“The Jews then said to one another, “Where does this man
intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to the
Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He?” (John 7:35)

We often
think in temporal current time terms. God is Spirit and Truth and those who
worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth. Jesus descended from the heavenly
realm to dwell with us for a time. Where He is taking us is to the heavenly
realm. We need to listen to what the Lord says and by faith believe in that
which is not seen.

Lord, trusting You is simple. Yet it is also profound and that is what puzzles me. I am unable to comprehend the ultimate reality. Rather than living befuddled, help me trust that You are leading me where I need to go. Help me trust You step by step that I may become what You have always intended.

Thank You
Lord Jesus for speaking in terms that I can understand to learn about things I
do not know. Grant today that with gentleness I would speak to others as You
have spoken to me. Help me not just impress upon them Your Truth, but instead
be a witness of it by being gentle and kind that others may know You are in me.
Amen.

“But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so
that we will not be condemned along with the world.  So then, my brethren, when you come together
to eat, wait for one another.  If anyone
is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for
judgment. The remaining matters I will arrange when I come (1 Corinthians 11:32-34).

The virtue
that describes what Paul is saying is temperance.  Live in the knowledge that Christ is with you
and in you.  Live seeking to please the
Lord always.  Live with God’s love for
your neighbor.  Live knowing that in
eternity we will all get along because we will have concern for the other as
well as our self.  Live into the calling
to which you have been called knowing the Lord is leading you.

Lord, these are not altruistic words, but the words of truth.  Guide me in the way I should go knowing that You are leading me.  Help me to overcome my sinful selfishness that I would now and always abide in You as You abide in me.  Teach me how to overcome those times where I want to do what I want to do, that I may do instead what is right and fitting.  Teach me Lord!

Lord Jesus, You are the Savior, and You are also the teacher.  Guide me Lord in the way You know I need to go.  You have judged me already and know all that I need.  Lead me in the way I should go that I may always walk according to Your direction.  Help me in those selfish moments to put myself aside that I may live in witness that You are in me and I am in You.  Teach me how to be faithful.   Amen

“For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged” (1 Corinthians 11:29-31).

Think in terms of eternal health. The Lord is guiding those who come to Him in the way they need to be guided and feeds them heavenly food.  Those who think this mere formality mock what the Lord is doing and bring into themselves condemnation. It is not a matter of works, but of attitude. Are you learning to love the Lord as He loves You?  Do you submit to love or are you in love with yourself only?

Lord, this is important. It is not a matter of me figuring everything out, but of learning how to love as You love. Guide me, O Lord, in the way of truth that I may receive all that You give in grace and grow in Your likeness. Where I am trivializing what is important, convict me. Where I do not honor You, show me how to honor, love and worship You always above all things.

Lord Jesus, You gave Your body as the sacrifice for all my sins. Lead me to see that You feed me with heavenly food in order to build up my mind, body, and soul through You to become what I shall be. Help me to understand that in You alone is life and light. Teach me faithfulness always that I may live into the life to which You have prepared the way, honoring You now and forever. Amen.

“Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the
Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the
Lord.  But a man must examine himself,
and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Corinthians
11:27-28).

What we are called to do in the Lord is neither rote, nor mechanical; it is a living relationship.  Do not treat the grace of the Lord as something that is yours because you deserve it, but live in the grace you’ve been given.  It is a loving relationship and pride and selfishness are not a part of this relationship.  Live then into what the Lord is giving and abide in His presence always.

Lord, my moods swing all over the place.  Help me to live each day knowing that I am in
Your presence.  Guide me in spite of my
moods to live knowing that I am in You and You are in me.  Lead me to live in the eternal relationship
You have established through grace that I may now and always be faithful when I
partake of Your grace.  Help me to be
honest and forthright always.

Lord Jesus,
it is Your shed blood that has paid the price for my remission of sin.  May I never treat this with disdain or in any
way disrespect Your invitation to join with the saints of all times and places.  Lead me to always be respectful and a willing
participant in this gift which You give.  
Though my heart may not always be in the right place, create in me a new
and clean heart that respectfully receives what You alone can give.  Amen.

“In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it,
in remembrance of Me.”  For as often as
you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He
comes” (1 Corinthians 11:25-26).

The new
covenant in my blood….  Not like the
old where we strived, but in the new recognizing that all we strive to do will
not overcome the problem of sin.  Only in
Christ and through what He has done are we able to move forward.  Proclaim the Good News until He comes again,
that freedom from the recompense of sin is a gift for those who accept Christ
as Lord.

I do not fully understand, yet in a small way I do.  All the striving in the world merely repeats
the same process.  You have come to show
that apart from You it is impossible, but that with You all things are
possible.  Lead me, O Lord, in the way of
truth that I may now and always abide in the truth You have revealed and
partake of the grace made possible through Your shed blood.

Lord Jesus,
You have done what needed to be done. 
You have come that all who turn to You may have life.  Guide me in the new life You give that I may
now and always live into the hope You give. 
Lead me in faithfulness that I may see more clearly each day the things
You have done and the things You are doing. 
Through You alone, help me see that You keep on giving that all who
believe may share the Good News of what You have done.  Amen.

“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to
you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;  and when He had given thanks, He broke it and
said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”  (1 Corinthians 11:23-24)

This is My
body….  We can become bogged down in
the argument of whether we are to remember, to believe it is some literalism,
or just do it in remembrance.  Regardless
the way in which Your mind works, if it helps, do whatever you do because the
Lord has commanded it.   Be gracious in
and to all, for it is by grace that you have been saved, knowing that it is
what the Lord is doing that is important.

As I partake of the gift You have given Lord, help me to
have a heart that is thankful.  Guide me
according to Your purpose that I may now and always live knowing that I am in
Your presence.  Feed me as You alone can
feed me and keep me from insisting that the way I think is the only plausible
way.  Your thoughts are above my thoughts
and Your ways are above my ways.  Lead me
knowing this truth.

Lord Jesus,
before You went to the cross, You gave gifts to the faithful.  Unite me with the saints of all times and
places that I may humbly abide in Your presence according to Your Word.  Feed me the bread of heaven and enliven my
spirit with the knowledge of Your presence that I may now and always rejoice in
Your atonement and resurrection.  Lead me
as You know I need to be led that I may live into the life to which You have
called me.  Amen.

“For there must also be factions among you, so that those
who are approved may become evident among you. 
Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s
Supper,  for in your eating each one
takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk.  What! Do you not have houses in which to eat
and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have
nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise
you” (1 Corinthians 11:19-21).

The specific
circumstances may vary, but the principle remains.  There are those who come to the Lord’s house
for reasons other than worshiping the Lord. 
It ought not be this way, but sadly it is.  The question then is for you.  What then ought you to do?  As far as you are concerned, go to the Lord’s
house for His word and sacrament and live in harmony with the Lord, for it is
He alone whom you are to please.

Lord, help me at all times to remember that it is You alone
whom I serve.  In all that I do, may my
heart be inclined to You.  Guide me that
I may always keep focus knowing that You are the One who is beside and before
me.  Help me understand better that it is
You whom I serve and that You alone are the One who is to be pleased.  May my service be undistracted as I gather
with others to worship You.

Lord Jesus,
You were constantly distracted by those who pressed in around You.  Help me Lord see that in You alone is the
hope for us all.  By Your example, guide
me to live according to Your Word and do what is pleasing in the Father’s
sight.  Through all things, may I be
found faithful to Your calling and following Your example of being humble,
patient, and attentive.  Amen.

“But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you,
because you come together not for the better but for the worse.  For, in the first place, when you come
together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I
believe it” (1 Corinthians 11:17-18).

Many folk
gather together for their own reasons. 
We are called together by the One Lord for one reason and that is to
praise and worship the One God.  Sadly,
the instructions of Paul get lost and folk do what they have always done and
divisions arise.  Live into the unity the
Lord desires.  Come into His presence and
worship Him.  If your fellowship is not
this way, then live as if it were.

Lord, help me to get it right and grant that Your Holy
Spirit will do the rest.  Help me to live
my life in a simple manner as if I were the one to be the example in the midst
of those where I find myself.  Rather
than seeking for control, help me to be a catalyst.  Guide me Lord in the way You would have me go
and let my life be one that praises and thanks You in all circumstances and in
all places.

Lord Jesus,
You have come and told us that the objective is to make us one even as You and
the Father are One.  Help me to live
giving myself up as You gave Yourself up for the sake of the Father.  Lead me in the way You know I need to go that
I would surrender my will and live for what You have already declared.  By Your grace alone, help me to do what You
would have me do.  Amen.

“But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her
hair is given to her for a covering.  But
if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the
churches of God” (1 Corinthians 11:15-16).

If one is
inclined to be contentious . . . we live in a time where there are so many who
are contentious.  Do not foster the
contention, either in yourself or in others. 
We can find controversy, but leave such things behind.  Knowing what is good and right, press on
toward the goal of becoming like Christ. 
Do not be led astray by the constant harangues of this world.

Lord Jesus, You were constantly barraged by those who had contrary ideas.  Help me O Lord to not get caught up in such things, but to instead live into the life which has no end.  Guide me in the eternal precepts You have given that I may not be carried away with temporary variances that are offered as another way.  Through all things, keep my mind clear and my purpose straight.

Come Holy
Spirit and lead me in discernment.  Guide
me according to the Father’s purpose to live with who I am, where I am, and the
direction You lead me.  Help me to work
on the simple things of character this day, accepting who I am, that I may grow
into what You are creating me to be. 
Lead me, Spirit, deep within to be consistent and bold in my witness of
the faith You give.  Amen. 

“Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to
God with her head uncovered?  Does not
even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to
him” (1 Corinthians 11:13-14).

There are
cultural institutions that are not against the Lord.  Do nothing to rebel against the culture that
is irrelevant or unnecessary.  Stand firm
in the truth of the Gospel.  Weigh what
is important and follow the Lord’s direction. 
The world is in constant turmoil and we are called to discern what is
important.  Keep the Lord’s law of love
in your heart and live with the Lord first on your mind.

Lord, this world does have crazy ideas.  Some really do not matter in the grand
scheme.  Help me to keep good priorities
and seek for harmony and peace as far as I am concerned.  Within Your created order, guide me to live
into the life for which I was created that I may become more like Christ each
day.  Lead me, O Lord, and I will follow
You through the morass of this age.

Lord Jesus,
You know what it is like in this world. 
So many people with so many different ideas about how things ought to be.  Lead me this day, O Lord, to live into the
life to which You have called me.  Guide
me according to Your precepts to not be confused by the offerings of this world
and help me to grow in Your likeness. 
Through all things, help me see the good order of creation and live
within that order.  Amen.