Tues., 9/11/12 Devotion (1 Cor. 16:13-14)

Today's encouragement comes from 1 Corinthians 16:13 & 14, where Paul wrote these words:

"Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love."

These are such neat words (above). The Christian churchman is to be *both* dogmatically immovable in his or her commitment to Christ, and also gracious and generous in all his or her ways.

Only the work of the Holy Spirit could ever accomplish this. Regular sinners are sometimes able to be stubbornly-bound to what they be-lieve--but they cannot be loving in their actions. Or, they are able to be civilly-kind to others, but they have no basis of solid doctrine (on which they stand). Let us who are in Christ be both firmly-planted *and* tender-hearted.

[Puritan quote of the day: "Luther said, 'I had utterly despaired had Christ not been head of the church.' " --John Flavel, in, "The Mystery of Providence"]