Our devotional today was over 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, but we focused specifically on verses three and eleven:
“I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said…So it makes no difference whether I preach or they preach, for we all preach the same message you have already believed.”
In these verses, Paul reiterates to the Corinthians the importance of the Gospel and the fact that it is the ultimate truth—the only form of salvation. The people of the New Testament and all of us Christians today hold Paul in high regard; we see God’s truth revealed to us through Paul, but in verse eleven Paul reminds the Corinthians that it doesn’t matter if he is preaching the Gospel or if another Christian is preaching the Gospel. Jesus’ sacrifice for our salvation is a constant no matter if it is Paul who preaches the Gospel it or if it is another Christian who preaches the Gospel.
This is really exciting news! First, Paul’s words remind us that the Gospel never changes. There are no modifications, no addendum that says “oh well but you have to now do this or this.” The Gospel is constant and we can count on Jesus’ sacrifice to cover all our sins—past, present, and future. Just the reassurance of God’s consistency alone makes the verse a blessing and encouragement.
But wait, there’s more! Paul tells the Corinthians that the Gospel is the same if he, Paul, preaches it or if another Christian preaches it. Paul’s words are divinely inspired by God, so we can read verse eleven and know with confidence that we too can share the Gospel. Every Christian on the planet is not only reassured of the truth of their salvation, but they can go and share that truth with anyone!
During our devotional time we continued to return to the idea that it doesn’t matter who we used to be or what we had done, we are now Christians and God can (and will) use us to share the Gospel with the rest of the world.
As part of this discussion, we talked about how exciting it is that our foster families get to be in a position to share the Gospel with the children placed in their homes. Our families are in a unique position to not only offer food, shelter, and emotional support to kids in foster care, but also to model Christ-like behavior, take them to church, and talk with them about Jesus. They get to tell these children about a Heavenly Father who will never leave them, never harm them, and never stop loving them. These parents get to share how Jesus sacrificed Himself so that we can spend eternity with our Heavenly Father.
Most of these kids are removed because they have been neglected—no one is sacrificing for them. How amazing is it that our foster families get to protect and love these kids, but also get to share with them the true source of love and protection!
We know that sometimes the paperwork and government red tape can overshadow God’s will in fostering. There are days where it feels like the rules are ridiculous and unhelpful, but then we read verses like verse eleven above and remember that we have the opportunity to share the Gospel with these children in foster care. Here at 4KIDS we have been blessed to work with foster families who truly love the Lord and follow His will to provide not only for these kids’ physical and emotional needs, but also for their spiritual needs. God gets around the red tape every time to make His love and grace known to these kids!
We also want to share a few prayers and praises from our prayer time this morning:
We’re asking for prayer for all our kids who sick. There’s a lot of flu and respiratory nastiness going around, so we just ask for the Lord’s healing for all our families dealing with illness.
We’re asking for prayer for the judges involved in all our kids’ cases. We ask for clarity in the judge’s hearts and minds, and we ask that ultimately the Lord’s will be done.
Praise for our wonderful church partners! These churches give and give and give to us by opening their doors for training, setting aside specific times of prayer for 4KIDS, and so much more. We are so thankful for how the Lord continues to bless us through the local church.
Praise for the new homes we have opened and for all the potential families God keeps sending our way. The Lord’s hand is at work in every relationship we build with new families, and we are excited to see so many people stepping up to foster!