Devotionals for May 4, 2023
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READ
1 Corinthians 3:10 “Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.”
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
REFLECT
Paul likens himself to an expert builder laying a foundation in Christ, and he is working on the foundation Christ himself laid knowing others would also be building on this foundation. This might be confusing at first. Doesn’t a foundation only have to be laid once?
We can look back to Genesis for the answer to God’s Creation. In Genesis 1:1-30 each step, each day of creation was in effect, a foundation for the next day’s activities. Heavens and earth were created, the form was given, the light was given, air, land, sea, plants, animals, and humans. Each step of creation was dependent on the step before it. Each step added to the foundation, enabling what we have in the world today. Homes, society, transportation, and jobs, all started with God creating something.
Our spiritual journey was started by God shortly after creation as well. When Adam and Eve first sinned, God began to lay the foundation for restoring our relationship with Him. This is the whole purpose of the Bible. When you believe in Christ, you are inheriting the foundation that God began in Genesis and completed through Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection. God is the master planner. Paul recognized this and knew the foundation would continue to build through you and me. This is where our journeys take different paths. God doesn’t have a template that everyone follows like cranking out jello from a mold. Each of our journeys may be similar but are distinct to each individual. That is how much God loves us and cares for us. Ephesians 2:10 promises that we were crafted by God, created new in Jesus, and prepared to do the good works in advance of us doing them. Believers are the result of the Master Planner. These good works are the fruit of our beginning, belonging, and building with Christ, and they are building God’s Kingdom.
APPLY
Q: Where do you see yourself working on God’s foundation?
Q: What good works do you believe God has prepared you to do?
Q: To whom should you be sharing these works?
SING
“So Will I” - Hillsong Worship
PRAY
"Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us."
Expand upon this with your own prayer for the reader to use.
READ
1 Corinthians 3:10 “Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.”
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
REFLECT
Paul likens himself to an expert builder laying a foundation in Christ, and he is working on the foundation Christ himself laid knowing others would also be building on this foundation. This might be confusing at first. Doesn’t a foundation only have to be laid once?
We can look back to Genesis for the answer to God’s Creation. In Genesis 1:1-30 each step, each day of creation was in effect, a foundation for the next day’s activities. Heavens and earth were created, the form was given, the light was given, air, land, sea, plants, animals, and humans. Each step of creation was dependent on the step before it. Each step added to the foundation, enabling what we have in the world today. Homes, society, transportation, and jobs, all started with God creating something.
Our spiritual journey was started by God shortly after creation as well. When Adam and Eve first sinned, God began to lay the foundation for restoring our relationship with Him. This is the whole purpose of the Bible. When you believe in Christ, you are inheriting the foundation that God began in Genesis and completed through Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection. God is the master planner. Paul recognized this and knew the foundation would continue to build through you and me. This is where our journeys take different paths. God doesn’t have a template that everyone follows like cranking out jello from a mold. Each of our journeys may be similar but are distinct to each individual. That is how much God loves us and cares for us. Ephesians 2:10 promises that we were crafted by God, created new in Jesus, and prepared to do the good works in advance of us doing them. Believers are the result of the Master Planner. These good works are the fruit of our beginning, belonging, and building with Christ, and they are building God’s Kingdom.
APPLY
Q: Where do you see yourself working on God’s foundation?
Q: What good works do you believe God has prepared you to do?
Q: To whom should you be sharing these works?
SING
“So Will I” - Hillsong Worship
PRAY
"Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us."
Expand upon this with your own prayer for the reader to use.