August 5

Ezra 1:1-2:70, 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5, Psalm 27:7-14, Proverbs 20:22-23 

Pray: The Psalmist hears God saying, “Come and talk with me.” So, he goes and talks with (prays to) the Lord. I believe the Lord beckons you and I the same way. He desires for us to come and talk with Him…and not just around the dinner table, but so much more often. Will you respond to His invitation?

Read: “This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength” (1 Corinthians 1:25). We know that not everyone believes as we do, nor is everyone a Christian. Those in “the world” find the message of the cross to be “foolish” according to Paul. He is reminding the church at Corinth that no matter what “the world” says, God’s plan of salvation is wiser than anything they come up with and God is stronger than anything else in all of creation. It’s good to be reminded of such things!

Edify: Do you ever get confused and overwhelmed? It’s easy to do, even in conversations of faith. There are so many denominations and divisions in the body of Jesus that it is sometimes hard to distinguish one group from another. We would be wise to consider the words of Paul when he says, “I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Perhaps if we were to do this more often, our divisions would be much less important.

Practice: I don’t like when people try to cheat me or do harm to me. It really doesn’t happen all that often, but it does happen to many people on occasion. When it occurs, I want immediate justice, don’t you? I’ll go to great lengths to get that justice in an attempt to get even. Proverbs 20:22 offers a different way: “Don’t say, ‘I will get even for this wrong.’ Wait for the Lord to handle the matter.” It’s a convicting word, but a wise word! Have you been wronged and you are thinking about (or actively working toward) getting even? Step back and wait upon the Lord to handle things. After all, doesn’t He know more than you or me?