Be Steadfast in The Gospel – I'm Following Jesus

KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Tuesday, December 04, 2018
Chapters: I Corinthians 15-16
Message: Be Steadfast in The Gospel

Hello My Friend,

Steadfast; Stead; To help; to support; to assist. Fast; Firm; immovable. Faithful Christians are steadfast, they stand by their faith in the Gospel of Christ and assist Jesus in reaching the lost. Being steadfast in the Gospel is not required in order to keep our salvation we do so because we know what Christ has done for us. Praise God! Much more than believing we are saved from the pits of hell through our faith alone is believing that death cannot defeat us, we have the kingdom of God awaiting us, and not only that, we will have a new body when Jesus returns to get us and resurrects us. Praise God! It is important that we never lose sight or hope in the resurrection, if we believe that Christ was raise, we have the victory already.

“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” – I Corinthians 15:50-52,56-58.

The Gospel, it is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, this is the foundation to life after the death of our flesh. This may seem like something that is repetitively mentioned, but it is something that God wants to ingrain in our heads. Sadly, there are many religions out there that preach a false Gospel, oh, they believe in Jesus and that He died to save them, but do not believe He resurrected. The Corinthians had great faith in their being saved by grace, but many of them did not believe in resurrection, Paul is speaking to the Corinthians about this, first, confirming there were many witnesses that saw Jesus after He resurrected, including himself.

“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.” – Corinthians 15:1-5,8-11.

“But by the grace of God I am what I am:” Never forget that we are who we are by the grace of God. We can do none of the work of Christ if it were not for the grace of God. And let me tell you, we are the least qualified to do anything for Jesus, but He chooses us anyway. Why? Because of our faith. We believe that Christ not only died to save us from our sins, but that He was buried and three days later arose from the dead to break the curse of death that was passed down to all of us though Adam, our earthly father. And if God raised Christ He will certainly raise us because that is a promise He made to us. And by the way, Adam will be also, it does not matter who we are, what we did, if we believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ as our Saviour than we will be raised. Paul stresses the importance of understanding if we do not believe in the resurrection our faith is in vain.

“For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die. Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.” – I Corinthians 15:16-22,31-34.

“let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.” There is this mentality in a lot of people, that once you die it is over so you might as well live it up while you can, and by live it up I mean live as immorally as you can. No one wants to die, and if you think the people who commit suicide really wanted to die then you are mistaken, what they did do is lose hope, they saw no end to their suffering other than death. And let me tell you, if they were not saved they learned the hard way that the torture they faced did not end, and is not over, they too will resurrect, only to find out that they will spend an eternity in the lake of fire. “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” – Revelation 21:7-8.

What a glorious day it will be when our bodies awaken from their sleep, reunite with our souls to receive our glorified bodies, ones that will never see pain or death, ones that will be immortal, and live with Christ in His Kingdom. Death is Satan, and he along with the Antichrist, false prophets, doubters, unbelievers, and anyone who has not called on Christ to save them will be destroyed, cast into the lake of fire. You know, we cannot do whatever it is that Jesus has called us to do by ourselves, if we try to we will get weary and burn out, and this is why we need to get planted in a church or with some fellow believers so that we can get refreshed and rested. Paul encourages the Corinthians to accept the help given to them.

“As touching our brother Apollos, I greatly desired him to come unto you with the brethren: but his will was not at all to come at this time; but he will come when he shall have convenient time. Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity. I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,) That ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with us, and laboureth. I am glad of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus: for that which was lacking on your part they have supplied. For they have refreshed my spirit and yours: therefore acknowledge ye them that are such.” – I Corinthians 16:12-18.

“For they have refreshed my spirit and yours:” We need godly men and women in our lives that can encourage and be there for us when we need them. Be steadfast in the Gospel, and remember, we do not know the hour in which Christ will return, but we are one second closer, our victory is not what we will get in this life that we cannot take with us, but what we will get when we see Jesus. Praise God! “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” – I Thessalonians 4:16-18.

Jesus Christ Magnified: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” – I Corinthians 15:22.

Today’s Prayer: God, I run into people trying to alter my faith, they tempt me, try me, try to put doubt in me, but I know the truth. Lord, keep me in Your Word, never let me cease from praying, help me to learn Your truths so I can withstand what is actually Satan’s attempt to keep me from telling Your truths to others. Lead me and guide me, give me Your power, wisdom, mercy, and above all Your grace to get through each day, hopeful, joyful, and be steadfast in the Gospel of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who is my Lord and Saviour and alive in me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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