Day 244: Not Everything is Everlasting

Ecclesiastes 3:1

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.

Revelation 3:7

Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. This is the message from the one who is holy and true, the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can close; and what he closes, no one can open:

I know many of us have heard these two scriptures a multitude of times, and I want to talk about them today. I want to talk about the fact that not everything in our lives are meant to last. Not everything is forever or everlasting, no matter how much we want it to be. Sometimes God closes doors in our lives to open others. Sometimes people walk out of our lives or relationships fade because they were only meant to be there for a season. We must learn to realize and honor these moments. I feel as humans we hold on so tight to things that we won’t even let our hands open to God. Sometimes we hold onto things so tight, not wanting to let go while at the same time not realizing, trusting or understanding that God has something greater in store. Sometimes He needs our hands to be empty in order to fill them completely. Sometimes as humans we are so hesitant to let go of a good thing because we don’t know when it’s going come around again. We are afraid because we are not trusting that God has something greater. We are not trusting in Him, His timing or His word. God always has something greater for us, we just have to trust Him. We have to trust His process.

With that being said, sometimes God closes doors, and no matter how hard we try we cannot open them. This does not mean God is punishing us, all it means is, either it’s not the right time or there’s a better door. Everything God does, He does for a reason, He’s not going to leave us empty handed or stranded. He always has a plan. I feel like many times we decide something isn’t for us before we give it a chance because we are so focused on our own plans. I know we all think that we know what’s best for ourselves but trust me when I say God knows much more, we’re not even scratching the surface. So we must trust Him with every area of our lives. Even our relationships.

Now this is a big one, relationships. I don’t just mean romantic relationships, I mean every type of relationship. There’s couple of quotes I’d like to reference here,

“Some people aren’t meant to be in our lives forever. Some are just passing through to teach us a lesson.”

-Unknown

“Some people come into your life as blessing, others come in your life as lessons”

-Unknown

The main point I’m trying to make here, is that even people have seasons in our lives. Some people are only meant to be in our lives for a season. We go wrong when we try to make seasonal people permanent. Meaning we could very well be holding on the very thing that God Himself is trying to break apart. Sometimes we are so caught up in our feeling that we try to force everlasting on temporary. This will only end in heartbreak. Trust me I know from experience, however God even uses the heartbreak to shape and mould us into the person He has always destined for us to be. So somehow someway God will keep us in His will.   Having people in our lives for just a season is not always a bad thing, what it means is that where we are going some people cannot go and where others are going we cannot go. It’s not just about us either, we have to be willing to let people go not just for our sake but for theirs. We know when someone’s season is up, we just feel it, so let’s not force it to continue knowing it’s over. We have to realize that sometimes we are only meant to be in a person’s life for a season, and be okay with that. This is not to say that nothing is everlasting, it is, just not everything.

All this to say, not everything is meant to last forever and that is okay. It’s life. We must learn how to let go when it’s time to let go. As well as trust God with where our lives are going and where He is taking us. We must keep a loose grip on our plans and understand that God’s plans are always greater than ours. Trust Him with everything you are and all you aspire to be.

Reflection

1. How hard is it to let go for you?
2. Have you had (or currently have) people in your life that you know was only meant to be there for a season?
3. Do you trust God’s timing?
4. Do you trust God with your life?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about the seasons and seasonal people in your life. Have an honest conversation about what it looks like to completely trust Him.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 245!

Day 243: Believe the Hype!

John 1:27

even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”

Many of us know who John the Baptist is, he is the one who came before Jesus. He came baptising people with water and telling them that the true Messiah is coming. The people loved John, they even thought he was the Messiah, but John was just like, no it’s not me. If you think I’m something wait until you see who's coming. It’s the Messiah, and He’s so great I’m not even worthy enough untie His slippers. He didn’t say tie, he said untie, I feel like that put emphasis on how great Jesus is. But let’s back up for a minute, the birth of Jesus had been prophesied centuries ago, and the coming of the Messiah was also promised centuries ago. So people were ready, they were hyped, about the Messiah, they were looking for Him. Every time someone like John the Baptist passed by they asked, “Are you the Messiah?” They were diligently seeking and waiting on Him.

Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Immanuel translates to mean, ‘God with us’, as the suffix or prefix “el” translates to mean God. What He is saying here is that God is literally coming to earth to save us. He will be in our midst, physically. Jesus is fully God and fully man, He’s not a spirit. Isaiah’s prophecies were so on point that scholars thought he wrote them after Jesus was born, after His life and resurrection, but the prophet’s writings were found in the Dead Sea scrolls, using paper dated before the time of Jesus, also written in Hebrew, Jesus spoke Aramaic, and the new testament is written in Aramaic and Greek. This goes to show that God’s word had come to fruition. Everything that God said through Isaiah was true.

Jesus was special, He was born of the Virgin mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit, He was great even before He was born. People traveled days to see Him on the night of His birth, just to worship Him. The star of David appeared the night He was born. It was a big deal. This is the birth people were waiting on. The Savior they had been looking for was born. It is imperative to remember that during the time of Jesus birth King Herod was killing all male babies because he did not want to be replaced. He literally had all the make babies killed hoping that one of those babies would be Jesus. But God spoke to Joseph telling them to flee. What God wants to happen cannot be interrupted. No matter how hard Herod tried he could not stop God’s plan.  

Jesus was that guy. He was the one, there was talks about His coming centuries before He was born, and still excitement over His life, death, and resurrection, thousands of years later. Isaiah spoke so much of Jesus and how He is the Savior of the world.

Isaiah 35:5-6

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert;

Isaiah 42:1

Behold my servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.

All this to say, believe the hype! Believe it all, Jesus is everything He is pumped up to be and more. Today I just wanted to talk about the magnitude of how great Jesus is, and leave it open for discussion. Also to get you all excited about Jesus, like there is so much surrounding His birth, life, death, and resurrection. These people were not hyped for no reason. Jesus was coming to save us, and every aspect of that was a miracle, from His birth to His life and all the signs and miracles He performed. Also the gift of the Good News. He brought us the Gospel, the greatest story to ever be told was told by Jesus. So yes, believe the hype, believe it all.

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to respond in whatever way you feel led. There are no questions today, but allow this to make you think about the goodness of Jesus, and even have a discussion. Take the time to pray and have a conversation with God.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share and discuss this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 244!

Late Notice

Today's deco will be very late today. I apologize. I was very sick last night from an allergic reaction. I'm okay now. However I am in class and meetings all day today. So I will get it out as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.

Day 242: Faith is For Everyone

Galatians 3:26-29

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.  There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

Let me first start off by saying that, no one, and I mean no one is excluded from God’s love. No one. Now that we’ve discussed that, let’s dive in a bit and talk about how faith is for everyone.

When we think about the Old Testament and the Law and how the Jews were God’s chosen people, you would think that anyone who wasn’t Jewish was excluded from the faith. You would think that God loved Jewish people more than anyone else, because they were His specially chosen people. When we think about it, God used a people to be set apart from the rest of the world and say, these are my people and this is how they will live. I believe it was to show that God’s people were set apart for the word. Actually the Hebrew word for “holy” means, to be set apart. So when God called the Jews to be holy He was calling them to be set apart from the rest of the world. Meaning obeying the law, and commandments, Obeying every detail in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, no matter how boring and repetitive it is reading them. Jewish people were living lives so completely different from the rest of the world that it made them stand out. It made them different from anyone else, because they were following commands directly from god. God has chosen a people to carry His word, to live out His commands and lead generations of people to Him. Anyone who was not living the way God had instructed the Jewish people to love were not considered people of God. They were Gentiles (non-Jewish people).

Now that we’re done with the little history lesson let’s take it back to the New Testament, when Jesus arrives. Jesus, a Jewish man Himself, comes to save all humanity, Seeing that He was Jewish He was obligated to obey the commands and the law, which He did, He did not come to destroy it but fulfill it. Jesus came to offer everyone a relationship with God, not just the Jewish people. Because of Jesus you no longer had to go through a priest to be forgiven of your sins. We had a direct connection with God.

Jesus came and united all people for one purpose, to serve god. He came and said, you weren’t born Jewish but you deserve salvation too, it doesn’t matter if your Greek, God loves you too. Oh, you’re a sinner, come to me, I can fix that. Jesus came and changed the game completely when He came looking at people’s hearts, and seeking their souls, instead of trying to figure out their bloodline, (plot twist: He already knows). It didn’t matter if they were Jewish, Gentile, slaves, sinners. None of that mattered anymore because god wanted His people, not just the chosen people of Israel. No, He wanted all of us, every single one of us. Which brings me to my main and perhaps only point I want to make today, faith is for everyone.

No one is excluded from Jesus, No one is denied access to God. We are all one in Christ Jesus, He loves us all the same. When Jesus came He did not show favor to the Jews, in fact He was harder on them. He came to let everyone know that it doesn’t matter who you are, there is room at the cross for you.

I want to you know that. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’ve been, Jesus wants you. I think a lot of times, for many different reason we feel like God doesn’t want us. We feel like we aren’t good enough or we’ve done too much. We feel unworthy of His love and grace. I want to let you know today that God loves you so much. He wants to have a relationship with you so bad that He sent His only son to die so that you could have a direct connection with Him. I know sometimes we feel unworthy when we think about how good God is, but He’s so good that He’s finds us worthy of His grace when we know we don’t deserve it.

All this to say, there is room for you in the house of the Lord. There is a specific spot waiting for you actually. We are all His children, no one is excluded  from that. We all have a seat at this table, even when we decide to give it up. It’s always open because Jesus is constantly interceding for us, and pulling us back. We always have  seat waiting waiting for us at our Heavenly Father’s table. This message will never get old or tired. No matter who you are, where you’ve been, or where you are at the moment, God loves you. He is waiting for you, standing there with open arms, He will not judge you, but He will shower you with gifts and grace. One day, it will be too late. None of us know what that day is, but let’s not try to wait and find out. Turn to Him today, make that decision.

Response /Prayer Time

Respond today however you feel led. Talk to God about what we discussed today, and have an honest conversation with Him.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and discuss it with someone. Come back tomorrow for Day 243!

Day 241: From Within the Body Of Christ

1 Corinthians 5:9-13

When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.

Okay, so this is another passage that when I read it, once again had  me shook, This is the answer to the argument amongst Christians, do we dwell with sinners or not? Although the answer is in the pudding when Jesus himself hung out with nothing but sinners, and people who were considered criminals, and cheaters. However here is a bit of clarification. There’s a few points to go through here so bare with me as we go through all of them. It will have you shaken to your core as well.

Living in a box away from sinners.

Okay so for many of us coming into our faith meant that we began to weed out all of the things in our lives that were not of God. However sometimes as we grow we tend to live in a box. We put ourselves in a box of righteousness. Meaning we only talk to people who are living the same way we are. We isolate or exclude those who do not seem to be living the way we think a Christian should. In other words we isolate ourselves from people we deem sinners as if they are going to contaminate us. If we are firm in our faith and have a solid foundation in Christ, and a relationship with God trust me, the only person who can contaminate that is us. But sometimes we quarantine ourselves as not to be infected by sinners. If we live our lives this way we will be forever alone. But if we truly live our lives like Christ, we will not be afraid to be around sin because our light will shine in the midst of darkness, It’s less about being afraid of being ‘contaminated by sin’ and more about the willingness to use our lives to bring someone out of sin. We cannot isolate ourselves from God’s people, and yes even the sinners are His people, He loves them just as much as He loves you. We cannot forget that at one point we were in their shoes.

Cutting off the wrong people.

When we become Christians we go through a period of cutting people off. Many times that means friends and family who aren’t Christian, or people who we think will drag us down. However, and this is something I have come to realize, we cut off the wrong people. As the scripture says above, “I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that.” We are cutting off people who do not live the way we live right now, but no that’s not right. It’s not about us needing them in our lives anymore, we have come to know the truth. We have latched onto the love of God, and have started living our lives like Christ. If we cut the people off who do not do the same immediately, who will be their guide to Christ; it almost as if we are cutting them off from getting in on this beautiful life. We are to be used as vessels by God to bring our friends and family into the same love that we have found in Jesus. We are their example of Jesus. But if we cut them off we end up hurting them because we want to be great.  This happens far too often we kick people to the side because there lives aren’t “worthy” of our presence anymore. If anything, we should pull them closer. We should stay to share what God has done in our lives. We should continue to live for Christ and allow them to see how God is changing us before their eyes. We should become a vessel for them, not another heartbreak or stumbling block.

It is or responsibility to judge

This is the part of the scripture that had me shook. We have talked about how we are not to judge people. How it is not our place. But in this passage we are told, actually, it is your job, our responsibility actually, to judge people, but not in the way that you think. The passage says, “I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.” Pause, Take a breath, and let out a big, BRUH! Basically what it’s saying is, no, it’s not your job to judge people who are not of the faith or professing to be a Christian. But it is your job to judge those who are professing to be Christians yet living and dwelling in sin. #shooketh. I thought to myself after reading this, ‘wait a minute, we’ve been doing this all wrong’. We’ve been judging the wrong people, in the same way that we have been cutting off the wrong people. It was never our job to rebuke those who aren’t Christian for not being Christian. No, it’s the people who know, the ones who have given their lives to Christ yet live the same as those who have never heard of the gospel. Those are the toxic people, the people who know how to live yet choose to disobey. God says, I don’t even want you to eat with such people. We have been preserving the feelings of hypocrites while, hurting the people who have not yet had a chance to come into their faith, because they are condemned before they have even heard.

All this to say, this has to change. It must change, we cannot have a church full of professing christians who are really sinners, taking up the room for the people who really need and want to come to Christ. We cannot let them go unnoticed. There are people reaching for Christ, but because their hands are dirty we smack them down. Yet people in the church or professing Christians hands are just as dirty they're just using Christianity as a mask.

Reflection

1. Have you cut off the wrong people?
2. Are you living in a box away from sinners?
3. How do you feel about the responsibility to judge those who are professing to be Christian yet are secret sinners?
4. Was this eye opening?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Talk to God about what we discussed today. Have an honest conversation with Him. Pray for those who have been hurt by the church or cut off because of their lifestyle and pray for the body Christ, that we will get this right.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share and discuss this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 242!

Day 240: Recap!

Day 233: What About Us

Today we talked about checking in with ourselves and also checking ourselves. We talked about looking into our own lives and making sure we a good before we go trying to tell someone else how to live their life. We talked about how we often overlook ourselves in favor of someone else. We focused on Luke 6:42.

" Take care of your soul before you take care of someone else’s. We can’t talk to anyone else about their relationship with God when ours is either non-existent, complicated or on the rocks."

Day 234: Merely Vessels

Today we basically talked about humility and how we are merely vessels God uses for His. We talked about how we are not to get into our heads that we are the ones doing God's work. Rather it is God working through us. We focused on 1 Corinthians 3:5-7.

"No matter how much we plant or how much we water, until God does the increase, nothing will happen."

Day 235: God is Building Us

Today we talked about growing in Christ and how God is building us every day of our lives that we are committed to him. We talked about how the word for our spirit is like milk for a baby. It is what we need to grow in Christ. We focused on 1 Peter 2:2-5.

"Sometimes we don’t understand why He’s doing certain things in our lives, we don’t understand why things are going the way they are. We don’t understand what’s going on at that moment in time. But just hold on, keep longing for that pure spiritual milk, keep going and keep growing and when it’s all said and done, we will realize that He was building us. He was shaping us and moulding us."

Day 236: Foundation in Christ

Today we took it back to the basics and talked about building a solid foundation in the Lord. We talked about how a foundation in Christ gives us stability and the ability to build without falling down, no matter what comes our way. We focused on 1 Corinthians 3:10-13.

"Everything we are is in Him, we must find our identity in christ and follow Him all the days of our life. We must learn to depend on Him and trust Him in every area and moment of our lives, A life without a solid foundation is not a life that will get us anywhere. Lay your foundation in Christ and build on that, trust me, whatever you build will stand."

Day 237: God's Temple

Today we talked about how we are God's temple and we must learn to take care of that. We asked ourselves a lo too questions, one being is our temple a place where God dwells. We talked about the condition of our temple and keeping it "clean". We talked about how sometimes we can allow things to corrupt our temple. We focused on 1 Corinthians 3:16-17.

"Sometimes we try to get around the parts of the bible we think don’t apply to us or shouldn’t apply to us. That’s not how it works, it’s all or nothing."

Day 238: Spirit Filled Life

Today was a bit of an expansion on what we talked about yesterday. We talked about the dangers of allowing sin to remain in our lives, no matter how small or no that big of a deal we think it is. We talked about how we must rid every sin in our lives that we know is there and not hang on the little things we try to let slide. We talked about getting rid of anything that will taint or put a hole in our spirit. We focused on 1 Corinthians 5: 5-8.

"Life isn’t just about “not sinning”. What kind of life would it be if it were. It’s about living for something and someone far greater than ourselves. Let’s not allow sin to take root in us, but weed it out and allow our spirits to dwell in Christ and the Holy Spirit in us.:

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for ay 241!

Day 239: Spirit Filled Life

1 Corinthians 5:5-8

Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns. Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough?  Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.

Today I want to talk about the dangers of allowing sin to remain in our lives no matter how small we think it is. I want to talk about how it can spread and eventually lead to our spiritual death. But let’s talk about it by attacking what it is to have a spiritual life. When our spirits are alive in us, we have eternity right there in our hearts. If we want a spirit filled life we must get rid of anything and everything that will taint or put a hole in our spirit. Our sinful nature must be destroyed. We hinted on this a bit bit yesterday, but we cannot live for Christ while also serving the world. We serve one master and He is the living God. God cannot come in contact with sin, that’s why His Son had to first die on our behalf before we could have a personal relationship with Him.

I love the analogy of sin being yeast in a batch of dough, All it takes is a little yeast for the dough to rise. It spreads throughout the whole batch. In the same way that is how sin can easily take over our life if we do not get rid of it. All it takes is something “small”, all it takes is a little thing, that we think we can get away with and eventually it has turned into something that we have lost control over. We all have that one thing that we struggle with the most, and we are constantly praying against our flesh and doing all we can not to fall into the trap. However some of us have been in places where we let some things slide. I’m talking about the things we think are not so bad, or the things we know aren’t as bad as something else. Then we try to justify it by comparing sin. You all know what I’m talking about, in order to get the heat off of ourselves or make an excuse for what we are doing we try to make someone else’s sin look worse than our, so ours doesn’t seem that bad. You ever notice that we explain ourselves the most when we know what we’re doing is wrong. It’s like our spirit having an allergic reaction to the sin we are trying to force onto it.  

This is not how we are supposed to live. We are live in Christ, with Christ all the days of our lives and throughout eternity. How can we do that if we are letting things slide because we think it’s not that bad. God doesn’t overlook sin because we think it’s not that bad. No, that’s not how it works. When we take a step back we’ll see that it is less about, “not sinning” and more about living for Christ. It’s about loving Him with all our heart, soul, and strength. When we love God that way, and we focus on having a real relationship with Him. Not becoming a Christian just to save our souls from eternal damnation. But when we really fall in love with God and love Him more than anything or anyone, our desire for sin fades. We are so caught up in God that all  we want to do is live a life that will draw us closer to Him.

All this to say, life isn’t just about “not sinning”. What kind of life would it be if it were. It’s about living for something and someone far greater than ourselves. Let’s not allow sin to take root in us, but weed it out and allow our spirits to dwell in Christ and the Holy Spirit in us. Sometimes weeding out sin also means removing certain people from our lives as well.

Reflection

1. What are some things in your life that you let slide?
2. Do you live you life for life or for the sake of not going to hell?
3. What do you think is your biggest struggle?

Prayer time

Allow the answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Talk to God about what it is to live a life free of sin by being devoted and committed to Him at every moment.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 240!

Day 238: God's Temple

1 Corinthians 3:16-17

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

Temple-A temple is literally a house of the Lord, a holy sanctuary in which sacred ceremonies and ordinances of the gospel are performed by and for the living and also in behalf of the dead. A place where the Lord may come, it is the most holy of any place of worship on the earth. Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness.

The temple is the place where God dwells, it is the holiest of holy places. God’s spirit remains in the temple. Since God is a Spirit, He cannot dwell in a place where sin is, it doesn’t work, God and sin cannot cohabitate.

I grew up being told that my body is God’s temple, not really understanding what it meant or the depth of that statement until I was older. When we hear this term it is commonly referred to in conversations about sex. How we should not have sex before marriage, or engage in any kind of sexual immorality.  That is spoken about in 1 Corinthians 5. While it is true we should not engage in any acts of sexual immorality, there is so much more to it. Sex isn’t the end all, be all of sin. The church puts a lot of emphasis on sex before marriage as the worst, most condemnable sin of all. However, there are a myriad of things that will make you a sinner, but that is another topic for another day. When we think about God’s temple what do we usually think about?

The place where God dwells must be a place that is acceptable for Him, and place where no confusion lies, no sin, nothing that separates us from God but a place full of worship. The place where God’s presence is constantly. That’s the temple. Now when we think of ourselves or our bodies as God’s temple we must think of who we are as a Christian and the lifestyle we lead. A question we should ask ourselves is, “Is my body a place where God can dwell?” Meaning am I living my life in such a way that God’s presence is with me at every moment? Am I living and acting in a way that shows the Holy Spirit is within me? Am I holy? I know that’s a scary word for a lot of people, but it’s a simple yet profound word. We all proclaim to be Christians, but are we living like one? Or are we trying to find loopholes in the word of God? Sometimes we try to get around the parts of the bible we think don’t apply to us or shouldn’t apply to us. That’s not how it works, it’s all or nothing. If we are God’s temple we cannot be half in and half out. I think too often we take this as a burden, we view holiness as a burden, and this grand impossible task. It is not, it is more of an opportunity to grow in Christ. It is an opportunity to be in tune with God to remain close to Him. When I think about I am truly honored, and filled with gratitude that God loves us so much that He wants to be where we are. He wants to dwell within us. That’s amazing! Holiness is not a burden it is a lifestyle, and when we view it as such, we will no longer be burdened by it. When we decide that serving God is better and more important than our need and want to sin, this life of holiness will be more rewarding and even more relaxing.

Another question to ask ourselves, are we taking care of our temple? I mean that in every way possible. What are we doing to make sure that our temple is in tip top shape? First I mean it spiritually, is our temple clean? Are we making sure that it’s getting everything it needs to function properly. Meaning, are we diving into our relationship with God, are we feeding our spirit with His Word, are we praying? If we are fully devoted to Christ and committed to this life as a Christian, our temples will not be destroyed. We are the only ones that can destroy our temple. But also are we taking care of ourselves? Are we the vessels that God wants.

This can also be emotional, mental, and physical. Let’s not let anything get in the way of us being used by God. We don’t talk about physical well being in the church a lot, but the way I view it is, we must take care of the the body God has given us. Meaning let’s eat healthy foods, and workout, we only get one body and God gave it to us, so let’s take care of it the best we can. Also we must take care of ourselves emotionally and mentally. We can’t let our emotional or mental well being get in the way of our spiritual lives.  These topics are also topics that are skipped over in the church, but I believe that while God cares about our spiritual lives, He also sees and cares about those of us who are going through heartbreaks and struggling with mental illness. He’s there to help you through it and heal you.

All this to say, we must be the temple of God, as place where His spirit dwells. In order for the Holy Spirit to dwell in a place, that place must be holy. Are we holy?

Reflection

(Ask yourself these questions)

1. Is my temple a place where God can dwell?
2. How am I living?
3. Is my temple clean?
4. Am I taking care of my temple?
5. If anything, what is stopping my temple from being a place where the Holy Spirit dwells?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the about questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about what it is to live and be holy, and be a home for the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to search you and cleanse your spirit and create a new heart within you. Have an honest conversation with Him.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 239.

Day 237: Foundation in Christ

1 Corinthians 3:10-13

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

We cannot build anything and have it stand unless the foundation is stable. If the foundation is not stable, the whole building is rocky, and can fall at any given moment. But if you have a solid foundation, then you’ve gotten something that can last. You have something that can stand the storms, can’t be knocked down, because the foundation is holding it up so well. It’s like having a house built on sand, when it rains, that house is sadly going to slide. But if your house has a solid foundation and built on cement, there is a great chance that it’s staying put. It’s not sliding anywhere.  You can probably guess by now where today’s devotional is going. I want to focus on the part of the scripture that says, “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ.” If we’re laying foundations to build upon, those foundations must be laid in Christ Christ offers stability, and keeps us grounded. When we are rooted in Christ, when that is where our foundation is, we are solid. We are nearly impossible to knock down. We cannot be shaken, the foundation will never give out on us. A foundation in Christ gives us the opportunity to stand tall and firm and not worry about falling. We don’t have to worry that everything can be taken from up under us at any moment. We have security in Christ. So how do we build this foundation?

We follow the word of God. We submit ourselves to Christ, we give our lives to Christ. We believe in the life, death, and resurrection of our Savior. Meaning, we have a clear understanding that everything we are is because of everything He is. There are a few scriptures I want to point to in order to answer this question.

Luke 10:27

He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Matthew 22:37

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

Mark 12:30

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

Deuteronomy 6:5

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Matthew 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Something I have come to realize in my life is to go to God first, He’s not my last resort. I’ve learned that when things are going crazy in my life that I must turn to God first, because He has the answer and HE can help me more than anyone else. I’ve learned to pray in the face of adversity before going to talk to my friends who can do nothing but sooth me. What we must know is that when we submit our lives completely to God and we learn to depend on Him and trust Him, He becomes our primary source and everything and everyone becomes secondary. God’s word remains the same, He doesn’t change on us, He is always the same, and that’s why a foundation in Him is so important, it’s not flaky and it’s guaranteed to stand forever.

All this to say, the answers we need are found in the word of God. Everything we are is in Him, we must find our identity in christ and follow Him all the days of our life. We must learn to depend on Him and trust Him in every area and moment of our lives, A life without a solid foundation is not a life that will get us anywhere. Lay your foundation in Christ and build on that, trust me, whatever you build will stand.

Reflections

1. Do you have a foundation in Christ?
2. Do you go to God first?
3. Have you devoted your life to Christ?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today, Talk to God about having a solid foundation in Him. For those of you who answered ‘no’ the the last question, I’d like to offer you a chance to make that decision right now. If you want to make the choice to follow Christ, now is the time to do it. If you want to rededicate your life to Christ, now is the time to surrender your life to Him.

If that’s you, if you want to make that decision today, pray this prayer with me.

“Jesus I declare that you are my Lord and Saviour who died for my sins and was raised three days later. I repent of my sins and I give my life to you. I believe in my heart that you are the true living God. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, Amen.”

If you made the choice to follow Christ, rededicate, or to submit your life to Him fully, Go to Romans 10:9-10, If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! If you made the decision to follow Christ today, Congratulations, the angels in heaven are rejoicing! Be sure to share this and the good news with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 238!