Tag Archives: God

³⁵ But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” ³⁶ What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. ³⁷ And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. ³⁸ Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed. ³⁹ Similarly there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

⁴⁰ There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies. ⁴¹ The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.

⁴² It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. ⁴³ Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. ⁴⁴ They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.

⁴⁵ The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. ⁴⁶ What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. ⁴⁷ Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. ⁴⁸ Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. ⁴⁹ Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.

1 Corinthians 15:35-49

Dear God, I was at a funeral Friday, and the woman had been cremated. My in-laws were both cremated. My in-laws were Anglican. The funeral Friday was Catholic. It’s important in both traditions that, while cremation is seen as acceptable in your sight, the ashes must be kept together and not scattered. Frankly, this seems like a very small technicality to me since all that “ashes” are are literally ground up bones and everything else has gone into the air. But perhaps all you need is a rib.

The idea of an afterlife and what to expect is an interesting one. Some envision walking streets of gold, only worshipping all day, every day, and being liesurely. No sadness. No tears. No toil. No suffering. And some are afraid of this because it sounds like it will get old after a while. Just this, day after day with no end? Yuck.

Others think we will have jobs to do in the New Earth and that the New Earth will actually be here. Redeemed. Made perfect. After all, you gave Adam work to do, even before the fall. It seems we were created to work. Are there any of your creation who don’t work? I feel like even the angels are given jobs to do.

Personally, I have my theories, but I wouldn’t presume to type them here or send them out into the world because I believe that, at the end of the day, they don’t matter. We will all find out what life after death is like soon enough. I know what I’m hoping for, but I’m not letting myself get distracted by it. I want to focus on today and what you have for me now.

Father, I love you. I’m grateful for you. I worship you. I was in church this morning and really trying to focus on loving you. You are my God. Jesus, you are God and you did it all. Holy Spirit, you are God with me now. I give all of this day to you.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

12 Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. ² You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. ³ So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴ There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. ⁶ God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

⁷ A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. ⁸ To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. ⁹ The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. ¹⁰ He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. ¹¹ It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

¹² The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. ¹³ Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

¹⁴ Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. ¹⁵ If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

¹⁸ But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. ¹⁹ How strange a body would be if it had only one part! ²⁰ Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. ²¹ The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

²² In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. ²³ And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, ²⁴ while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. ²⁵ This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

²⁷ All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. ²⁸ Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church:

first are apostles,
second are prophets,
third are teachers,
then those who do miracles,
those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others,
those who have the gift of leadership,
those who speak in unknown languages.

²⁹ Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? ³⁰ Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! ³¹ So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.

But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. ³ If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

⁸ Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! ⁹ Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! ¹⁰ But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.

¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. ¹² Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.^[c] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

¹³ Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 12-13

Dear God, the reading for the Catholic church today is 1 Corinthians 12 starting in verse 12 about one body but many parts. And that was interesting. But then I noticed something. The second half of the very last sentence of chapter 12. Verse 31b: But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

Oooo. What is the way of life that is best of all? What comes next? Well, it’s the love chapter. Chapter 13. We can do all the things, but if we do them without love we are nothing. I’ve been given some compliments lately from friends who have told me their significant others met me for the first time recently and mentioned my joy. I told one of them yesterday, “I hope it’s the fruit of the Spirit they are seeing.” And I truly do. I hope it’s you that they see in me. I don’t care how much I accomplish. If I am doing it without love then what am I doing?

Father, I’m a little time-crunched this morning, but you know my heart. I want to continue to purge out the selfishness in my heart and give your fruit space to grow. You know what the problems are. I’m thinking of the sins for which I want to repent right now. I’m not perfect. Not even close. But I want to repent well before you. I want to glorify you in word and deed. I want to be an example of your love in this world. I am grateful to be wanted by you. Now, use me as you will.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen