A Little Encouragement from 1 Corinthians

Hey there,
I’m not writing today because it Valentine’s Day and I have a sappy love post (even though we are all incredibly loved by the God of the universe!) No, to be honest,I’m just here because I’m trying to post every week and I posted on Wednesday last week. So, here we are. I'm also here because I wanted to share what God has been teaching me while I've been absent from my blog. This is going to be a verse filled blog post. So, if you want you can read along with me. I'll be using my NIV Bible. I'll also be using the notes I took during my devotions. So, you’ll get a little glimpse into how I personally study the Bible.

The verse we'll be looking at is found in 1 Corinthians again. I start by reading it, writing it down, highlighting it (with a color code I have), circling words to define, box string or important word,  underlining words to cross-reference and just mark it up however I desire. Here’s what that looks like.


First of all, I love this verse! It has been such an encouragement to me. It starts out with a simple command and encouragement. "Be strong and immovable." I love the use of the word immovable here. Let's define it. 

So, we are told to be steadfast in our faith, not to yield to argument or pressure, stand firm and not be shaken This is something we are told countless times in the Bible yet it's something I need to hear countless times throughout my life. It is something I need to hear constantly as I go through trials. Later on in 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 Paul says this again. 

Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love.

The next part or the verse we’re looking at has another simple command; "Always Work Enthusiastically." Enthusiasm means 'Intense and eager enjoyment, interest or approval.' So, we are to work with an intense and eager enjoyment and interest. After the commend there is a 'for' or a 'because'. We must work enthusiastically because we know that nothing we do for Christ can be useless. Everything we do for Christ is valuable even if we can't see it's fruit immediately or ever. God can use anything we do for Him. We can work hard and eagerly because we know that Christ can and is using us. He can use us in great and amazing ways if only we let Him. If we work and live for Him we are letting Him use us. And as long as we are doing so He can and will use us. This is an amazing encouragement. As long as I'm working and living for Him I don't have to worry that I'm wasting my time because it is never useless. If I’m cooking and cleaning or teaching and evangelizing, He can use it all. If it’s everyday such as the way I dress or extraordinary God moments, as long as I’m doing it for Him my time is not wasted.

To finish out my devotions I ask a question. How does this apply to my life today? To make this question easier to answer we can break it up into six smaller questions. 
  1. Is this something to start doing?
  2. Is this something to stop doing?
  3. Is this something to pray about?
  4. Is this something to talk about? 
  5. Is this something to think about?
  6. Is this something to praise about? 
I believe the lesson I learnt through this is something to talk about, hence why I’m sharing it with you. This is an encouragement. And we are supposed to encourage each other (1 Thes. 5:11). So why not pass on this encouragement that I received? It is also something to praise about. I’m so grateful that I don’t have to worry about if I’m wasting my time. Because all I have to focus on is serving God and I know that is all He wants and He can always use that. 

Well, that all I have for you today. I hope this was encouraging and I hope you got something out of this. I’m working on a project that I’m very excited about and I hope that it’ll be ready by next week. Until then, thank you for reading and God bless!
Darcy-Rea

P.S. Since this wasn’t a very visual blog post, here are a few bonus photos from the past few days. Enjoy!
Valentines Day and we were all blessed with an abundance of love!

Fresh greens at the market

Lice infestation broke out and this was the eradication of them.

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