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NextGen KC Devotion
NextGen KC Devotion
My wife and I will be married for 15 years this summer. And in those 15 years, we’ve been blessed with 4 girls. Sophia is 13. Hannah will turn 11. Ava will be 7 and Samantha is 4. I have multiple hats. I am a husband, father and pastor. It’s been a blessing. but with these blessings, my life has also changed.
the challenge for me and it still is IS that as my life is changing, i realized that I had to change alongside with my life. Let me say that again. My life was changing. Things, circumstances, the people around me were all changing. Things and people were making their way out of my life. Things and people were making their way into my life. But as all this was happening, I wasn’t really changing much. These were things I had to consider.
Here’s an example. Nkx and the girls were at home. I went to run some errands and decided I was hungry. I went to grab some McDonalds before coming home and got myself a chicken nuggets meal and came home and ate it. BOOM! I messed up. Who knows how I messed up?
I should’ve also gotten food for my wife and kids. I came home and my wife and kids were not happy. My wife said to me, “You didn’t consider us. You didn’t think about us?” OUCH. It’s a lesson I’m still learning. My life has changed, but I was still living life like I was single and just thinking about myself.
You guys, now that we are God’s children; now that we are a part of the Body of Christ…all of these things that are HUGE changes in my life. But am I changing along with all these thing in my life? You’re now a part of the Body of Christ; you’re now a child of God; you’re now a follower of Jesus, but have we changed our lives?
The author of the book of Hebrews in the Bible talks about this. If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Hebrews 10:19-25. Let’s read this together.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Another version of Hebrews 10:19-25 says this as well...
So, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God, into “the Holy Place.” Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The “curtain” into God’s presence is his body.
So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.
And so we see that the author is reminding us that we’re not how we use to be. There was a point where as much as we wanted to have a relationship with God, we couldn’t because sin. Sin caused separation between us and God. But because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we’re now able to have a relationship with Jesus. Before it was like that. But now it’s like this. Jesus was the game-changer. Jesus is the life-changer. But now we have consider some things. Even if Jesus is this game-changer; life-changer, am I even letting Him change my life?
For today, I want us to consider a few things that the author of Hebrews shares with us. In this passage, the author invites us to respond in 3 ways.
v. 22 Let us draw near to God with sincere hearts and confidence.
God invites us to approach Him. He wants us to go to him. I wonder how many of us choose not to go to him and would rather go into the things of this world. I’ll choose this instead of God. God becomes our last choice instead of our only choice. but God invites us to draw near to Him. but the reminder is for us to go to him with sincere hearts and confidence. that means we’re not going to him because someone is forcing us. we’re not going to God only when we want something. we don’t just go to him when things are great. God wants us to go to him with sincere hearts. we go to him in our good, bad and ugly. And to also go to with confidence; the confidence that when we go to him, God WILL do something about whatever you’re going through. be have to be confident in that.
along with that, we also have to consider how to hold onto our hope in Jesus.
2. v. 23 Let us hold onto our hope in Jesus.
What is your hope? Hope is defined as a feeling of expectation or a desire for a certain thing to happen. We want all of these things to happen. but will we rely on our efforts or on Jesus alone? Many of us like to add Jesus into our own equations. Jesus and Work. Jesus and money. Jesus and success. Our hope isn’t something plus Jesus, but it needs to only be Jesus and Jesus alone. Let us consider how we can completely put our hope in Jesus and no one or nothing else.
and finally, consider this:
3. v. 24 Let us how we can spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.
To spur mean to push each other. Many of us have gotten use to wonderful ideas without action. All talk and no action will get us nowhere. As a matter of fact, that can also be known as hypocritical. We say this or believe this but we’re not doing anything about it. Or maybe for some of us, we’ve been trying but nothing is happening. and because of that, we’ve given up. Push each other to love more; to do more good deeds. Faith without action is dead. You guys, don’t give up on Jesus. Keep at it. Keep loving and going good.
The other part of this passage is to not give up meeting. Some are in a habit of not meeting anymore. It’s become a habit of theirs that they don’t come anymore. They haven’t come in awhile and it’s just become a part of their habitual routine. we need to make meeting together a habitual routine. Keep coming. Come with expectation that God is there and God is working and moving; even when we don’t see it. And as we come, God will do a good work in us and then we’ll love on and bring people back into our gatherings.
As our lives our changing, we need to change as well. Consider drawing near to God just as you are. Consider the hope we have in Jesus. Consider how we can push each other on toward love and good deeds and not give up meeting.
The challenge for us all here is this: When will NextGen be NowGen? In order for NextGen to be NowGen, the NextGen needs to consider these things, if we are to become the NowGen. And the NowGen…our parents their generation have to willing to empower the NextGen…our parents generation have to also consider ways in helping us to transition from Next to Now.
Because the reality is that if the NextGen has to wait until the NowGen dies, then by then many of the NextGen will have been considering if they should leave. As a matter of fact, i’m sure many of the NextGen have already been wresting with this thought for quite some time now because there is no empowering and opportunities for them to be a part of the church. There are many things for us to consider. But God is a God that never changes but He is a God that changes all things around Him. And since now we are His people, we are called to change. Don’t lose hope. Don’t give up meeting. Let’s pray.