Digging Deeper~ 4th Sunday ordinary times

Is. 58:1-9a (9b-12):God does not want a fast that is done without having your heart and soul into it. Instead he wants you to live holy lives. Then he will hear you when you cry to him. He will Guide you and take care of you.

Ps. 112:1-10: Praise the Lord you who fear the Lord & love his Word for He will give you peace and care for you. The wicked will see it and be upset. But do not think on them for they will be no more.

1 Cor. 2:1-12(13-16): Paul is saying that he came to the people of Corinth to preach Jesus Christ only in the power of the Holy Spirit. He spoke words of wisdom to the spiritually mature, for the deep spiritual wisdom can only be understood with the spirit. God judges all things and everyone through the spiritual eye, not the natural understanding. That is why we speak in words taught by the Spirit. Who can know the mind of the Lord? But we have been given the mind of Christ.

Mat. 5:13-20: Ye are the salt and the light of the earth. But  if your life is like salt that has lost its flavor & light that no one can see you are no good to God. So make sure that you stay close to God and live righteous lives. 

God does not want us to sing praises to him just because we have to. He wants us to read and live his Word. God has promised that when you do that he will hear your cries, give you peace and care for you (Is. 58; Ps. 112:1-10). As Christians, we are also encouraged to live out the word of God will godly lives. In doing so, we will be like salt & light to the world around us. But if we don't live godly lives we are any better to the world then salt that has lost its flavor and is thrown out on the streets or like a light that is not put in a place where it can help lead people out of the darkness (Mat.5:13-20). We would be like Paul when he spoke to people with spiritual words so that peoples spirits can hear and be lead to Jesus
Christ.Then they can have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2).

Challenge of the week:

What part of this message hits home with you? With that in mind, what will you do this week to put this lesson into your life this week?

Accomplishment of the week:

So how did you do? How did what you did help bring you closer to being more Christ minded?