Remnant: A Daily Verse-by-Verse Devotional

Paul turns to conveying a message that Jesus conveyed in his sermon on the mount. We dig into the backstory of the "eye for an eye" verse that Jesus explained in his sermon.

Paul tells us to live in harmony with each other, and he tells us how to do it: by avoiding high-mindedness and instead associating with all things lowly.

My seven-year-old joins us to talk about two more things Paul calls us to do: rejoice and weep.

Paul now switches from how we deal with fellow Jesus followers to how we deal with those who do not follow Jesus, starting with a teaching of Jesus that he obeyed with his final breaths: to love and bless our persecutors.

Paul continues explaining the marks of the true Christian by remarking on how we are called to help the saints.

Paul returns to his trio of hope, endurance, and prayer. We define that word "prayer," and talk about what it ought to do in our lives.

Paul interrupts his list of things we should do (love genuinely, devote brotherly, etc.) with something we should not do: slothfulness in our zeal and diligence for God. Instead, we should serve fervent in spirit.

Paul gives us two more directives on how followers of Jesus are to live: devotion and honor.

Paul starts his section that identifies the marks of a true follower of Jesus with the most important mark: love. But not just any love: real, genuine love.

Paul finishes his list of God's gifts with four more: exhortation, generosity, leadership, and mercy.

Paul gives two more gifts in verse seven: service and teaching.

Paul lays out a list of the types of gifts God gives His people with an instruction that if given a gift, we are called to actually use it. We dig into Paul's first listed gift: prophecy.

Paul completes his illustration of the body functioning as one with his explanation that we are the body of Christ. We dig into that by reading from 1 Corinthians 12.

Paul sets up an illustration he's getting to in verse five by noting how our body has different parts that all have different functions. We go with Paul's illustration by talking about the body.

Paul sets up his next section that talks about the gifts that God has given to his children by referencing his own God-given gifts.

Paul gave us the "what" of following Jesus in verse 1, and in today's verse he gives us the "how": by resisting the forces of this world but instead going through a transformation--something akin to metamorphosis. We dig into that "how."

How are we to respond to the fact that this world is not for us? Easy: to present ourselves to the One who this world is for. God doesn't want us to be sacrificed like Old Testament offerings, but rather as a living sacrifice, spent in worship.

Paul concludes Chapter 11 with beautiful language about how this world is not for us, but for God. And since it's for God, God gets the glory. Forever. Amen.

Paul quotes Job to continue making his point that God's ways are untraceable. We talk about Job.

Paul quotes Isaiah 40:13, a verse he'd also quote to the church in Corinth, as part of his praise of God to conclude chapter 11. We explore the comforting words God was conveying to the people of Israel in Isaiah, chapter 40, and how those words speak to us today.

Paul concludes his teachings to date with a doxology--a praise for the ways of God. We use Paul's praise to remind ourselves two things: to praise, and to trust God's ways.

Paul wraps up the big themes he's been explaining in these last three chapters with a statement that he has "consigned all to disobedience" so that he can have mercy on all.

Paul goes further in his connection between disobedience and mercy. We dug into disobedience yesterday, so today we explore God's mercy.

Paul introduces the concept of how disobedience drives mercy. We talk about an example from the world of ... trees. Yes, more tree talk.

In verse 29, Paul loops back to a similar point from the beginning of chapter 9: that God has chosen to bestow great gifts and calling on the people of Israel, and God won't change his mind just because the people of Israel failed to follow Jesus.