November 15, 2019: SOAP #3634:  Job 41, 42; 2Corinthians 1, 2
 (Rework from November 8, 2010)

Scripture:  1Corinthians 2:2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.

Observation:  Paul did not use mental gymnastics to force those living in Corinth to accept Jesus as Lord.  If he could manipulate their thinking to believe in the Lord, when he moved on to another town, someone would come along that would manipulate their thinking to believe in something else.

Paul wanted their faith to be based on something that could withstand the challenge of the world’s wisdom.  He wanted their faith based on God’s power.  He wanted them to know the Presence of God’s Spirit in experiencing the power of God at work.

Application:   I want God’s Presence in my life to be demonstrated by His Spirit at work in and through me.  Then when people see what God does in and through me, their faith will not be in me, but in the God working in and through me.  Obviously, what God does in and through me, He can do in and through them too!

Prayer:   Lord, may Your Presence in my life encourage the faith of others as they witness You at work in me.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!