Day 303: Stick to the Status Quo

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Now when many of us hear the word “status quo” we will automatically break into song, “no no no, stick to stuff you know!”. For those of you who do not get it that was a reference to High School Musical, which will tie into what we discuss today. But first let’s define this word or these words.

Status quo- the existing state or condition.  

Now in High School Musical, the original one, the school went up in flames when everyone found out Troy Bolton wanted to sing and not only sing but sing in musicals, with the theatre department. This is what inspired the song, ‘Stick to the Status Quo’ The song is a protest of Troy changing, they don’t want him to change, they want him to stick to pattern and the dynamic that was already created. Some people (Chad, Sharpay, Ryan) were upset about this revelation while others found it inspiring and started revealing themselves more. Troy was the jock, basketball star, everyone loved him, and he had a bigger influence on his peers than he thought. Something he did as one person changed the dynamic for the rest of the student body.

There’s a few things to point out within that explanation. The first being, what was our current condition or existing state? As the scripture above points out so vividly, we were all once sinners. At one point in our lives we led a life that led us away from God not towards Him. That’s what some of us were, but the scripture goes on to say that we were sanctified. We were washed clean when we accepting Christ into our lives and that changed the status quo. Our condition at the time was sin, but Jesus came along and changed that for us, and He changed us.

Sometimes change is hard, and hard to accept. We get so used to living a certain way that we freak out when things start to change. Like the students in High School Musical, they were so used to things being a certain way that when it started to change they had to push back. Sometimes we push back when it comes to allowing God to change our hearts and our lives because we’ve held on to these things for so long that letting them go is almost like letting a piece of ourselves go. Then we have the people in our lives who cannot seem to accept the fact that we are changing. You ever met someone that wants you to stay in sin because you were “more fun as a sinner”? We all have a past and for many of us that past looked like a life full of fun, or at least what we thought was fun. But honestly we didn’t really know what it mean to live. We have all had moments where people have referenced the person we used to be trying to bring them back. That’s not the person that God wants us to be, and if there are people around us pushing us to go back into that lifestyle then they should not be around us. Troy didn’t really have good friends or at least they were not being good friends to him.  Sometimes we can be so held down by what people think of us, or how our friends will react when they find out that we have given our life to Christ, and that means there will be things that we will no longer participate in. We deal with peer pressure on a different level, whether you smoked, drank, and partied every night and decided to stop because you’ve found fulfillment in Christ. Or maybe you’ve decided to be celibate or abstinent until marriage. There is always that fear of how people will react or what will they say. This is a real thing, but when we have Christ is our lives there is no reason to fear the opinions of others because at the end of the day our relationship with God is more important than what people think and the only opinion that matters is God’s opinion.

Troy changed the dynamic of the school, he did something that brought people together and it changed how they began to view one another. Same for us, Jesus changed the dynamic of this world when He gave His life for us on the cross and was resurrected three days later. When Jesus came and lived a life true to God, it caused people to take that example and begin to walk like Him. He raised people up to carry the torch when He was gone from the earth and to take His place at the right hand of God. Basically what Jesus did was He came and changed the status quo, and many people pushed back. Many people did not believe, but for those who did, He changed our hearts and taught us to walk like Him.

All this to say, don’t stick to the status quo and do not be afraid of change. If our existing condition is sin, I’m here to let you know that there is a way out and His name is Jesus.

Reflection

1. Do you find yourself sticking to the status quo fearing change?
2. Can you recall a time when you felt pressured by your peers to return to your sinful past?
3. Do you want a way out?

Prayer Time

Allow you answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about what we discussed today, whatever is on your heart pour it out to Him. If you want a way out of this sinful lifestyle and you want to make that decision whether it be the first time or you want to rededicate, now is the time.

If that’s you if you want to make that decision, 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. I pray that you shine your  light on me and bring me out of the darkness and into your light. I love you Lord. 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 so much and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! If you made the decision to follow Christ today, do not hesitate to reach out and get plugged into a church. I love you and make sure you come back tomorrow for day 304!

Day 302: Jesus Doesn't Care About Status

James 2:1-9

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court?7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? 8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

THe scripture above is pretty self explanatory, but it shows the difference between how we as humans think and how God thinks. It shows how we as humans see people versus how God sees His children. The goal is to see people the way God sees them, to see them through a filter of love as opposed to judging them with our eyes. How many times have we judged someone based on their appearance or statue? How many times have we treated someone different because they looked different than us, or came from a different background? Let’s be honest, I am guilty of it, and when I think about I think of how wrong that was. God does not show partiality, He treats us all the same. He loves us all the same, it doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, it doesn’t matter where you came from, what color your skin is, you are still a child of God. He does not care about our status. Do you think Jesus was thinking about status when He died for us, He died for all of us. HE died for every human being so that we all may have life. He didn’t come for just you or just me, He came for all of us. Every single one of us, that means we are all equal in His eyes, He did not care about our status or our background, He cares about us, His people.

I know many of us have judged people but also many of us have been judged by people and I can tell you it doesn’t feel good to be treated differently because you're not rich enough, you didn’t come from the right neighborhood or your skin isn’t the right color. God made us all equal and He doesn’t love us because of what we have, where we come from, or the color of our skin, He loves us because we are His children, He loves us because He is God and God is love. God’s love is unconditional, and that is how we must learn to love people.

The bible tells us time and time again to love our neighbor as ourselves, but if we are showing partiality, how are we loving our neighbor as ourselves. If we are passing judgements on people based on how they look how are we loving our neighbors like ourselves? We cannot dishonor God’s people and say that we love them at the same time. We do not get to decide if someone is worthy of our love, if we are walking this earth like Christ, everyone is worthy of our love. Everyone deserves to be loved. Loving people is not about us, it is about the other person, people need to know that they are loved. They need to know that beyond their looks, beyond their condition or situation, beyond their past, they are loved. Sometimes we make love selfish, love is the most selfless action their is. Can you imagine how that poor man must have felt when He was treated less important because he wasn’t wearing gold or nice garments? The honest truth is we have been all three people in the story. People make assumptions of who we are based on what they see and we have done the same thing. Let’s stop things cycle and start to walk, live, and love like Christ. When we are full of the Holy Spirit there is no room for anything that is unlike Christ.  

All this to say, if God is not judging anyone, what gives us the right to judge people. Show no partiality.

Reflection

1. Recall a time when you have been the person who was judgemental or the person being judged.
2. Looking back how do you feel about that?

Prayer Time

Take the time to ask God to search your heart and remove anything that is unlike Him. If you feel the need to repent by all means do so. Then take the time to pray for God’s people, pray that we will be a people that loves beyond what the eyes can see, that we will not judge people but love them.

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 303!

Day 301: Recap!

Day 295: When I Seems Impossible

Today we talked about how God is always there for us, how in our darkest moments he is there. We talked  about how when things seem impossible God will always step in to show us that nothing is impossible for Him. We focused on Luke 18:27 and Romans 5:3-5.

"God is molding and shaping us into the people He wants us to be and that will not always be easy, nor will it feel good, but it will be worth it."

Day 296: Right By Who?

Today we talked about how good deed are not a substitute for living like Christ. We talked about how we sometimes equate being a good person with being a God fearing person. We focused on Colossians 3:17, 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, and 1 John 4:8.

"Jesus was less concerned with how many people saw what He was doing and more concerned with how many were saved. We are so concerned with how people see us that we forgot that the only opinion that really matters is the one we are ignoring, God."

Day 297: God's Discipline

Today we talked about God's discipline and correction and how it does not feel good but it is good for us. We talked about how God corrects us and disciplines us because He loves us, He raises us like a parent raises their child. We focused on Hebrews 12:3-11.

"He loves us enough to hurt our feeling for a little while in order to make sure that we are walking and living how we are supposed to. He’s willing to hurt our feelings for a little while in order to teach us and raise us. Sometimes love is brutally honest and cannot spare our feelings, but it doesn’t mean that it is not love."

Day 298: Act on the Word

Today we talked about doing more than just hearing the word of God and acting on it. We talked about how the Word of God is meant to influence the way we live, and how it should take root in us. The scriptures are God's life instructions for us, so we must take it and put it into action. We focused on James 1:22-25.

" We take the word of God with us wherever we go because it is in us. It has take root and manifested within us. We do not sit Jesus on a shelf once we are done with Him that’s not how it works."

Day 299: It Takes Faith

Today we talked about the "basics of Christianity" we talked about how our relationship with God is built on faith. How our entire belief system is built on faith. We talked about how the first step of knowing God is believing that He is who He says He is. We focused on Romans 10:9-10 and Hebrews 11:1.

"We must have a heart full of faith in God, it’s what allows us to draw closer to Him, it allows us to have a relationship with Him. Faith allows us to persevere.  It is everything we need in order to serve God. "

Day 300: Faith Is Active

Today we did a part two of yesterday, we took it a step further and talked about how faith when it comes to serving God is an action word. We focused on James 2:17, 20-23.

" Are we putting our faith in the things that God says He’s going to do, are we putting our trust in His promises or are we putting our faith and trust in 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 302!

Day 300: Faith is Active

James 2:17

So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

James:2:20-23

Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.

Yesterday we talked about faith, in the aspect that we must believe. We must believe in order to be saved. Today we are going to take that a step further and start acting on that faith. Faith when it comes to following Christ is an action word, yes we must first believe and confess then we must walk with Christ, all the days of our lives. We must have faith in who He is, and trust Him with our lives. We must put all of our faith in Him, knowing that He will do all that He said He was going to do in our lives. This looks like obeying His word, living by His word, and listening when He tells us to go. One of the prime examples of this is Abraham. We all know the story of Abraham and Sarah who had a child way past childbearing age. They were old, very old. But God promised that they would have a son, and they stood on that promise. We see parts of the story when they decided to do it their way but it didn’t work. See the thing about having faith in God is that we cannot decide to do things our way when we decide God is taking too long. We must stand on His promise even when it looks like it’s not coming through, trust me He will always come through. The only way life will work is God’s way, and the more we pour ourselves into Him the more evident that truth becomes. Abraham had a child but it was not the the promised child, the child God had promised was to come from Abraham and Sarah not Abraham and Hagar.

The turning point in this story is when Abraham and Sarah finally had  Isaac (the promised son), God tells Abraham to offer his son as a sacrifice. Without hesitation Abraham goes to do it. Now many may think, why would Abraham voluntarily kill his son? The simple answer is because God told Him to, as gruesome as it sounds. I think Abraham knew something that we take a while to grasp and understand. He knew that whatever God was doing it was so much greater than what He could ever imagine. Abraham knew that God gave Him Isaac and if God wanted Him back then He would have to send Him. Sometimes God’s plan doesn’t make sense to us, but it is some much greater than what we could ever think. I cannot say that Abraham was happy-go-lucky to do this. It does not say how he felt about this, but I can imagine that he was a bit troubled. The thing is, Abraham had faith in God’s plan whatever it may have been. “But what about the promise, he waited so long to have this child and then he’s just going to give him up that easy.” It poses the question, do we have faith in His promises or faith in Him? Are we putting our faith in the things that God says He’s going to do, are we putting our trust in His promises or are we putting our faith and trust in Him? I believe that Abraham’s faith was in God, not in the promise of a child because even when the promise was fulfilled He was willing to give it up because His faith in God was stronger. Abraham’s faith was more than words it was active, that’s the type of faith God calling us to have.

Reflection/Prayer Time

There’s a two part question we must ask ourselves, one being do we really have faith in God, do we trust Him with everything? The second question being are we trusting in the promise, or are we trusting in a God who makes and fulfills promises? Allow your answers to those questions guide your prayer, talk to God about it. Have a conversation with Him about your faith, ask Him to search your heart and teach you to have faith in 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 301!

Day 299: It Takes Faith

One of the most important aspects of being a Christian is faith, if we do not have faith how can we serve God. How can we believe in a God we have never seen without faith. Faith is a key ingredient to having a relationship with God. We must believe in Him.

Romans 10:9-10 says, 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.

When many people refer to Christianity, they refer to it as ‘the Christian faith’ or we even talk about it as our faith. I do not believe that that is without reason. Following God take faith, it takes us believing first in God, and His word, and standing on His promises. Faith is choosing to believe in the things that are not seen. But if we want to get technical let’s get a dictionary definition.

Faith: confidence or trust in a person or thing.

Belief that is not based on proof

The trust in God and His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans are justified or saved.

As Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. That being said our faith is our proof of the living God, and God’s faithfulness to us is proof that we are not crazy people out here believing in a spirit that we don’t know is real. No we believe in a living God, the same God who created the heavens and the earth, the same God who spoke to Moses on a mountain top, we believe in the God who made it rain manna, the God split the red sea, the God who sent His son to die for our sins so that we can have a relationship with Him. That’s the God that we believe in, because we choose to believe. Out faith is not based on proof it is based on the goodness of God. The proof is all around, one thing that blows my mind is that God created the earth the way it is on purpose. According to science (which God created as well), Earth is the only known planet equipped with an atmosphere of the right mixture of gases to sustain plant, animal and human life. If Earth was smaller an atmosphere would be impossible, like Mercury. If earth we larger it’s atmosphere would contain free hydrogen like Jupiter, making it impossible to live on in both cases. Also if earth were further away from the sun we would freeze to death, if it we closer to the sun we would burn up. God placed us exactly where He wanted us to be and made us the right size. Aside from the scientific facts, our most powerful tool in our relationship with God is faith. Faith enables us to pray, it enables us to trust in His word, faith allows us to have that relationship with God.

Our faith is based on the signs and wonders, the miracles that we have seen in our lives. The moments where there was no other answer but, “there is a God”. This is what we know to be true, and if we want to take it further, science proves His existence. What I’m saying is, as Christians we live a life that is based on faith. #FaithBasedLiving We put our trust and confidence in God because time and time again He has shown us His faithfulness. I know we have all had moments in our lives where things didn’t go as planned they actually went better. We’ve all had those jaw-dropping moments that left us speechless, and eluding to the fact that God did it. What I’m saying here is if  we are going to serve God we must have faith. Without faith we can do nothing. If we do not believe in a true and living God how are we going to expect Him to do something in our lives. Better yet how can we expect to have a relationship with God if we do not have faith in Him. We talk about faith a lot, but we’ve never talked about it in this context. The basics of Christianity is faith. We start a relationship with God by declaring that we believe. Faith is what bridges the gap between man and God.

Often times I am asked, “What do I have to do to become a Christian?” The simple answer is have faith. Have faith that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and that He was resurrected three days later. Not just saying these things but believing them in our hearts. We must have a heart full of faith in God, it’s what allows us to draw closer to Him, it allows us to have a relationship with Him. Faith allows us to persevere.  It is everything we need in order to serve God.

All this to say, faith is the answer. It is the foundation of our lives as Christians, it all starts because we choose to believe in the living God and we make that decision daily.  

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to respond in whatever way you feel led. Have a conversation with God about faith, and thank Him that He is so faithful and wonderful.

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 300!!!

Day 298: Act on the Word

James 1:22-25

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Growing up my mom could always tell when we weren’t listening to her. It was less about how we reacted to what she was saying and more about how we acted based on what she was saying. When we acted in a way that we were not supposed to or did something and it went wrong she would always say it was because we weren’t listening, and I’d say, about 100% of the time she was right. She would say, “Everything I’m saying to you, goes in one ear and out the other.” Meaning, we acted like we never heard a word she said.

I share this because I believe that it is important for us as Christians to do more than just hear the word. We must act on it, we must do what it says. Living like Christ is more than just reading the bible, it’s living it out. We are walking, breathing bibles. How can we call ourselves Christians if we are not living by the word of God. We cannot have the word go in one ear and out the other, we must be doers of the word. We read the bible, but that’s not enough. Atheists read the bible. We must allow the word of God to take root in us, we must allow it to influence the way we live. Hearing the word of God is great, but how are we going to put it into action. The bible isn’t just some fun book to read, although it can be (read the old testament), it is a life instruction manual. It tells us how to live, and how to love. The word of God is everything we need to know how to live.

Too often we act as if reading the bible is enough. We read every morning, we pray and we’re good, we’ve spent our time with God for the day. It is so much more than that. We take the word of God with us wherever we go because it is in us. It has take root and manifested within us. We do not sit Jesus on a shelf once we are done with Him that’s not how it works. God is with us in every moment of our lives. He’s right there. We cannot read the word of God and not allow it to take root in us and change the way we live. We cannot forget the word of God as if it has no impact on us. We must be a doer who acts not a hearer who forgets.

All this to say, the word of God is meant to be lived. It is meant to influence the way we live. We cannot be just hearers of the word, we must be doers as well.

Reflection

1. Are you a hearer and a doer of the word
2. Have you had a moment in your life when you thought that reading the bible and hearing the word was enough?
3. At what point did you decide to be a doer of the word?

Prayer Time

Allow you answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Take the time to search yourself and submit your heart to the Lord. Take the time to talk to God about allowing His word to influence the way you live.

If you’ve never made the decision to live for Christ, or you want to rededicate your life. If you want to be brought into this magnificent promise of eternity, now is the time to make that decision. If that’s you if you want to make that decision, 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. I pray that you shine your  light on me and bring me out of the darkness and into your light. I love you Lord. 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 so much. If you made the decision to follow Christ today, congratulations, this is the best decision you will ever make. Do not be afraid to reach out and get plugged into a church. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 299!

Day 297: God's Discipline

Hebrews 12:3-11

Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. 4 After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. 5 And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children?He said,

“My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you.

6 For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”

7 As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? 8 If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. 9 Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? 10 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. 11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

Now I know we’ve all been in trouble before, by our parents/guardians, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, coaches. Maybe I’m just speaking for myself when it comes to being in trouble by everyone. I’m told it takes a village to raise a child and I turned out fine. However that’s not the point. We all know what discipline feels like one way or another. I can speak for everyone when I say it’s not fun, we don’t like it. The big kicker is when our parents discipline us, because they say they are doing it because they love us. Now when I was younger I was not here for any of it, I did not want to hear it. My mother was a firm believer in “spare the rod, spoil the child” with that being said, there was physical punishment. Every time we would get in trouble, when my mom was done whooping us, she would talk to us and tell us that she was only doing it because she loves us. Little did I know how much that discipline and correction would affect the person I became as I grew up. What I failed to realize is that this discipline was rooted in love, she could have easily let me do what I wanted, not corrected me, and watched me become something I was never meant to be. But she loves me too much. I did not understand it then but now I know that my parents corrected and disciplined me literally because they love me. They did not want me to grow up wild and not knowing the difference between right and wrong. They raised me the best they knew how, and I turned out great. Proverbs Proverbs 22:6 says “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” My parents raised me right and I I grew I learned to appreciate that discipline, because it gave me direction and helped shape me into the person I am today. When we put that into context, how much more does God love us? He loves us immeasurably more than our parents ever could.

God disciplines us in the same way that our earthly father discipline’s us. God loves us so much He is going to correct us, He is going to discipline us, He is going to make sure that we stay on the right track. I love that the scripture labels these as encouraging words, because it is very encouraging. It’s encouraging to know that we have someone that loves us so much that He will not allow us to go down the wrong path if He can help it. Not only that but He gave us the Holy Spirit as a guide, giving us direction and correction. Sometimes we deliberately disobey Him, but that’s another topic for another day. God has a path laid out for each of us, and sometimes on that path we will have to endure times of correction and discipline. God does not discipline us because He’s mean and evil. No He disciplines us to train us, to help us, to teach us how to live a life that is pleasing to Him. We learn a lot from our moments of discipline, we learn a lot about our mistakes and the things we do. However we also learn that God loves us so much that He will not watch us destroy ourselves. He will not stand back and watch us ruin ourselves. No, God is too invested in us, we are His children. Imagine if God did nothing when He saw us straying away. Is that really love? God corrects those He loves, and He has blessed us with parents and guardians to do the same.

The thing about discipline is it doesn’t feel good. It’s painful, it hurts but sometimes it takes pain to grow. It takes pain to mature, I might have gotten in trouble for things when I was younger but I knew not to do them again. No, God’s punishment will not feel good, correction isn’t the easiest thing to take in, but it allows us to grow. It teaches us something. But after it all we will flourish, we will know what it is like to live right. To walk with Christ. It’s a part of growing up. We may not understand it now but when we look back we will be eternally grateful for God’s correction.

All this to say, don’t overlook God’s rebuke. He is not going around constantly looking for ways to punish us, in fact He is constantly drawing us closer to Him. He is raising us to be His children and He will discipline and punish us as He sees fit because He loves us. He loves us enough to hurt our feeling for a little while in order to make sure that we are walking and living how we are supposed to. He’s willing to hurt our feelings for a little while in order to teach us and raise us. Sometimes love is brutally honest and cannot spare our feelings, but it doesn’t mean that it is not love.

Reflection

1. Can you think of a time when your parents punished you and you can look back and be grateful for it now?
2. Can you agree that discipline is rooted in love?

Prayer Time

Take the time to pray to God and thank Him that He is a God of correction and that He loves us so much that He will correct us. Pray in whatever way you feel led. Just have a conversation with God.

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 298!

Day 296: Right By Who?

*Take note of all the questions asked throughout today’s devo*

Colossians 3:17

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

1 John 4:8

But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

I’m the type of person that believe there is something good in everyone. I like to see the good in everyone, I feel like everyone is good in one way or another, no one is born evil. We are born into evil but that does not mean we are evil human beings. With that being said, there’s is a difference between just being a good person, and being a person full of faith following God. Sometimes we get the two confused, just because someone is nice does not mean that their heart is with Christ. We can all be good people and do right by everyone, but are we doing right by God? That’s the question. Do we let our good deeds take the place of living like Christ, and walking in faith? I think a lot of times when we think about our good deeds we think that it’s enough to please God. We think that God just wants us to be a good person, yes He does but being a good person and being a Godly person can be two completely different things. We can all be good people, but at the end of the day a person who is made good through giving their life to Christ is different than a person who is “good” but still living a life of sin.  Don’t get me wrong God is very pleased by our good deeds, but it all comes down to our heart. Is Christ in our heart? That question gives so much meaning to who we are and why we do things.  

I remember when asked if I was living right, or living for Christ, I gave  list of all my good deeds and how I was doing right by people and how that meant I was a good person. I talked about how I fed the homeless, how I’ve bought meals for people and given them money, how I offer free service or help when someone needs it. That’s great and all but does it compare to the life I am living in Christ? Am I doing right by Christ, or am I just doing right by people and hoping that’s enough? The scripture above tells us that whatever we do we should do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, if I am not submitted to Christ and I have not given my heart to him how am I glorifying Him? I can do all the good deeds in the world but if I do not have love in my heart none of it matters. If at the end of the day I do not have Christ, was it really worth it?

Sometimes we as Christians get too caught up in what we are doing as opposed to how we are living. Meaning we are more concerned with our image as a Christian rather than being a devoted follower of Christ. This is something I had to learn as well because I was so concerned with helping people, going out and talking about Jesus, and doing good deeds, but it was only to prove my faith. It was all to show that I’m a Christian. It was really self-serving. It was to make me feel good as a person. It had nothing to do with pleasing God or helping people. Especially our generation with social media, and this constant need to show the good we do for people. It’s all self-serving. Jesus was less concerned with how many people saw what He was doing and more concerned with how many were saved. We are so concerned with how people see us that we forgot that the only opinion that really matters is the one we are ignoring. God. But when we really get to know God and when we really began to live like Christ, it becomes less about good deeds and more about being a servant of God. It becomes more about serving an everlasting God whose love is unfailing. It’s about the one who sacrificed it all for us. It becomes selfless. It is less about our earthly kingdom and more about His heavenly kingdom and eternal glory. It’s about glorifying His Kingdom and walking in love. If we do not have love we have nothing. We cannot walk in love and outside of God. God is love, so walking in love means we are walking with God. Doing right by God means loving Him first, and loving His people. Submitting our lives to Him and allowing Him to lead us every step of the way. We have to walk through life with the one who provided it. Creator cannot exist without the creator. Our lives are meant to glorify Him, and if we are not doing that are we really living, and are we really doing right by Him?

All this to say, doing right by people is not the same as doing right by God. Our good deeds are not always what it takes to live like Christ. We cannot be saved by good deeds alone, it takes faith.

Reflection

1. Take the time to answer the questions proposed today?
2. Are you doing right by God, self, or man?
3. Note that when we are doing right by God we are living exactly how we are supposed to live, therefore we are doing right by ourselves and His people.

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Ask God to search your heart and check your intentions. Take the time to listen to what He is saying to you today.

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 297!