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“Listening to God with our Heart”

Thoughts for Today:

In our passage today, Paul quotes from the second part of Isaiah 29:14. It's relevant to the point Paul is making, but even more so if we look at it in context. In fact, verse 14 begins with the word "therefore," which directly links it to the previous verse. So let's take a moment to look at the complete passage of Isaiah 29:13-14: "The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.'"

These verses make it clear why God destroyed and frustrated the wisdom of man -- because they were only going through the motions of worshipping and serving Him. They knew about Him intellectually, but they didn't know Him personally. So God said He would perform a miracle among them that would be so mind-boggling, only those who exercised faith could believe.

This was accomplished through Jesus Christ. He was born of a virgin, which by itself defies all human logic and reasoning. He was meek and humble. Did anyone expect God to behave that way? And to the human mind, Christ's death would appear to be the ultimate defeat, yet He won salvation for us on the Cross. The point Paul makes today is that the natural mind of man, our human wisdom and intelligence, cannot alone understand the purposes of God.

Questions to Ponder:

1 Corinthians 2:14: "The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit." To understand God's ways, we must believe with our hearts. In other words, intellectually processing what the Bible has to say is not enough. Has your study of God's word become too academic? Are you listening to Him speaking with your heart? What has He been saying to you? Will you obey?

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About the author

Pocket Devotions are written by Mike Brooks. A retired businessman, he is Moderator of South Shores church, leads the Deacon Board, serves on the finance committee, and he teaches a Men's Bible study and the Men's Ministry. Mike has a passion for evangelical missions. He is the husband of Sherry; the father of Ryan, Natalie, Krissy, Rebecca, and Amanda; the father-in-law of Ariel; and the grandfather of Conner and Christian.