C-H-A-N-G-E-D!
There are numerous Scripture passages that speak of the goodness of God, and as I stood before my lunchtime class, sharing the day’s devotion, I considered how I might encourage them during this season of life. I spoke to them about God’s goodness, about how evil does not ever come from God, and I reminded them to trust in Him, to lean in on Him, and to talk daily with Father God.
Today, as I reflect upon these thoughts, I came to this Bible verse.
“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights,
(The Letter of James 1: 17 NASB)
with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”
To the people surrounding you, you will seem even more weird—the closer you get to God. So, Satan employs a simple strategy to make sin look attractive, even normal. The devil knows us, that we desire to “look” normal, to fit in with the world, & the devil also knows that the LORD’S righteousness changes people from the inside out.
- Is there life after death?
- Is the promise of a better place, of heaven, really true?
- Is all this talk of HOPE really believable, as the Bible proclaims?
YES! YES! & YES!
- Heaven is real, and it will make a difference in the way we live this side of death.
- Heaven is a place, and despite what we face, we can be content—because JESUS is KING!
- Heaven is a living Hope realized through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
- Heaven will never fade, spoil, or disappear, and because you believe in Jesus’s work on the cross, you will not perish.
Jesus, lean into His Hope & set your desire on Him.
Heaven—
Will we tell others, the people we will meet today—those who do not know Christ Jesus?
Will we tell them how we have been C-H-A-N-G-E-D?
Three teenage boys decided they would stand strong, even when life became a struggle. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego knew that to defy King Nebuchadnezzar’s decree ordering everyone to bow in worship to the created golden image (the idol he had ordered to be set up before the people) would bring their death.
“Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, very well.
(The Book of Daniel 3: 15 NASB)
But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?”
One single verse stating one choice: Bow to the created image—OR—Choose to Serve the LORD.
When we read the following verses, then we see the choice made, and we see how these three stood—C-H-A-N-G-E-D!
- They did not even need to give the king their answer.
- They knew in Whom they believed and trusted.
- They leaned in on the One who was able to deliver them from the blazing furnace. &
Even IF the LORD did not deliver them from this earthly death, then they knew TRUTH—GOD WOULD BRING THEM HOME TO HEAVEN, for in their faith, they believed God at His Word. This is the “perfect gift [of God] from above.”
“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
(The Letter of James 1: 17-18 NASB)
In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth,
so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.”