His Word Guides

1 Corinthians 10:13-30, New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹³ No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

¹⁴ Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. ¹⁵ I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say. ¹⁶ Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread. ¹⁸ Look at the nation Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? ¹⁹ What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? ²⁰ No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. ²¹ You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. ²² Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?

²³ All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. ²⁴ Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor. ²⁵ Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake; ²⁶ for the earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains. ²⁷ If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’ sake. ²⁸ But if anyone says to you, “This is meat sacrificed to idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience’ sake; ²⁹ I mean not your own conscience, but the other man’s; for why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience? ³⁰ If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?

My Comments: When we accept Jesus as Savior by believing in the Gospel of Jesus the Christ, we become the children of the Living God and He comes into us and we are with Him always. Yet we will have temptations, trials and tribulations. They will be for our growth and strengthening of our faith and trust in the Sovereignty of God. In His Word He provides the way out for us and even in the physical He provides the way out of situations we often get ourselves into.

 I have heard stories of people flying in planes and the pilot has a heart attack or something else happens to them and a person who does not know how to fly has been guided down by someone they cannot see and do not  know. They trust that person because that person has the expertise to help them. We can trust God’s word the same way only we are not landing an airplane we are readying our souls for Heaven.

Jesus when He was baptized went into the desert for forty days and there Satan tempted Him. Jesus always replied with the true Scripture of God and did not succumb to the wiles of Satan as Eve did. He trusted His Father who sent Him to earth to protect Him and guide Him and He used the Word of God to foil the evil one. We can do the same when we know the Word of God and believe it to be inerrant or totally true. The first verse is relatively easy to understand from this perspective of trust and faith yet so are the others.

When we accept Jesus as Savior we drink the blood He shed and eat of His flesh which means we are willing to share in His life, death and resurrection. We affirm this when we have what many Christians call Communion. It is not as some believe the real body and blood of Jesus but is a remembrance as Jesus said, “Remember…” When we drink the wine or grape juice we are remembering what He said and why. The same is true of the bread or cracker, but where the wine or juice represents His blood that He shed, the bread or cracker represents His body given for us. He paid the ultimate price on the Cross so we could be free of our sin if we confess with our mouths and repent and choose Jesus as our Savior. Jesus is the bread of Life and we, who are His, are His body.

Yet when we accept the Sovereignty of Jesus Christ the King we accept His truths and there shall be no other god before God Almighty the Creator of the Universe. He does not share and when we worship at the alter of other gods, we tell God by our actions that we are not His nor do we believe His Word when He says, “Thou shall have no other God before me.” Other religions believe and unfortunately some who call themselves Christian (and obviously are not) are preaching that all religions and ways of believing are good and lead to heaven. WRONG!

That is the teaching coming out of the mouth of Satan to trap the unwary; it is the quick sand that pulls people down into the pit of Hell. The Father of Lies asked Eve if she was sure God really said and meant what He said and then told her God just wanted to stop her from becoming a god so she ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, then Adam followed her knowing full well God had told them not to eat of it or they would surely die. All roads do not lead to Heaven. Oh, all will stand before God to be judged who are not His and then if not His they will go to Hell not Heaven. That was their choice while on earth whether to accept Jesus’ free gift of redemption and salvation or reject it. Those who choose other religions are choosing to stay out of Heaven. There is only Two choices; Heaven or Hell.

As with the plane scenario and listening to the person in the tower tell them how to land safely; we can choose to listen to God and His Son Jesus on how to live forever or we can reject the guidance He gives and the gift He obtained for us. If the person on the plane who does not know how to land a plane says, “I will do it my way, I think it would be more fun, or easier to do it this way or I do not like who that person is telling me how to land the plane I think I will try something different.” What do you think the consequences of his decision would be? Right he would crash and die. Life has situations where we can get hurt or be tested or experience extreme loss but with God leading we will make it through. Doing it our own way or without God’s guidance we will surely die. And that death leads to Hell. Living life God's way as He says to live it in His Word, leads to Heaven. This is the mercy of God that while we were yet dead in our sin He died for us and redeemed us so we could live forever with Him in Heaven.

Loved Ones I pray you will be one who listens to what God says and turn to His Son Jesus, confess your sin against Him and He will be faithful to forgive a truly repentant sinner. Then ask Him into Your heart and have faith that He will heal You and set You free from sin.

Abba Father thank You for loving us so much, thank You for Your sacrifice and for setting things in place so we could be saved from our bad choices. Thank You for Your mercy and grace and for Your Word that gives us life through Your instruction, affirmation and precious words of Love. You are not only the person who talks us into landing safely; You are the parachute if needed or the haystack on the field for a soft landing. You always take care of Your own and we know that when we leave this body and are absent here we are present with You in Heaven and that is amazing. Our lives are short Lord, help us to live them to bring You praise and glory. May our thoughts and words be pleasing to You and let us not be confounded by the evil one. Protect us, guide us with Your Holy Spirit and strengthen us with Your Word. In Jesus’ name in union with the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Rebishka