Sitting in a coffee shop in New Orleans this morning reading 1 Corinthians, thinking of how uncommon it is to read your Bible in public here compared top in Baton Rouge. And as I think about that, my mind goes to why – New Orleans, like many other large metropolitan cities, is more culture-forward, fully embracing whatever society says is good. And if that is in total contrast to God’s Word, then fine by society. I can go into all kinds of those culture-forward ideas embraced by the current big American pop culture but I’ll refrain from the political debate today.

But in that line of thought as my eyes scan the words written by Paul to the church in Corinth, I can’t help but make the connection. Verse 18 of chapter 1: “For the Word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” The world as a whole doesn’t get it because they are blind to it. Without the Spirit’s intervention in my life, I am blind to it, too!! Nothing meant as super spiritually mystic there by “the Spirit’s intervention in my life.” All I’m saying is that God, by way of His Holy Spirit, illuminated the truth of the gospel to me and compelled me to Himself some years ago and my life has been forever changed. What once would have been foolishness to me, is everything to me today. This is not a “we are better than you” logic at all, nor “us vs them.” This is the gospel of salvation – we all start off in life blind and foolish to the truth. But God gives us all a glimpse of Himself at some point, though those instances look different for each of us, and we choose whether we will believe in Him and allow Him to regenerate our hearts.

Gonna chase a rabbit for a minute because I think this is important. I heard a sermon today from John MacArthur on my way into NOLA. If you haven’t listened to him preach, you should! But anyway, he said something that really sunk in for me: when we are justified (the point of salvation), we aren’t “converted” per se. We are dead and alive again (regenerated) – the flesh and its evil desires are killed and we are made alive to God in Christ Jesus (see Ephesians 2, Romans 6). That is the great paradox of truly living – we must die to live. But along with that Biblical logic, after we are saved we do not have the old self and the new self living together in us. Rather, we have been reborn (see John 3 where Jesus talks to Nicodemus) – the old is gone and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). To explain the fight that still goes on in the life of a believer between doing what is right and doing what is wrong (look at Ephesians chapters 5-6 and Romans 7 for more!), our new spirit that has been reborn within us dwells in a sinful mortal flesh of man. So that is why the struggle persists – if we are saved by grace through faith in Christ we have been justified (made right with God) but we will be sanctified (made more like Christ) until we go to be with God forever with our new perfectly holy bodies (glorification). Salvation is three processes in one (justification – sanctification – glorification) but they don’t all happen at once. It’s maybe a little confusing but as you walk with God, your understanding here grows.

So back to 1 Corinthians 1:18 and the cross of Christ being foolishness to those who are perishing but the power of God to those who are being saved (hopefully the paragraph above helps shed some light on Paul’s wording here of “are being saved” rather than just “are saved” – once justified, we are being sanctified until glorified). I’m saddened and discouraged when I think of how much of the world views the cross of Christ as foolishness. Just turn on the news and see the tragedies occurring around the world, tune into the political debates, walk down the street and listen to people’s conversations. It’s easy to see this verse in real life. But rather than being stuck in sadness and discouragement over it, I can be comforted in knowing that God is not surprised by how many people reject His Word. He is not surprised by how much the world is calling evil good and good evil (it is nothing new – Isaiah 5:20). I can be encouraged that above all the tragedy, conflict, unrest, disunity, violence, pain, suffering, godless living, God is sovereign. He is above it all. And whatever occurs today, tomorrow, next year, in a decade, doesn’t change God’s overarching plan to reconcile the world to Himself. One day every knee will bow and tongue confess. Do we believe that? Do we really understand the gravity of that promise? If the knees are not bowing and tongues are not confessing now, the day that scripture is talking about when they all will is judgment day. No one will have a choice because we will all see the Lord of Lords and King of Kings as He is, full of glory and honor and praise, just and holy and righteous. That is a beautiful thing but a scary thing. God is not a God to be mocked or taken lightly, so how urgent must we be to proclaim truth in the words we say and the way we live?

The sermon I briefly talked about earlier didn’t just make me think about people around the world who might claim to be Christians but don’t really know God (their hearts are far from Him, evidenced by the way they live with no regard for His Word – check out Matthew 15:8). But more than this, it made me check in on my own life, my own heart. Does my life show a heart that has been reborn? Do the words I say and things I do (and don’t do) reflect a new life in Christ? But don’t stay on the surface level; take it deeper – do your attitudes and thoughts glorify Christ or the constructs of man? What fills your mind? Anger, envy, immorality, anxiety… Shift those thoughts. How? The Word. Daily, consistently, persistently. Don’t just read it before bed and fall asleep because you’re not even awake enough to pay attention. Meditate on the Truth! Let it fill you and direct your whole life.

If I’m honest, I haven’t adjusted well to starting back up at school in Baton Rouge. I’ve been struggling to manage my time well – it’s been school/studying and lots of working out/training, but my quiet time with the Lord has been sporadic. And my mind and heart suffer the consequences. Depression and anxiety creep back in. Comparison and envy suck the life out of me. Self-doubt crowds out all my hopes and aspirations. I’ve had this schedule shift for about a month now, and I’ve already felt so slumped spiritually, mentally, and emotionally, even though I was thriving this summer. My pace was slower, my days were more structured, my schedule was quieter. But while some of that is up to our discretion, some of it is just life and its seasons and we must learn to adjust. That’s where I’m at now.

I was worried about changing back to school from work this summer, back to Baton Rouge from home life. I knew that the huge change in schedule and pace and environment would challenge me a whole lot spiritually and mentally/emotionally. And here I am – I knew it was coming but haven’t adjusted well. I’m down a lot, stressed often, lonely, anxious… but my time with the Lord has been inconsistent and distracted. So how can I expect more peace when I’m not investing in my Source of peace?

It’s not the season of life killing my vibe; it’s how I’m living it!!

We often justify our slumps in life as “the season we’re in.” And sure, we can have tough seasons of life and we will have to adjust and overcome adversity, work through pain, suffer and grow slowly, etc. Of course we have those times and God is not just waiting for us to fail so He can bring down the hammer and say we’re not good enough. NOOO, that’s just not His heart. But He DOES want us to learn how to thrive regardless of the season we’re in. Not prosperity gospel type thrive – that is truth-less. But I’m talking spiritually thrive when our situation feels lame or our reality seems bleak or we look around and just don’t get why we’re here and what God is doing. Y’all, this is where it’s at! It’s easy to thrive when we’re feeling good and people aren’t letting us down and things are just going our way. But there’s just about hardly ever any growth in our lives on a deep level when there’s no adversity. What I’m trying to say is this. Don’t be a product of your season of life. Be a product of the God amidst your season of life.

Seasons might feel like they last forever, but they don’t. Though the winter is long, spring is around the corner. And now it’s fall, and I’ll throw out that it is my favorite season of all time – football, pumpkin everything, and cool air. But sometimes what I’m going through doesn’t feel all that great even though from the outside looking in I should be happy. I get that. We’ve all been there. But I’m convicted about 1 Corinthians, the John MacArthur sermon, and my slacking as of late. It all coincides for me. We are called to live our lives as a product of the faith growing in us that is by the grace of God, no matter the season. Our trajectory should always be on the path of righteousness. Yes, fall and backtrack here and there we may. But overall, what is your trajectory? Are you constantly being sanctified and looking more like Christ? Am I?? That’s the question convicting me today. What’s my trajectory? Sanctification moves forward and upward, not down and back. A Christian is constantly being sanctified, which means we understand that “to us who are being saved, salvation is the power of God.” Don’t be foolish, be sanctified.