Reprint Compliments of Men At The Cross By Joe White

1 Corinthians 2: 4-5

"4And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God."

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Twice this year I had dinner in the home of an ex-NFL linebacker. Both were godly men with godly wives who treated me with such hospitality that you would have thought I was an ambassador. Their children were conversational. Their homes were in order. Even their pets were polite. In the eye of a guest, they seemed to live "the perfect life".

Now of course I know things could not have been perfect for them all the time. But their households did appear to have a lasting peace about them-peace that came not through knowing they had both earned a Super Bowl ring, but through a relationship with an awesome God. In both of their cases, I noticed that their trophies were nowhere in sight. It wasn't until I pressed them that they led me to the basement or to an obscure closet; there they showed me the evidence of their careers collecting dust. In one corner, here was a Super Bowl game jersey, long forgotten by the public. Underneath that stack of boxes was a box containing the pair of shoes Darryl Green wore to run a 4.3/40. The shoes mean little to anybody. One day even Darryl Green, the fastest man in the NFL, will fade from people's memory. Somehow, my two linebacker friends had kept it all in proper perspective. Instead of spending our evening together talking about their accomplishments, we spent our time talking about the Lord.

Perhaps these two men had read 1 Corinthians 2, where Paul contrasts the power of God and the wisdom of men. To the church at Corinth, Paul said, "Rely on God's Spirit! All else is foolishness."

QUESTIONS:

1. If you achieved Super Bowl status, or some equivalent honor, where would you display your trophies?
2. Recall a time when something (or someone) you relied upon let you down. Is it possible you were relying upon that thing in place of God?
3. Discuss a time when you experienced the power of God.

LIFELINE:

Take inventory of the things you rely upon. If they are anything less than God's spirit ... reconsider.

joe@menatthecross.org | Men at the Cross | 1353 Lake Shore Dr. | Branson | MO | 65616