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Do we provoke
the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he? 1 Corinthians
10:22
That seems like a silly
question when you first read it; of course, we are not
stronger than the Lord! Do we really know that though?
Sometimes, I believe that we have a wrong perspective of the
Lord and that we can do whatever we want to do and He won't
be able to do anything about it. The verses just before
this, I Cor. 10:20-21 says you cannot have fellowship with
the Lord and the Devil at the same time, it is either one or
the other and then the verse following verse 22 says,
All things are lawful for me, but all things are not
expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things
edify not.
1 Corinthians 10:23 Another very
similar verse is in I Cor. 6:12 which says, All
things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient:
all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought
under the power of any. I Cor. 10:24 continues
with, Let no man seek his own, but every man
another's wealth. Then farther on down in the
chapter, verse 31 says, Whether therefore ye eat, or
drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
What you eat should glorify the Lord, what you wear should
glorify the Lord, what you watch, listen to, etc... it all
should glorify the Lord. II Corinthians 5:10-11 says,
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his
body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or
bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade
men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are
made manifest in your consciences. We will stand
before the Lord, we will give an account of everything that
we have done since our salvation and when we do, it is going
to be a terrifying time; not because we are in danger of
going to Hell, but because we are going to realize how
casual we took our Christian life and how much time and
energy we wasted.
I think about Job; a
righteous man that the Bible says eschewed evil. But at the
end of the book of Job in chapters 38, 39, 40 and 41 the
Lord rebukes Job and asks him, were you here when I formed
the earth and created everything, can you make the cattle
and the herds to bring forth their young, can you bring
judgment upon the wicked, and so on. There is too much of
the Lord's answer to Job for me to copy here (you need to go
back and read it), but I will give you Job 40:8-14 Wilt
thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that
thou mayest be righteous? Hast thou an arm like God? or
canst thou thunder with a voice like him? Deck thyself now
with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory
and beauty. Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold
every one that is proud, and abase him. Look on every one
that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked
in their place. Hide them in the dust together; and bind
their faces in secret. Then will I also confess unto thee
that thine own right hand can save thee. And after
the Lord got through with Job he said, Wherefore I
abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. Job 42:6.
Thank the Lord for Him giving us a good picture of
what we really are sometimes instead of letting us go on
thinking we have a arrived and have got everything under
control. Are we stronger than the Lord??? God forbid that we
should think so!
Until next time, may the
Lord bless you richly.
Sis. Tanya |
in the
