2 Corinthians 11:1-6 English Standard Version

1 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. 5 Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. 6 Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.

How many times can we preach the gospel of salvation and tried to keep it fresh and interesting?

There are as many angles to the salvation story as there are differences in personalities and experiences of believers. Yet the essence of the gospel remains the same.

The deceiver is the devil and not everyone who presents a new thought is by nature the devil. One line here strikes at home to the problem, verse 5 calls out the issue of ego, those super-apostles. In modern terms it is those that raised up church membership in the tens of thousands. Inquiring about those supercells I discovered their membership ranks included many  individuals that no longer attend,  what we would call sincere devoted Christians.

See how Jesus fed the five thousand.

Mark 6:39-40 English Standard Version

39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties.

Doing the math there might have been as many as 67 or more smaller groups. How did 12 apostles feed that many smaller groups? It is likely that other believers helped feed others so that no one would be ignored and go hungry.

So often we look at the big picture and miss the finite details that show our involvement.

As to being sincere and devout Christians, being on the membership roll of a mega church does not make a person a Christian, no more than sitting in a movie theater makes us a cast member.

Memories paint a picture but is that picture a true reflection of a life in Christ?

Exodus 20:24 English Standard Version (ESV) An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.

We spend time reading and memorizing scripture. Some of us take pride in that skill. Some use that skill to serve God as pastors and teachers of His Word. We might even take credit for all the effort we put into it.

Here in Exodus 20 we find that it is God Himself that causes His name to be remembered. With that comes His presence and His blessing.

2 Peter 3:1-2 English Standard Version

1 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles,

The epistles of the apostles remind us to remember. The Word of God is our only source of truth and our failed memories need to be constantly reminded. More than that, we need to see that God causes us to remember because He speaks to us through the scriptures.

Hebrews 1:1-3 English Standard Version

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

He upholds the universe by the word. His Word has the power to speak to us, if we will listen.

This is God causing us to remember because rather than relying on our memory, we can rely on His Word to speak to us.

While the Old Testament prophets had God speaking directly to them, and passing His message on to us. Those of us that have accepted Jesus Christ by faith have been given the Holy Spirit to speak to us, if we will listen and stop relying solely on our memory.

Hearing comes by faith.