Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Read more about Project23 and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video.

Our text today is 1 Corinthians 2:10-12.

Many believers think they're supposed to have everything figured out.
Like they should instantly know God's will, instantly understand Scripture, or instantly sense the "right" next step.

But Paul is incredibly honest here: You can't figure out God on your own. And you're not expected to.

These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. — 1 Corinthians 2:10–12

Here's what Paul is saying in everyday language:

You don't have to guess your way through life because He's leading you.

The Spirit understands the depths of God. The Spirit lives in you.
And the Spirit reveals what you would never discover on your own.

You're not trying to "crack the code" of God's will.
You're doing life with the One who knows God's thoughts perfectly.

That means…

• You're not abandoned.
• You're not stumbling in spiritual darkness.
• You're learning, listening, and being led.

Sometimes it's conviction that won't let go.
Sometimes it's clarity that cuts through confusion.
Sometimes it's peace that makes no sense on paper.
Sometimes it's Scripture lighting up right when you need it most.

None of that is random.
None of that is coincidence.
None of that is guesswork.

When the Spirit is leading, you don't have to guess—only follow.

You may not always feel Him leading. But you'll always see the fruit of His leadership as you walk with Him.

This is the quiet confidence Paul wants for you:
Not certainty in yourself.
But certainty in the One who guides you.

DO THIS:

Before your next decision—big or small—pause and pray: "Spirit, lead my thoughts right now." Watch the clarity or peace that follows.

ASK THIS:

1. Where do you tend to make decisions without inviting the Spirit in?
2. What's one situation where you need His leadership today?
3. How has God led you recently in ways you didn't notice at the time?

PRAY THIS:

Holy Spirit, thank You for leading me. Quiet the noise around me and help me hear Your voice today. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Spirit Lead Me"

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Read more about Project23 and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video.

Our text today is 1 Corinthians 2:6-9.

One of the hardest parts of following God isn't obedience. And it isn't sacrifice. It's the waiting in the dark—the moments when you can't see what God is doing, and it feels like nothing's happening.

Paul speaks right into that tension.

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him." — 1 Corinthians 2:6–9

Paul is pulling back the curtain a little: God wasn't just working in Jesus' crucifixion—He was working in a way no one could see, no one could predict, and no one could imagine.

That's what makes this passage so powerful:

God often does His greatest work in ways you can't see.

While the rulers mocked Jesus…
While the crowds jeered…
While Rome felt victorious…
God was quietly overturning death, sin, hell, and history.

That's what Paul means by "hidden wisdom."
God was doing more in that moment than anyone realized.

And the same is true in your story.

You might feel stuck.
You might feel overlooked.
You might feel like nothing is changing.
You might feel like your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling.

But God's wisdom doesn't operate on your visibility.
His plan isn't powered by your ability to track it.
He is working in places you can't yet see.

When you can't see what God is doing, you can still trust what God is preparing.

And what He's preparing is bigger, deeper, and more intentional than anything you could design.

He's not late.
He's not absent.
He's not inactive.

He's simply working in ways you can't see yet.

DO THIS:

Take two minutes today with your hands open—literally. Say, "God, I trust You even when I can't see what You're doing." Let the posture preach to your heart.

ASK THIS:

1. Where does it feel like God is doing "nothing" right now?
2. How has God surprised you with unseen work in the past?
3. What would trusting God's hidden wisdom look like today?

PRAY THIS:

Father, when I can't see what You're doing, steady my heart. Help me trust Your hidden wisdom and rest in what You're preparing. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Way Maker"

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Read more about Project23 and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video.

Our text today is 1 Corinthians 2:1-5.

Ever feel like you're not impressive enough for God to use?
Like your words aren't sharp enough…
Your story isn't dramatic enough…
Your personality isn't bold enough.

Paul's right there with you. In fact, he leaned into it.

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. — 1 Corinthians 2:1–5

Paul didn't show up in Corinth polished. He showed up shaking.

No stage presence.
No masterful rhetoric.
No powerful delivery.

He chose unimpressive on purpose.

Why? Because he wanted the Corinthians to see what happens when God takes something small, simple, ordinary—and turns it into something impossible to ignore.

That's what God does: He takes the unimpressive and fills it with undeniable power.

Paul stripped his message down to the center point of history: Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

No clever tactics.
No persuasive flair.
Just the gospel in plain sight.
And the Spirit lit it on fire.

This is the part we forget:
The power was never in Paul's performance.
It was in Paul's dependence.

Your weakness isn't the barrier—it's the invitation.

When you step forward trembling, God steps forward strong.
When you open your mouth with nothing fancy to say, the Spirit supplies the power.
When you choose to be faithful instead of impressive, God makes your life impossible to ignore.

Unimpressive people.
Filled with an unstoppable God.
That's how God has been changing the world since the beginning.

DO THIS:

Keep Jesus at the center of one conversation today. Don't try to sound impressive—aim to be faithful, clear, and surrendered.

ASK THIS:

1. Where do you feel pressure to "perform" spiritually?
2. What does it look like for you to embrace weakness instead of hide it?
3. How might God want to show His power through your simplicity?

PRAY THIS:

Jesus, take every unimpressive part of me and fill it with Your strength. Make my words and my life impossible to ignore because Your Spirit is at work through me. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Holy Spirit"

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Read more about Project23 and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video.

Our text today is 1 Corinthians 1:30-31.

There's a quiet pressure most people feel — the pressure to be enough.

1. Strong enough.
2. Wise enough.
3. Disciplined enough.
4. Spiritual enough.
5. Successful enough.

And when we're not? We hide it. Or we hustle to make up for it.

Paul ends this opening chapter with a truth that cuts through all that pressure:

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." — 1 Corinthians 1:30–31

Everything you're trying to be on your own?
Christ already is for you.

You don't become wise by trying harder —
Christ is your wisdom.

You don't become righteous by earning it —
Christ is your righteousness.

You don't become holy by sheer effort —
Christ is your sanctification.

You don't redeem your past with better days ahead —
Christ is your redemption.

He is everything you're not.
And everything you can't be without Him.

And Paul says this so you'll stop doing the one thing that ruins your joy:

Stop boasting in yourself. Start boasting in Him.

Because the gospel flips the script:
Your weaknesses are not liabilities — they're invitations.
Your limitations are not failures — they're reminders.
Your shortcomings are not final — they're places Jesus fills.

This whole chapter has been Paul saying,
"Look at how God works…
and look at how God chooses…
and look at who God saves…"

And now he says,
"Look at why."

So no one can boast.
And no one can say,
"Look what I did."

It's all Christ.
It's always been Christ.
It will always be Christ.

Christ is everything you're not —and everything you need.

DO THIS:

Take five minutes today and thank Jesus out loud for being each of these in your life:

1. your wisdom
2. your righteousness
3. your sanctification
4. your redemption

Name them slowly. Let gratitude reset your heart.

ASK THIS:

1. Which of these four truths do you most need to rest in today?
2. Where are you still trying to "boast" in your own strength?
3. What changes when you truly see Christ as your righteousness?

PRAY THIS:

Jesus, You are everything I can't be without You. Be my wisdom, my righteousness, my sanctification, and my redemption today. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me"

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Read more about Project23 and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video.

Our text today is 1 Corinthians 1:26-29.

Some of the most defining moments in life aren't victories.
They're the moments you were overlooked.
Not chosen.
Not impressive enough.
Not the one anyone expected to matter.

Paul actually wants you to remember those moments —
because they're the key to seeing how God works.

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. — 1 Corinthians 1:26–29

God doesn't choose people the way the world does.
He's not scanning for the polished, the pedigreed, or the popular.

He looks for the humble.
The ones without a platform.
The ones without the résumé.
The ones the world doesn't even see.

Why?
Because God loves turning the unpicked into the proven.

God picks the ones nobody picks to prove what only He can do.

That's the gospel pattern:

• The weak shame the strong.
• The foolish confront the wise.
• The overlooked carry the truth.
• The small things become his strategy.

You weren't chosen because you were qualified.
You were chosen because Christ was qualified.

And in Christ, your story becomes his showcase. Your weakness becomes his window. Your life becomes his evidence.

So don't resent the places where you feel overlooked.
Those are often the very places where God grips your life the tightest and displays his strength the loudest.

DO THIS:

Write down one weakness you usually hide — then ask God to use that exact weakness as a platform for His strength today.

ASK THIS:

1. Where do you feel overlooked — and how might God use that?
2. What weakness in your life might actually be a doorway for God's power?
3. Are you comparing yourself to others instead of trusting God's calling?

PRAY THIS:

Jesus, thank You for choosing what the world overlooks. Turn my weakness into a platform for Your strength. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Grace to Grace"

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Read more about Project23 and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video.

Our text today is 1 Corinthians 1:22-25.

Some people miss God's answer because it doesn't look like the answer they wanted.

The Jews wanted signs — power on full display.
The Greeks wanted wisdom — arguments polished like marble.
Everyone wanted something impressive.

But God didn't send a performer or a philosopher.
He sent a crucified Savior.

Not what they asked for… but God gave something better.

For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. — 1 Corinthians 1:22–25

The cross offended the Jews because it looked too weak.
It confused the Greeks because it sounded too foolish.
But God wasn't trying to meet their expectations.

He was trying to save their souls.

What the world thought was weak was actually the strongest thing God ever did.

What the world thought was nonsense was actually the smartest plan ever made.

And that's the point Paul is driving home:

When people demand what they want, God often gives what they need. And what He gives is always better.

You don't always get the miracle you ask for.
You don't always get the explanation you crave.
You don't always get the clarity you think would settle your heart.

But God is not short-changing you.
God gave something better — and He still does.

He gives a Savior who breaks sin, not just symptoms.
A cross that delivers, not just dazzles.
A gospel that transforms, not just entertains.

What people expected would've helped for a moment.
What God provided changes eternity.

DO THIS:

Say this today: "Christ is the power and wisdom I need."

ASK THIS:

1. Where have you wanted God to work your way instead of His way?
2. What expectations of God do you need to surrender today?
3. When has God given you something better than what you asked for?

PRAY THIS:

Jesus, You are the wisdom and power of God. Help me trust Your plan even when it doesn't match my expectations. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Jesus Paid It All"

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Read more about Project23 and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video.

Our text today is 1 Corinthians 1:18-21.

Some things only make sense after they save your life.
Before that?
They sound like nonsense.

That's how Paul describes the cross.

To one group, the message of Jesus crucified is the power of God.
To another, it's foolishness — a ridiculous idea wrapped in impossible claims.

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart." Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. — 1 Corinthians 1:18–21

Paul is drawing out a tension we still feel today:

The cross sounds like nonsense… until it saves you.

The world hears weakness.
You hear rescue.

The world sees defeat.
You see freedom.

The world mocks the message.
You're living proof of its power.

And that's the point Paul is making:
God didn't design salvation to impress the world.
He designed it to expose the emptiness of human wisdom and highlight the strength of divine grace.

Sometimes following Jesus is going to feel like stepping into "a sense of nonsense."
Not because the cross is foolish — but because the world around you is blind to its beauty.

So don't be surprised when obedience looks odd.
When forgiveness feels unreasonable.
When holiness makes you stand out.
When trust seems unexplainable.
When truth gets labeled as narrow or outdated.

You're not walking in nonsense.
You're walking in God's wisdom, even if the world can't see it yet.

What looks like nonsense to the world is the very thing God uses to save it.

So stay steady. Stay centered.
And let the message of the cross shape your courage today.

DO THIS:

Say this today: "The cross is God's power at work in me." Let this declaration reset your confidence when doubt creeps in.

ASK THIS:

1. Where do you feel pressured to make your faith look more "reasonable" to the world?
2. How has God used the message of the cross to rewrite your life?
3. What part of following Jesus feels most like "nonsense" to outsiders?

PRAY THIS:

Jesus, give me the courage to trust the power of Your cross even when it looks foolish to others. Help me walk in Your wisdom with boldness and joy. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Lead Me to the Cross"

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Read more about Project23 and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video.

Our text today is 1 Corinthians 1:10-17.

The argument started small.
They always do.

A comparison here. A subtle jab there. Then suddenly the whole church in Corinth was splintering into camps — Paul's camp, Apollos' camp, Peter's camp, even a "we only follow Christ" camp said with a smug twist.

Division never screams at first. It whispers. Then it fractures.

I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, "I follow Paul," or "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Cephas," or "I follow Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else. For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. — 1 Corinthians 1:10–17

Paul doesn't tiptoe around the problem.
He hits the heart of the issue.

Because when people start attaching their identity to personalities rather than to Christ, unity dies.

And Paul slices through the noise with one sharp question:

"Is Christ divided?"

Of course not.
But when Christ isn't at the center, people start choosing sides.

Here's the truth Corinth needed — and we need:

When Christ is at the center, we won't take sides.

• Pastors don't unite the church.
• Preferences don't unite the church.
• Personalities don't unite the church.

Only Jesus does that. So why are the names of your pastor, your preferences, and your personalities so important to you?

But when Christ becomes the main thing again.
The sides disappear.

Comparison fades.
Pride quiets.
Unity rises.

So let this settle deep today:

If Christ stays at the center, division loses its power. And said another way — because we need the reminder — When Christ is truly at the center, we refuse to take sides.

DO THIS:

Reach out to one believer today — someone outside your usual circle. Send encouragement. Build a bridge where a wall once stood.

ASK THIS:

1. Where have preferences quietly replaced Christ as the center?
2. Who do you tend to "follow" more closely than Jesus?
3. Is there a person you need to reconcile with for the sake of unity?

PRAY THIS:

Jesus, keep me centered on You alone. Quiet my pride, crush my comparisons, and make You the center of everything I follow and everything I love. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Make Room"