The Things God has for Those who Love Him: 2 YEAR PODCAST ANNIVERSARY

Welcome to the 2nd-anniversary episode of the podcast!!

“For it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear has heard, nor has entered into the heart of man the things God has prepared for those who love Him.’” 1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV

This scripture was my "life verse" in my twenties. Revisiting it almost twenty years later I think I was misinterpreting its meaning. Today on the podcast we will look at what this scripture really means and how to interpret scripture properly.

How do we properly interpret scripture?

1)  We always ask the Holy Spirit to help us as we read the Word. The Holy Spirit is the giver of wisdom and helps us to understand.
Jesus says in John 16:13-14, “13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” ESV

2) Read the Bible in context: chapter, book as well as historical and cultural context. “The Bible is for us, but it wasn’t written to us.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 “16 All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work.:”

3) Put the scripture through the whole counsel of God.  Scripture will not contradict scripture.

4) Look at commentaries to see if the Biblical scholars of the last two thousand years agree with your interpretation of the Word.

“The things God has for those who love Him…” isn’t something believers have to wait for, it is already ours every time we reach out to the One who loves us and calls us by name. 

In closing, I will pray Ephesians 3:20-21, NASB “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”

Discover life in Christ at bountifulliving.net
Sharpen your faith on Instagram at @Bountiful_Living

Transcript

“For it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear has heard, nor has entered into the heart of man the things God has prepared for those who love Him.’” 1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV

Hello it’s Katie from Bountiful Living and welcome to the 2 year anniversary episode of the podcast!

I stumbled across this verse from 1 Corinthians 2:9 recently. 

I forgot all about it, but in my twenties, it was my “life verse” I quoted all of the time, and much like the ever-popular and also misquoted Jeremiah 29:11 NIV, “For I know the plans that I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

It got me wondering did I really understand what this verse meant?

I quoted it to encourage others who were struggling, 
 to those who were waiting on the promises of God to be fulfilled. 
 God had done so many miracles in my 24 years of life, I honestly couldn’t stop shouting His praises. 

But the next twenty years of my life would be almost the inverse of that unimaginable bliss and would be full of more suffering than I have ever known was possible for a human to endure. 

So is this verse still true in our suffering?

I have matured a lot in my faith since my early twenties and have learned new things about interpreting scripture. 

1)     We always ask the Holy Spirit to help us as we read the Word. The Holy Spirit is the giver of wisdom as well as understanding.
Jesus says in John 14:26, “26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” NASB
John 16:13-14, “13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own 
authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you 
the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is 
mine and declare it to you.” ESV

2)    Read the Bible in context: chapter, book as well as historical and cultural context. “The Bible is for us, but it wasn’t written to us.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17 “16 All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work.:”

3)    Put this scripture through the whole counsel of God. 
 Scripture will not contradict scripture.

4)     Look at commentaries to see if the Biblical scholars of the last thousand years agree with your interpretation.

Let’s get back to that verse, “Eye has not seen nor ear has heard, nor has entered into the heart of man the things God has for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

This is a bold claim from Paul and if you back up to the start of the verse we will see that Paul is actually quoting Scripture from Isaiah 64:4. In Isaiah’s prayer for mercy and help from the Lord. He says,
“When You did awesome things which we did not expect,

You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.

4For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear,

Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,

Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.

5You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness,

Who remembers You in Your ways.

Behold, You were angry, for we sinned,

We continued in them a long time;

And shall we be saved?

6For all of us have become like one who is unclean,

And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;

And all of us wither like a leaf,

And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

7There is no one who calls on Your name,

Who arouses himself to take hold of You;

For You have hidden Your face from us

And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities.

8But now, O Lord, You are our Father,

We are the clay, and You our potter;

And all of us are the work of Your hand.

9Do not be angry beyond measure, O Lord,

Nor remember iniquity forever;

Behold, look now, all of us are Your people.

Wow, I never tire of the Word of God! 

It is possible I was slightly or entirely misinterpreting the verse in my twenties. 

This promise isn’t something that waxes, wanes or changes…depending on our mountaintops or our valleys. It isn’t a promise we have to wait for. 

This is a promise that IS – 

at salvation 

something all believers have in Christ, no matter what our circumstances in life. 

LIFE – LIFE to the FULL – LIFE in the here and NOW – as well as the gift of ETERNAL LIFE

For those who as Jesus said in Mark 1:15 “Repent and believe for the Kingdom is at hand.”

The Passion Translation reads a little clearer, it says in Mark 1:14-15, TPT
“Jesus preached the wonderful gospel of God’s kingdom. His message was this: 
‘At last the fulfillment of the age has come! 
It is time for God’s kingdom to be experienced to its fullness. 
Turn your lives back to God and put your trust in the hope-filled Gospel.’”

“We must not rely on our human faculties, but on the Holy Spirit. Paul emphasizes that love for God—not love for wisdom or knowledge—yields an understanding of the things of God, including His plan of salvation through the cross. Yet Paul later explains that God grants wisdom and knowledge as spiritual gifts. What the Corinthians desire (and overemphasize at the detriment of the gospel and Christ’s lordship over their lives) will come after they’ve accepted Christ and recognized who He is and what He has done for them” Faithlife Study Bible The Holy Spirit’s gifts come after salvation?

At the moment of salvation when we REPENT and admit that our human reasoning and our sinful human nature is what separates us from God, our righteous, marvelous Creator and we BELIEVE He sent his Son Jesus as payment for our sinful nature this promise in 1 Corinthians 2:9 is ours through Christ and the Holy Spirit, our Helper.

Continuing in 1 Corinthians 2:10-12, TPT

“But God now unveils these profound realities to us by the Spirit. Yes, he has revealed to us his inmost heart and deepest mysteries through the Holy Spirit, who constantly explores all things. 11 after all, who can really see into a person’s heart and know its hidden impulses except for that person’s spirit? So it is with God. His thoughts and secrets are only fully understood by his Spirit, the Spirit of God. 12 For we did not receive the spirit of the world system, but the Spirit of God, so that we might come to understand and experience all that grace has lavished upon us.”

Did you know you had a relationship like that with our God?

This isn’t at all what I thought I would talk about today, but nothing really matters other than His kingdom and the Gospel, so I will continue to teach it!

I have definitely learned a lot in working to understand this verse. I was definitely missing it’s depth and only looking at it on the surface. 

Something I have learned is that this verse isn’t just true when something great happens in our lives and we can’t stop shouting praises, but this verse is true when the heaviness of the world is crushing us and we’ve cried more tears than we ever thought possible. 

“The things God has for those who love Him…” isn’t something believers have to wait for, it is already ours every time we reach out to the One who loves us and called us by name. 

In closing I will pray Ephesians 3:20-21, NASB 
 “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 
 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”

Discover life in Christ at Bountifulliving.net
Sharpen your faith on Instagram @Bountiful_Living