For Reading and Meditation:      Romans 8:28-39What is God's great goal in the universe to which His energies are devoted? We have it in our text for today.The Living Bible puts this best and I have no hesitation in saying that although it is not regarded as a true translation (it is rather a paraphrase), its rendering of Romans 8:29 is one of the most exciting things I have ever read. This is what it says: "For from the very beginning God decided that those who came to him  should become like his Son." God's great energy and wisdom, working on behalf of all Christians, is directed to making us like His Son Jesus Christ. Of course this purpose will only be fully realized in the world to come, but while we are here He is pursuing that selfsame purpose nevertheless. It is only when we comprehend this that we will be able to understand the purpose that lies behind all our trials and difficulties. Romans 8:28 - "And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good" (TLB) - must be read in connection with Romans 8:29. Because God is committed to making us like His Son, His wisdom goes to work on every trial that comes our way in order to bring from it something that will enrich our character and make us more like Jesus Christ. Infinite power is ruled by infinite wisdom. He could deliver us and make our lives comfortable but in a fallen world that is not the best purpose. Understanding this is crucial if we are to live our lives the way God desires.Father, forgive me that so often my goals are diametrically opposed to Yours. Help me bring my goals in line with Your goals. I shall need Your help to adjust. Whatever happens, keep me ever moving toward becoming more and more like Jesus. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>1 Corinthians 1:1-31</li><li>Colossians 2:3</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>How does Paul describe the foolishness of God?</li><li>What is hidden in Christ?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son " (v. 29)

For Reading and Meditation:      1 Corinthians 1:18-31Another of the chief differences between Christianity and the world's religions, and something which adherents of other faiths find a major stumbling block, is the cross, which humbles all pride and dashes all hope of self-salvation. It also speaks of the tremendous and uncalculating generosity of God in providing for us a salvation that is without price. Kagawa, the great Japanese Christian, said that it was in the cross that he found Christianity's greatest uniqueness. Listen to his words, spoken some time before his death in 1960: "I am grateful for Shinto, for Buddhism and for Confucianism. I owe much to these faiths. Yet these three faiths utterly failed to minister to my heart's deepest needs. I was a pilgrim journeying upon a long road that had no turning. I was weary, I was footsore. I wandered through a dark and dismal world where tragedies were thick. Buddhism teaches great compassion ... but since the beginning of time, who has declared 'this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many unto the remission of sins'?" Islam, of course, proclaims the mercy of God. Each chapter of the Qur'an is introduced by the words "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful." But they do not tell of a costly and historic display of God's mercy as portrayed by the cross and spoken of in each Gospel. In Islam, Allah is merciful to the meritorious, those who pray, give alms, and fast in Ramadan. In Christianity God is merciful to sinners not because of their good works but because of Christ's sacrifice for them on the cross. Gracious and merciful Lord, through the cross I see right into Your heart. And what I see there sets my heart on fire. I see Love bleeding for me, saving me, delivering me. Now I can never be the same again. Thank You, dear Father. In Christ's Name. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Galatians 6:1-14</li><li>Ephesians 2:14-16</li><li>Colossians 1:20</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>How did Paul view the cross?</li><li>What is at the heart of the message of the cross?</li></ul></div></div>

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing ..." (v. 18) 

If a carpenter can take waste, scrap lumber and make a splendid piece of furniture out of it, it brings more credit to him than if he uses only the finest of materials. So when God uses things that are foolish, worthless and weak to accomplish glorious results, it magnifies His skill and power. People cannot attribute the success to the raw materials; they are forced to confess that it can only be the Lord who deserves the credit.The book of Judges provides repeated illustrations of God using the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. Ehud, for example, was a lefthanded Benjamite. The left hand in Scripture speaks of weakness. Yet Ehud brought down Eglon, king of Moab and won rest for Israel for eighty years (Judges 3:12-30).Shamgar went into battle wielding an oxgoad, and yet with this unlikely weapon he slew 600 Philistines and delivered Israel (3:31). Deborah was a member of the "weaker sex," yet by the power of God she won a smashing victory over the Canaanites (4:1; 5:31). Barak's 10,000 foot soldiers were a poor match, humanly speaking, against Sisera's 900 chariots of iron, yet Barak swept the field (4:10, 13). Jael, another member of the "weaker sex," killed Sisera with such a non-weapon as a tent pin (4:21). According to the Septuagint, she held the pin with her left hand. Gideon marched against the Midianites with an army that the Lord had reduced from 32,000 to 300 (7:1-7). His army is pictured under the figure of a cake of barley bread. Since barley bread was the food of the poor, the picture is one of poverty and feebleness (7:13). The unconventional weapons of Gideon's army were earthenware pitchers, torches and trumpets (7:10). And as if that were not enough to insure defeat, the pitchers had to be broken (7:19). Abimelech was felled by a woman's hand hurling a piece of millstone (9:53). The name Tola means a worm, an inauspicious title for a military deliverer (10:1). When we first meet Samson's mother, she is a nameless, barren woman (13:2). Finally, Samson killed 1000 Philistines with nothing more lethal than the jawbone of an ass (15:15).

With reverence, humor and skill, William MacDonald wove a daily devotional tapestry that challenges the reader to think deeply and Biblically, and apply God's Word to their lives.

Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

"But God hath chosen…the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty." (1 Corinthians 1:27)

We are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:10 NLT)
You look back on your life. You 
may be disappointed in many ways with your part in the business. You may be able 
to see many falterings and blunderings and mistakes that you on your side made. 
You may have sometimes felt that you were not the person for that job; God had 
made a mistake. Some of us have felt like that. And yet, as we look more deeply 
into God's ways with us and know God's principles, we see a wonderful logic in 
it all. You and I are called for something, laid hold of by God for something, 
put by God into something, and we feel God has made a mistake: "I am not the 
person for this, I ought never to have come into this, I have no qualifications 
for this, I am altogether the wrong peg here!" And yet, somehow or other, God 
does it. He enables you, He carries you through, He accomplishes the work to 
your own surprise and wonder. As you lay hold of the Holy Spirit, it is done – 
that is, if you do not sink down into yourself and give up and draw out because 
of what you are – but you lay hold of the Holy Spirit and you get through and 
marvel that you have got through, that the Lord has done this thing through you, 
through me. 
That is very consistent with 
God's principles, that is no contradiction. It is most consistent with the 
deepest principles of God. No flesh shall glory in His presence. It is all 
coming back to Him. God – mark you – elected "the foolish things of the world... 
the weak things... the things that are not" (1 Cor. 1:27,28). It is the same 
word; He has elected. It is quite consistent. Yes, His ways are past finding 
out. "God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform," but He is 
consistent with His principles. A life in the Spirit is one succession of 
confirmations that God is working out a plan. Only rebellion, stubbornness, 
self-assertiveness and all forms of self-life will hinder or arrest; but a life 
in the Spirit will be a constant succession of proofs, of evidences, that you 
were chosen for something. God is not dealing with you just from hand to mouth, 
piecemeal. It is all worked out. Good works foreordained, "afore prepared, that 
we should walk in them." If we walk in the Spirit, we walk in afore prepared 
works; whether we see it or not, it is a fact. But it comes out, wonderfully so, 
and we have to go down and say, "Well, Lord, forgive us for arguing, forgive us 
for discussing the matter, forgive us for putting over our minds and what we 
think about it against You: You are wonderful, Lord." And we worship, and that is 
the proof of election, and you do not want better proof than that. It is all 
inside of Christ by the Holy Spirit.

This devotional contains short daily portions from a selection of Mr. Austin-Sparks' messages. In his own words, “Perhaps this is just like a window opened into heaven. If you get the right window you can see quite a lot. You can see great things and you can see far things. But the best that I can hope is that this has just opened a window, and that as you look through it you are seeing one thing - how superior is Jesus Christ to all else, and how superior is the dispensation into which we have come, and how superior are all the resources at our disposal to all that ever was before!” Open Windows messages have been selected and compiled by Austin-Sparks.Net from the works of T. Austin-Sparks. In some cases they appear in abridged form. The introductory verse and its associated Bible version have been selected by the editor and did not always appear within the original message.

Open Windows

Union with Christ - Chapter 3

 God's Principle of Election 

Trusting in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. § If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. § The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men… God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise… that no flesh should glory in His presence. The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. § Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. All bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. § No man ever spoke like this Man! § Of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God– and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

Daily Light on the Daily Path or Daily Light is a Christian daily devotional scripture reading published by Bagster & Sons about 1875. It has been reprinted continually since then. It consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes—two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. It appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself.

Morning Daily Light

 The Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth  come knowledge and understanding. 

Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has taught Him? God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. § Born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. § My Spirit remains among you; do not fear! § The battle is not yours, but God’s. The Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s.

 “Not by might nor by power, but by MySpirit,” says the Lord of hosts. 

My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality … Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being. § Having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty.

Evening Daily Light

 Do not set your mind on high things,but associate with the humble. 

When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud … a left-handed man … After him was Shamgar … who killed six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad; and he also delivered Israel. The Lord turned to [Gideon] and said, “Go in this might of yours. Have I not sent you?” So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” The Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me … lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’” “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord of hosts. § My brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

 God has chosen the weak things of the worldto put to shame the things which are mighty. 

You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. § Of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. § My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. § God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? § Not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

 Poor, yet making many rich. 

27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

But God chose<cr>1</cr> the foolish<cr>2</cr> things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

1 Corinthians 1:27

 27 But God chose   the foolish   things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

 But God chose   the foolish   things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

Bible Verse of the Day

March 23, 1887

1 Corinthians 1:27 NIV

Verse by Verse Bible Study

More on the web

Group of Brands