Dillon Community Church

Day 1: You Are Not the First to Struggle

Devotional

There is something quietly comforting about knowing you are not alone in your struggles. Whatever you are facing today, whether it is doubt, temptation, or the pull of old habits, you are not blazing a new trail. Others have walked this road before you. Paul points the church at Corinth back to Israel's story for exactly this reason. God's people had been miraculously delivered from slavery. They had seen the sea part. They had eaten bread that fell from the sky. And still, they craved what they left behind. Still, they stumbled. Paul's point is not to shame them. It is to encourage us. If God remained faithful to a people who kept failing, He will remain faithful to you. His commitment to you is not based on your consistency. It is based on His character. Here is the promise worth holding onto today: God will not allow you to face more than you can bear, and He always provides a way through. Not always a way around, but always a way through. That is not a small thing. That is everything. You do not have to have it all figured out. You do not have to be further along than you are. God meets you right where you are, and He is not surprised by your struggle. He has seen it before, and He has never once abandoned His people.

Bible Verse

'No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.' - 1 Corinthians 10:13

Reflection Question

When you face temptation or struggle, do you genuinely believe God is present and providing a way through, or does it feel like you are on your own?

Quote

'Grace is opposed to earnings, not to effort.'

Prayer

Father, thank You for being a God who does not abandon His people. Help me to trust that You are faithful even when I feel like I am failing. Amen.

Day 2: What Are You Really Trusting?

Devotional

Most of us would never bow down to a statue. But idolatry rarely looks that obvious. An idol is not always something bad. It is often something good that has quietly moved into the wrong seat. Career, comfort, family, financial security, even theological certainty. These things become idols when we begin protecting them fiercely, justifying our attachment to them, and letting them shape our decisions more than our faith does. Paul's instruction to the Corinthians was urgent: flee from idolatry. Not tip-toe around it. Not manage it carefully. Flee. The language is intentional. Some things require distance, not dialogue. The Corinthians told themselves that attending temple feasts was harmless. They knew the idols were just wood and stone. But Paul warned them that behind those idols were real competing value systems, and sitting at that table, even casually, was a statement of partnership. The same is true for us. What we give our attention, trust, and devotion to is forming us, whether we realize it or not. The question is not whether something in your life has become an idol. The question is whether you are willing to honestly look. God is not asking you to give up good things. He is inviting you into something better. And that invitation is worth taking seriously.

Bible Verse

'Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.' - 1 Corinthians 10:14

Reflection Question

Is there something in your life right now that you are protecting or justifying in a way that might signal it has moved from a preference into an idol?

Quote

'An idol is anything that we give the kind of trust, attention, devotion, or allegiance to that ultimately belongs to God.'

Prayer

Lord, give me the courage to honestly examine what I am truly trusting in. Help me to hold loosely the things of this world and hold tightly to You. Amen.

Day 3: When Your Politics Compete with Your Faith

Devotional

Few things reveal what we truly believe more than how we talk about people we disagree with politically. Political identity has become one of the most powerful forces shaping how people see the world, including people who follow Jesus. And when that identity begins competing with our allegiance to Christ, something important breaks down. Paul's warning in 1 Corinthians 10 about sitting at two tables applies here. You cannot fully belong to two competing value systems. A house divided will fall. When our political tribe teaches us to look at another human being, someone made in the image of God, and see them primarily as an enemy, something has gone deeply wrong. This is not a call to disengage from civic life or to stop caring about important issues. It is a call to make sure the Gospel is forming you more than your political identity is. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and self-control. If your political engagement is producing the opposite of that in you, it is worth pausing and asking why. Jesus did not come to build a political coalition. He came to build a kingdom. And that kingdom has room at the table for people from every background, every party, and every nation. That is the story we are invited to live inside of.

Bible Verse

'So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God.' - 1 Corinthians 10:31-32

Reflection Question

In what ways might your political identity be shaping how you see and treat other people more than the Gospel is?

Quote

'When your political allegiance begins competing with and overshadowing your Allegiance to Jesus, your ability to live a life that represents joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self control, long suffering, all the things that characterize the kingdom. That’s a problem.'

Prayer

Jesus, help me to see every person as someone You love and died for. Form me by Your kingdom values more than by any political identity. Amen.

Day 4: You Are Always Welcome at His Table

Devotional

There is a story the Lord's table tells that is different from almost every other story we hear. Most of the stories we live inside of are about earning your place. Perform well enough, stay consistent enough, have your life together enough, and then you belong. But the table of Jesus works differently. You are welcomed not because of your status, your track record, or your political tribe. You are welcomed because of what He has done. And here is what makes that remarkable: we are constantly finding new reasons to believe He must be growing tired of us. We fail in the same ways. We resist His love in fresh and creative ways. We hedge our bets, treating the Gospel like an add-on rather than the center of everything. And still, the invitation stands. Jesus said it plainly: whoever comes to Him, He will never cast out. Not the person who has it together. Not the person who has finally cleaned up their act. Whoever comes. That includes you, today, exactly as you are. You are not an inconvenience to Him. You are not imposing. He is not checking His watch when you come to Him in prayer. He is overjoyed to make Himself available to you. That is the grace of the Gospel, and it is worth letting that sink in deeply today.

Bible Verse

'All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.' - John 6:37

Reflection Question

Do you genuinely believe that Jesus welcomes you as you are right now, or do you find yourself trying to get your life in order before fully coming to Him?

Quote

'Jesus is overjoyed to make Himself available to you, to have you sit at His table. You never annoy him. You are never imposing on him. You are never an inconvenience.'

Prayer

Father, thank You that Your table is always open to me. Help me to stop earning my way and simply receive the grace You have already offered. Amen.

Day 5: What Is Forming You More Than the Gospel?

Devotional

Here is a question worth sitting with today: what is currently shaping you more than the Gospel is? It is easy to say that Jesus is Lord of your life. It is harder to examine whether that is actually true in practice. The Gospel is not meant to be an add-on to an already full life. It is meant to be the center that everything else orbits around. It touches your habits, your relationships, your finances, your politics, and your deepest desires. If the Gospel is truly good news, and it is, then it should be producing something in us. Not a performance of careful Christianity, but a genuine transformation from the inside out. The question is not whether we have prayed a prayer or attend church regularly. The question is whether we are becoming more like Jesus. That kind of change requires honesty. It requires being willing to let things go. It requires what might be called a holy discontent, a restlessness with where you are that pushes you toward where God is inviting you. You do not have to have everything figured out today. But you can take one honest step. Ask God to show you what is competing with His place in your life, and trust that what He is inviting you into is genuinely better than what you would be giving up. Because it is.

Bible Verse

'"Everything is permissible" - but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible" - but not everything is constructive.' - 1 Corinthians 10:23

Reflection Question

If you honestly evaluated your daily habits, your conversations, and your decisions this past week, what would they reveal about what is actually forming you most?

Quote

'Pray for a holy discontent so that you would pursue and trust and take the risk that everything that Jesus is inviting you into is better.'

Prayer

Lord, give me a holy discontent with anything that is keeping me from fully following You. Help me to trust that everything You are inviting me into is better. Amen.

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*Devotions written from sermon given by Pastor Ryan Leeds and compiled using Sermon Shots.