ways and their knowledge. "11 So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge." The knowledge the Corinthians were focused on was that of pagan gods when they knew that Jesus had died to save them from their sins. "13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall."

Recently I have had lots of friends go through both separations & divorce. One friend even lost her husband to death. One of the couples that went through separation are both Christians and even tried Christian counseling, but unfortunately the husburand wasn't interested in the counseling or in saving the marriage & his family (two children, age 7 & 4). But it's hard, or I would at least think it would be hard, for the wife to not find a new Christian man down the road and desire to get married. But according to God's Word she can not marry because her previous husband, the father of her children, is still alive and she is bound to her husband as long as he lives. So how do you encourage the wife (who happens to be one of my besties)? Does God really mean that her ex-husband must die as in buried in the ground? Or does He mean dead in his relationship with Christ? Or does He mean dead in his union between his wife and God? I guess I am asking for advice from my fellow Brothers & Sisters in Christ. How can I help my friend without hurting her more? She knows God's Word, but I fear that bringing up this verse would be like pouring salt into the wound. Please help me.

Jesus Christ was sent to earth through a virgin birth specifically to cleanse the world of all sin...forever, until His return to earth. We were bought at the price of Christ's blood, which was spilled out from the sinner's cross at Calvary. Not only did He die for the people of his time 33AD, but for the people of every century past, for us in what we consider to be the present, and for all those who will come after us until Jesus returns to earth. When you attempt to think of all those people, try to imagine the sin of just one and then multiply it by all those people, and place that sin on Christ's shoulders as He hung from that evil cross. Since God did all of this for us, the least we can do is honor Him with our bodies. As mentioned in vs. 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. We are called to be one in flesh with Jesus Christ. When we are married as a MAN and a WOMAN, we are then united as one flesh in the presence of God. We are 3 in 1 like the Trinity. The Trinity is God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. We are 3 in 1 as Husband, Wife, and the Holy Spirit of Christ Jesus. Personally this was a challenge for me in my college years. It was my deepest desire to have physical love along with emotional and spiritual love. So , honestly, I did not honor my body before myself, my future husband, and my Father God. But once I met my future husband (we knew within days that we would marry) I was his alone, but we still didn't honor ourselves before God because we did not wait for sexual intimacy until we were married. I guess what I'm trying to say is, it is not easy to even respect ourselves in the sinful world we live in, but it should be our soul desire to honor God in all we do. Yes, we will fall down into sin sometimes, but we need to remember that Jesus is already there to pick us back up again when we ask for forgiveness. We just have to ask for forgiveness and then do our best to refrain for participating in that sin again. Believe me, I know it is hard and I'm sure I sound like a hypocrite, but I would rather risk embarrassing myself then seeing another naive college freshman (or younger) fall into the lie that sex means acceptance. It DOES NOT! No matter what any guy/girl says to put a little pressure on you, they don't respect you, they just want a piece of you. It's not worth. I rather have had only one friend, Jesus, than having tons of friends that are all about sex and other sinful acts. I pray God is opening your ears & hearts to hear Him, as He uses me as His messenger to save you. God bless you now and always.

20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. Paul speaks of coming to Corinth soon, assuming that be of the Lord's will. And he questions of how he will find the people....are they just talking to be talking or are they growing strong in the Lord and becoming powerful for the Kingdom? Vs. 20 sums it up... For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. I believe God is telling us "not to talk the talk, but walk the walk" that is in His will. These verses are just as true now...Jesus will come to us very soon, according to God's will. And the question is what kind of people are here....arrogant or those following in this Word. Who will you be?

AND vs. 17 - If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for God's temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. I believe these two verses must go together. First God calls us, individually, His temple and He reminds us that the Holy Spirit of God dwells within us. Praise the Lord! This is such a wonderful gift to those who have been saved through the blood of the Lamb, Jesus, our Savior and Lord. Then God places a warning on anyone that destroys God's temple and that He will destroy that person. I believe this functions as a two-fold...1. God protects the individual (He didn't say life on earth would be perfection because only His Son alone was perfection on earth.), 2. God protects the temple as a whole because it is sacred. He calls the church His bride and Himself as the bridegroom. (Again, He didn't say there wouldn't be some bumps in the road, but He said He would go through it with us.) As children of God we need not fear. The battle has already be won!

Oh this word saddens me because I know it is real. I have a friend that is an Atheist and is VERY set in his ways. We have been friends since 1997 and I have been trying with all I have to witness to him. I'm not a broke record, but when the opportunity opens up I share as much as he will allow me. At one point he even expressed his concern that I believed in an "imaginary god." This broke me, but over time the Holy Spirit has revealed that my friend is foolish and chooses not to see or seek out the TRUTH. That is something he will have to face for eternity. I believe Christ has called me to not give up on my friend and continue to pray for him and that Jesus will make a radical change in my friends life...one that develops a personal relationship between him and Jesus Christ.

Like Paul, we are called to serve Christ by the will of God. We may be called into missions, be a pastor, a pastor's wife, a Sunday school teacher, the pianist, choir director, student, etc. God has a purpose for all of us! When we are called by Him we have 2 choices...accept or deny. If we deny we could end up like Jonah in the belly of the great fish. God's plans will happen no matter what! God uses us as we allow Him. I choose to be a servant daughter to my Father God.

I love that God's Word specifically says " to receive her in the Lord." It is an example that godly women do matter in the Kingdom as teachers of Christ's love, grace, mercy, salvation, etc. As a woman in ministry this helps me to keep going, because I know that God has asked others "to receive me in the Lord."