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 72: Recap

Day 65: The Character of God

We kicked the week off by talking about the character of God. We focused on the scriptures, 1 John 4:8, and 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

We often view God as some approachable being, or some mean old guy in the sky. But that is not true, the scriptures tell us that God is love, and shows us what it is to love. Listing the characteristics of love, therefore listing the characteristics of God. God's character is love.

Day 66:  The Kindness of God

Today we continued by talking about the kindness of God. We focused on quite a few scriptures today: Titus 3:4-6, Galatians 4:6, Matthew 18:13, and Psalms 30:5.

There is a sweetness in our relationship with God. We are His children, It is said that the Hebrew meaning of the word abba is, daddy or papa. Also that it is the sound a child makes when trying to say daddy. There is a sweetness there that breaks the barrier of punisher, servant or slave master, and turns it into daddy daughter, daddy son. These words are more intimate that father child. It establishes a relationship, and we start to see God as a dad. We do not fear Him in a sense that we afraid of what he will do to us, but we are in awe of Him, respecting Him.

Day 67: Pure Joy

Today we talked about what it means to really have the joy of the Lord in our hearts, even when life is turning upside down. The scriptures we focused on today were, Psalms 4:7 and Nehemiah 8:10.

God is better than the world's best thing.  We can have everything we ever wanted but there is nothing like the joy of God in our hearts. No matter what we have we can only get that pure permanent joy from Christ. They can give me everything, but it will never add up to what I get from God, what I have from serving Him. There is nothing better, it does not get any better than this.

Day 68: Being Honest with God

Today we talked about honesty with God and how sometimes we have to get brutally honest with Him. The scriptures we focused on today were: Psalms 62:8, 142:1-2, and Genesis 3:7-10.

We are allowed to pour our hearts out to God even when they don’t “look” like a Christian heart, to us. We are allowed to have feelings, we are allowed to be angry, we are allowed to ask questions, and we are allowed to have sexual feelings, we’re human. Most importantly, we are allowed to talk to God about what is really going on in our hearts and in our minds. That’s what having a relationship with God is, we have to be brutally honest sometimes. God knows our hearts, He knows what they look like, He created them. He knows the struggles we go through, the pain, the temptation, Jesus went through it. God wants all of that.

Day 69: God Knows Better

Today we talked about how God knows better than us, He knows more than we could ever wrap our small brains around. The scriptures we focused on today were: Revelation 22:13, Isaiah 46:9-10, and Isaiah 55:8-9.

God knows what’s going to happen, even when we don’t. He sees the bigger picture because He painted it. We just have to trust in His sight, and His vision so that even when we don’t know what to do even when our plans hit a wall we can know that whatever God has planned is better than anything we could have dreamed up ourselves. We must accept the fact the no matter how smart we are, what we know does not compare to the knowledge of God.

Day 70: Thriving Under Pressure

Today we spoke about thriving under pressure, and not giving in to it. We focused on a few scriptures today: James 1:12, Mark 15:15, Luke 23:23-24, and Isaiah 40:31

We go through a lot, with our friends pulling on us, our parents expectations of us, the pressures and temptations of the world. Sometimes the pressure is too great that we just need some release. We can get temporarily relief, or we can thrive. We can stress drink, have sex, get high, give in to what the world is telling us to do. We can get temporary relief we need at the moment, or we can find the strength in Christ to stand on His word and not let our lives be altered by the pressures coming from the outside.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing Day or Evening. Enjoy you Sunday and make sure you come back tomorrow for Day 73!

Day 71: Thriving Under Pressure

I remember being told by someone much older than me, “What are you worried about? You have nothing to be worried about,” They were so wrong, there were a million things for me to be worried about. We as young people get told all the time that we don’t know what it’s like to really worry or stress about something. Almost as if we don’t have the right to because we haven’t experienced enough.  But there is so much pressure on us sometimes, coming from every which way, we default to stress and worry, induced by pressure.  

James 1:12

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”

Mark 15:15

Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

Luke 23:23-24

But they were insistent, with loud voices asking that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. And Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand be granted.

Pressure is interesting, it takes us out of ourselves. We start to do thing we wouldn’t normally do. When we are under pressure sin looks good to us, because we want relief from whatever it is we’re going through. The question here  is, can we stay faithful even when we are under pressure, can we find strength in our  savior, can we continue to move and push forward.

One of the best examples of cracking under pressure in the bible is when Pontius Pilate sentenced Jesus to satisfy the request of the people, against His better judgement. Pontius Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent He knew that the people were speaking lies against an innocent man. Yet the people pressured him into releasing a murderer, they pressured Him into sentencing an innocent man to death. Pontius Pilate was under so much pressure that He cracked. He ended up doing something that he did not want to do because the stress upon him was so great, He needed relief. Sadly, sometimes relief means cracking under pressure.  

We go through the same things, with our friends pulling on us, our parents expectations of us, the pressures and temptations of the world. Sometimes the pressure is too great that we just need some release. We can get temporarily relief, or we can thrive. We can stress drink, have sex, get high, give in to what the world is telling us to do. We can get temporary relief we need at the moment, or we can find the strength in Christ to stand on His word and not let our lives be altered by the pressures coming from the outside.

The biggest questions we ask ourselves in this situation is, How do I remain the person I want to be when I am under pressure? The answer is only a true relationship with God can assure us that even in the worst of times, if we remain faithful to God, our souls will not be corrupted. Our Spirits cannot be tainted. As scripture tells us, If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small (Proverbs 24:10). When we find our strength in the Lord we will not faint, we will not crack, or we will not give in to pressure. We will stand firm, we will soar. It’s hard, I know it is but God’s voice is louder than the rest, His presence is bigger, we are meant to please Him and no one else. God won’t pressure us into to doing something we don’t want to do, that’s why we must make the choice to follow Him. So we must make to the choice to thrive or give in.

Isaiah 40: 31

But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak.

Reflection

1. What pressures do you feel coming from those around you, of any?
2. Do you feel the need to please people and meet their expectations of you?
3. Are you going to thrive or crack under pressure?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Talk to God about the pressures you feel, if any, the stress you are under or whatever is causing you to do things you would not normally do. Ask Him for spiritual strength so that you will not give in, ask Him to help you thrive under the pressure and stay close to Him.

I love you!, I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Make sure you come back tomorrow for Day 72!.