June 28, 2023 | Be On Mission
The Ministry of the Holy Spirit
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2(NIV)
1 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 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 with great fear and 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 human wisdom, but on God’s power.
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,
“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.
Devotional
In yesterday’s reading, Paul put the wisdom and power of the cross on full display. Here in chapter two, he transitions to the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and power. It is the Spirit of God who reveals the powerful mystery of the meaning of the crucifixion. Paul says, “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God” (v. 10). Reflect on these truths:
The Spirit knows the deep things of God.
The Spirit reveals the deep things of God.
The Spirit teaches the deep things of God.
The Spirit explains “spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.”
The Spirit gives the “mind of Christ” to understand such things.
Here’s a question for every believer. Do you have the Holy Spirit in your life? Do you rely on the Spirit to reveal the deep things of God? Are you reliant on the Spirit of God when you interact with others, go about your daily business, or spend time alone? Do you seek the Spirit’s wisdom when you read Scripture or hang out with other believers?
Ask the Holy Spirit into your life. Ask Him to fill you to overflowing with supernatural wisdom and truth. Invite the Spirit to govern your heart and mind. Rely on the Holy Spirit as you live your Christian faith in daily life.
Poem
What Do You Know
All that I know is babble speech
Compared to Jesus wisdom
Books can’t contain
Nor human brain
The thoughts of God’s great planning
In weakness, strength, mid trials, joy
The pow’r of God incarnate
Hidden revealed
Once all concealed
Now given by the Spirit
What do you know? Naught but received
By Spirit’s full disclosure
The truths of heav’n
All freely giv’n
The mind of Christ instruction
