1 Corinthians 10:12-13

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Personal Challenge

Temptation is always present in our lives. Sometimes it is very apparent and visible. Sometimes it is hidden and sneaky. If we get over-confident in our way of following Christ, then we quickly become susceptible to being blindsided by an unexpected temptation. This is why we must take heed. The enemy never sleeps and desires to cause us to stumble and fall. We can claim the promise found in this passage. God is faithful. He never sleeps either and will always provide us with a way to escape every temptation. The challenge for us is to be seeking God and listening for His still, small voice that is providing us the guidance and help to beat the temptation. Glory be to God!

Proverbs 1:7

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom,
And there is good understanding in all who practice it;

Personal Challenge

I believe that we all desire to gain wisdom and understanding in our lives. Especially as it relates to spiritual things. That is part of our being created in the image of God and seeking to know Him. Here we see that the place to start on our journey to find spiritual wisdom is to fear God. This is not the kind of fear that one has regarding pending judgment or punishment. It is a respectful reverence for our God, an awe of His greatness and His love for us. As we embrace, and practice this godly fear, we gain His wisdom and understanding. Glory be to God!

1 Corinthians 9:25-27

And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

Personal Challenge

Paul often uses sports metaphors to describe the Christian life. We are running a race. We are engaged in a fight. We are pursuing the imperishable crown. We must compete throughout our life here on earth so as to obtain the imperishable crown at the end of the race. We will stumble along the way. When we do, we get up and get back into the race. We will get tired or disillusioned, but we reconnect to our source of life and continue the race. We do all this because we love our God and know that He loves us so much more. Glory be to God!

Job 42:4

But hear me, O Lord, that I also may speak.
I will ask You, and please teach Me.

Personal Challenge

Sometimes it feels like God has gone silent and no longer listening to our prayers. The truth is that He is always listening. Sometimes His response is to delay so that our hearts and minds can grow to be ready for His answer. We should always be willing to ask Him to teach us so that we can be growing in Him. Glory be to God!

1 Corinthians 9:24

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

Personal Challenge

Life as a follower of Christ is a marathon. It is full of twists and turns, ups and downs, wins and losses. No matter how we look at it though, it is a race to the finish line. Paul encourages us to run the race, in a way to obtain the prize of then end, to give our all. Living this way gives us the opportunity to live without regrets. Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Job 28:28

He said to man, ‘behold, the fear of God is wisdom,
And to abstain from evils is understanding.’”

Personal Challenge

Once again, we see the scripture turn the knowledge of mankind upside down. In our modern culture, and somewhat pervasive in the church, it is believed that wisdom and understanding comes from all the information that we take in. What is the latest podcast that I follow? Who is the latest church author that I have read? How many services have I attended? However, God tells us through Job, wisdom comes from our fear, or respect of God, and that understanding comes from abstaining from evils. This shifts the receipt of wisdom and knowledge from what I do to what God does. Glory be to God!

1 Corinthians 8:8

But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.

Personal Challenge

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, we follow various disciplines with fasting. The objective is to use something that we all need, and rely on, to discipline our physical bodies in order to learn how to discipline our entire being, body, soul, and spirit. We must be very diligent to not let this practice become a stumbling block to us or our neighbor. For too often, people use their fasting rules to try to one up one another. This is when it becomes a sin. Food, or the practice of fasting from it, does not commend us to God nor interfere with our relationship with Him. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Job 1:21

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. As it seemed good to the Lord, so also it came to pass. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Personal Challenge

Life is tough. We can have so many things, both good and bad happen without us ever being ready for them. Sometimes the bad things can cut very deeply. Job provides one of the most visual examples of how life can very quickly turn on us. Job also teaches us that no matter how bad it gets, there is one thing that can never be taken away from us…our relationship with our God. The lives of the martyrs have shown this over and over. This verse in Job reminds us to look at life through the lens of eternity. Our time here on earth is such a small part of the eternity that we will spend with our God! If we look at the events that transpire in our lives as opportunities to get closer to our God, then the extent of both the good and the bad gets tempered greatly. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

1 Corinthians 7:3-4

Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

Personal Challenge

There are so many Christian faith practice that have this passage all wrong. They teach that the wife is submissive to the husband almost to the level of being a second-class part of the marriage relationship. In the Eastern Orthodox wedding ceremony, the bride and groom don crowns that are connected by a ribbon. These resemble the crowns of the king and the queen joined together to lead their family. At one point the priest switches the crowns back and forth, presumably symbolizing that their leadership is interchangeable. They are also charged to be martyrs for each other, just as Paul proclaims in this passage. Glory be to God!