Now let me remind you, brothers, of what the Gospel really is, for it has not changed — it is the same Good News I preached to you before.
I Corinthians 15: 1 (LB)
Scripture: I Corinthians 15
The world would like God to change to reflect their desires and allow them to continue to sin. That is not going to happen. This devotion looks at how the gospel does not change.
Nuggets
- The world wants God to allow people to go on sinning; however, God does not change.
- While people – even believers – will continue to sin, believers are to try to live holy lives.
- Believers should be united, not divided.
Adam and I are home. It was such a good trip. We had been wanting to do a missions trip. We had been wanting to travel. I had been wanting to get new pictures to share with you here.
Check. Check. And check.
Reflecting on what this means, I think — providing he doesn’t have his usual digestive issues — Adam is capable of doing more than he has done in the past. That means more missions trips in the future!
Adam has grown so much the past year or so by being assistant greeter at church. He was able to take that out to a park and crush greeting people who were responding to a flyer for Family Fun Night.
Place changed. People changed. The need to greet them and love them did not change.
My Note Card with the Verse
We got home after a seven-hour drive with one stop, and I am drained. I said, “God, I have no clue what to write for this devotion. I have been collecting all these index cards with verses I’ve written on them. I am going to go down and grab one. Let it be what You want me to write on and give me the words.”
The verse was I Corinthians 15: 1. It is about God’s Word staying the same.
Let’s break it down. If it isn’t clear, it is my fatigue. If it is, it is all God talking straight to you.
The World Wants God’s Word to Change
The world wants God to allow people to keep on sinning. They want Him to change His definition of what sins are.
Not going to happen. That is Satan controlling this world. Watch out.
God does not change. Numbers 23: 19 says, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” (ESV).
Grow up. Who do you think you are trying to make God change to your way of thinking?
I am nobody. You are nobody. God is Creator, sustainer, Sovereign God. He gets to decide how things are. Not us.
Some Believers Like Our Cliques
We have so many denominations. Each have their own spin on what they believe.
In a way, it is great. You can find like-minded believers and become members there. That can make you more comfortable.
In a way, it is horrible. It forms cliques. “Well, This Denomination doesn’t believe what we believe.”
Worse yet, some believers are uncomfortable with people who do not look like us, talk like us, and act like us. We find so many things to divide us.
This isn’t how God intended things to be. Colossians 3: 11 says, “In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us” (NLT). God wants believers united; Satan wants the whole world divided.
Making the Connections
You know what, God doesn’t call us to be comfortable. In fact, God ups are discomfort because God wants to change us to what He wants us to be.
No, God is not going to change His laws and commandments so we will be comfortable. We have to obey Him. Period. End of discussion.
Yes, we may have done a lot of things in the past that God considers sin. Once we admit, believe, and confess, we need to turn away from doing those sins.
Yes, even believers will still sin. God knows we cannot be perfect. If we could do all the do’s and not do all the don’ts, Jesus would not have had to die to pay the price for our sins.
But just because we can’t be perfect, doesn’t give us license to go on doing what we are doing. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must be holy because I am holy’” (I Pet. 1: 16 NLT). We have to work to be holy like God. We have to want to be holy like God.
How Do We Apply This?
Because God is worthy of complete devotion and is perfect in goodness and righteousness, we should be devoted to Him. We should give Him control. We should obey His laws and commandments.
When we mess up — and we will — we ask God to forgive us again. We haven’t lost our salvation. He is perfecting us for when Jesus comes to call us home.
We need to work on being united. No, not tolerant of sin. United in love for God. United in serving Him. United in loving each other.
We need the work on being holy.
Father. You are Sovereign. You are holy. You are love. You do not change. Even though man let sin in the world when Satan tempted them, Your love for us did not change. In fact, You sent Your Son to restore our relationship with You. Help us to live holy lives. Help believers to be united. Help us to stand firm when this world wants us to tolerate what You say is sin. We wait for the day Jesus will return. We pray that those who have not given their lives to You will do so. We know You would rather all would be saved. We know that You will judge those who have not asked Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. We wait for that day. Amen.
If you have not admitted that your relationship is not right with God,
have not asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior,
and have not confessed your sins,
please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
What do you think? What are you struggling with that God isn’t going to change?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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