To be fully forgiven for our sin does not mean to be fully free from our sin. One of the human weaknesses that we must continue to seek divine strength to overcome is our bent to be selfish. We need the mind and heart of Christ: a mind that regularly thinks of others rather than just ourselves, and a heart that is compassionate enough to serve and support others even at our own expense. It should be the golden rule, not the exception, to give up what we want so others can get what they need. Today, go out of your way to do for others, remembering this: Jesus went out of His way from heaven to earth to the cross to do for you.
Ready, Set, Go…
The alarm clock rings, and we’re already running behind. Before we even known if we’re ready, willing and able to enter the day, it’s ready, set, go. The remedy for busy, frantic lives is not to speed up, but to slow down. The thing that will most help us with what we face each day is to simply spend time with Jesus getting recharged so we can be prepared for what lies ahead, and refocused so we can prioritize the things that matter most. At the beginning, middle, and end of the day, take moments to connect with Him. You’re not too busy to spend time with Jesus. You’re too busy not to spend time with Jesus.
If He Is For You
Because of Jesus, we can have courage; the kind of courage that does not shrink back from saying and doing the right things no matter what people might think of us, what might happen to us, and what it might cost us if we remain faithful to Him. We press on, knowing that He will graciously keep us and empower us and provide for us and go with us and deliver us and save us because He has promised to do so. Therefore… Be bold to speak the truth in His love. Be brave to face enemies with His love. Be encouraged in opposition by His love. If He is for you, it really doesn’t matter who is against you.
The Way We Count
Christians should count the various trials in our lives as joy. Not as defeat. Not as pleasant. Not as punishment. Not as meaningless. Not as insignificant. Not as a reason to complain. Not as a lack of God’s care. Trials can be many things, but they cannot be joy-stealers unless we let them. While it may feel like trials are breaking you today, you can be sure that God is building you up through them in ways that are going to be amazingly good in the days to come. Your faith muscle becoming stronger. Your deliverance becoming sooner. Your witness becoming louder. Your homecoming becoming sweeter. Yes, you have hardships; but you also have hope.
What Jesus Did Is Enough For You
There is a word that can drain life out of us. It can make us walk around in shame and guilt. It can rob us of our peace. It can cause us to feel doubt, pressure and fear. This word often doesn’t make us want to try harder; it makes us want to give up. This word is “enough”. Have you prayed, read your Bible, served, loved, trusted, worked hard, shared your faith, worshipped, been kind, helped others, obeyed God, and lived for what matters … enough? No, never enough. But the pressure is off because what Jesus did is enough for those who trust in Him! Secure in this, strive to live in a God-honoring way today while resting in His grace for you.
Overflowing Cups
We are to be generous with our words, actions, time, money, forgiveness, kindness, hospitality, patience, service, friendship, compassion, skills, truth-telling and love. We can confidently share every good resource in our lives knowing that even as we give away, there is always enough. Because if God gave us Jesus, He’ll also give us everything we need along with Him until He welcomes us home. He is always pouring out more forgiveness, goodness, kindness and blessedness so we can be more of a witness to His generosity by giving away part of what He gives to us. Overflowing cups are not for us to choke on, but for us to let others drink from too.
It All Belongs To God
What you and I have is ultimately not our own; it all belongs to God. Our time is His. Our Talent is His. Our Treasure is His. Little or much, temporary or lasting, tangible or unseen, everything in our lives is the property and possession of God. We have been entrusted to steward it faithfully, dispense it liberally, and credit it clearly to the One from Whom all blessings flow. Our stewardship will not be judged by the amount we are able to give, but by the readiness, cheerfulness and faithfulness of our giving. It is not a matter of how much we have to be generous with, but how generous we are with how much we have.
Wonderful Gifts From An Even More Wonderful God
It is right to enjoy the good gifts of God in the way that He designed them to be enjoyed because that’s why He gives them to us. The sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches of the created world are supposed to be enjoyed because God made them to send and made us to receive … pleasure. But rather than enjoying them too little (ingratitude) or too much (idolatry), let us enjoy them as they were intended, as a catalyst for treasuring the Gift-Giver far beyond what He might give to us. The gifts that God sends us are wonderful; but they are nowhere near as wonderful as Him.
God Speaks To Us Today
The Bible is referred to as the “Word of God” for a reason: God speaks through it. He says what He wants us to know about Himself and His creation, revealing how He designed the universe to work and what He has decided is best for us as we live in it. He expects us to respond in some way every time we read from its pages… By doing, saying, correcting, believing, feeling, thinking, or sharing something. We are to listen for the voice of Jesus and follow Him the best we know how in any given moment, and strive to know more so we can better follow Him in the moments to come. Doing so brings honor to God and happiness to us.
What He Tells Us To Do
God wants us to be happy. When He tells us in the Bible to do, say, correct, believe, feel, think or share something, it is not to take away our happiness, but rather it is to take away the things that are in the way of our full and lasting happiness. We must trust that God is after our happiness, that He knows best how to bring about our happiness, and that what He tells us in the Bible is designed to lead us into happiness. Doing what God tells us is not always easy, popular or instantly gratifying. But it is always for good, always better in the end than sin, and always the best option for making us truly, ultimately, and eternally happy.
Growing In Grace
There is a three-word description that summarizes what happens from the moment we put our faith in Jesus until the moment we come face-to-face with Him: grow in grace. We are not meant to stay the same or stand still, but to progress in our experience of grace for the rest of our lives. There are countless observations, implications and applications that flow from God’s grace to us, and we have the delightful duty of discovery. Day by day, we are to prize, prioritize and pursue intimacy with Jesus. For progress does not come from fixing ourselves, but fixing our eyes on Him. This is how we grow: we set out to know.
The Point Of Grace Is To Point Us To God
The goal of grace is to unite us to God so that He is honored in us and we are happy in Him. Grace makes it possible for us to personally know God and enjoy Him, along with all of the good gifts that He purposes to give us now and forever. He doesn’t give us what we think will make us happy; He gives us what He knows will make us happy … Himself. Because of the grace of God, we get the God of grace! Therefore, the point of grace is to point us to God, so that we will be satisfied by Him, and He will be glorified by us. God gets the eternal praise that He deserves, and we get the eternal pleasure that we don’t deserve.
To Receive Or Reject Grace
You will either receive the grace of God for your sin or the wrath of God for your sin. There is no third option. Bynature and choice, we sin against God by regularly preferring things over Him and refusing to obey Him, which condemns us to hell. The only remedy is personally receiving the free forgiveness available by faith in what Jesus has done for us, which ushers us into heaven. You get to choose between continuing in sin and continuing with Jesus. Whether you embrace this as the best news ever or dismiss it as foolishness, this is true: You need grace and you can have grace. To reject it is to perish forever; to receive it is to have pleasure forever.
The Riches Of Grace Last Forever
For all who trust in Jesus, there is a glorious eternity ahead in which bad things will be eliminated, good things will be perfected, and the best things will be unveiled. We have an eternity with Him that… Never gets stale. Never gets boring. Never gets routine. Never gets unappealing. Never gets finished. There will always be more to discover and enjoy from the immeasurable riches of God’s grace towards us in Christ Jesus. Don’t live for this day; live for that day. Don’t be discouraged by this day; be encouraged by that day. Take hope in this every day: For those who are trusting in Jesus, the best is always yet to come.
Asking God For More Grace
You are not bothering God when you ask Him for more grace. He isn’t too busy or too disinterested. He doesn’t need to put something more important on hold to help you. Listen… There is no sin so big that God won’t forgive it and no sin so small that God will ignore it. There is no stronghold so powerful that God can’t break it and no stronghold so flimsy that God wants you to get free on your own. There is no problem so significant that God won’t handle it and no problem so petty that God doesn’t care about it. He does trillions of things at once in sustaining the universe. And one of His favorites is hearing from and helping you.
Transformed By Grace
We were made in God’s image to bring glory to Him, but we all sin and fall short of God’s glory which distorts His image in us. Jesus came to display the perfect image of God and glorify Him in ways we did not, and then die in our place to atone for our sin. When we put our faith in Him, He begins restoring the image of God in us so we can bring Him glory. This is what grace does for us: It takes people who don’t look and act much like God and transforms us into people who do. Undeserving sinners are remade into joy-filled, purpose-driven, difference-making, love-giving image-bearers of God. We are who we are because of grace.
As God Gives Us Grace, Let Us Give Him Glory
We require it. We request it. We receive it. We rely on it. But let’s be clear about it… Grace isn’t given because we are great, but because God is. The grace of God testifies to the glory of God. When it is received and rightly understood, it results in worship for the One who gives it. It should prompt in us as receivers a celebration of Him and commendation of Him as a generous, powerful, wise, good, rich, holy and loving God. Those who think they merit what they receive have little praise for God; those who know everything they have is a gift have much praise for God. Today, as He gives grace to us, let us give glory to Him.
There Are No Grace Graduates
There are no grace graduates. None of us get to the point where we no longer need God’s provision. We aren’t who we used to be, but our transformation isn’t complete. We’ve been fruitful, but our good work isn’t finished. We’ve come a long way, but our journey home isn’t over. We don’t move on from grace; we move on because of grace! So, let us confidently call on God for help to joyfully live out His plans, live for what matters most, live with our circumstances and live in this world, not as independent people, but as His grace-dependent people. Until the very end… We will not stop needing. God will not stop supplying.
Grace Leads Us To Seek Jesus
All of God’s gracious actions toward us are designed to lead us toward Him. He means for us to respond to His gifts not by seeking more gifts, but by seeking Jesus … to know Him, trust Him, honor Him, enjoy Him and love Him as we follow Him. Grace enables and encourages us to take steps with Jesus. When we do, we grow in our relationship with Him as we go with Him wherever He leads to do whatever He says. God woos us with His kindness along the way because He wants us to be together every step until we are with Him forever. Certainly, we will take mis-steps along the way; but Jesus will never let us lose our way.
More Is On The Way
Faith in God’s future grace destroys fear, frustration, anxiety, worry, jealousy, envy, vanity, idolatry, insecurity, doubt, selfishness and worldliness in the present. When we trust in all that God has promised to do for us, give to us and be for us, it rids us of what is robbing us of real joy in Jesus. Belief that God knows best, does what is best and will give us what is best moment-by-moment for the rest of our lives sustains us when we have to give up something we want or go through something we don’t want. No matter what happens today, let us be sure of this: Grace is already there and more is on the way.
