Daily Devotional: Monday, Dec 21
Speaker: Dave Nelson
Theme: The Process of Forgiveness
Weekend Music links on iTunes: Majestic by Lincoln Brewster; Hark the Herald Angels Sing arranged by Sonicflood; How Can I Keep From Singing by Chris Tomlin; What Child is This arranged by Cheri Keaggy.
Read: Ephesians 2: 7-9; Hebrews 4:16
Think: It seems like the longer we walk with Jesus the more complicated we try to make it. When I started a relationship with Christ it was so clear and so simple - I confessed my need for God, acknowledged my sin, asked Jesus to forgive me and invited Him into my heart. He took me up on my offer and gave me forgiveness and eternal life. It was amazing! Joyous! Life changing! I told anyone who would listen!
But slowly over time somehow my simple faith got more complicated... There were more conditions added, more "to-do's" and "should be's" and the Divine relationship was reduced to something that resembled a naughty and nice list. And as Pastor Dave Nelson showed us this weekend, I didn't have to look far to see what pushed me off track...I'd forgotten about grace!
The hallmark of Christianity is God's grace--- His unmerited favor freely given to all who come to Him. No matter how long we follow Him or how "mature" we get in our faith, we can't add to it, we need not stipulate, we need not qualify the statement: We are saved by grace through faith. Period.
Not until I grab a hold of that truth (once again) am I able to freely extend that same grace to others.
Do: Search your heart - is there any "grace and" that you are living under? Delete whatever comes after that "and" returning to the truth of the Good News of Christ: It is by grace I am saved and grace alone!
Pray: God show me where I have added to your gift of mercy and grace. Let me turn (again) to the truth of your word. Thank you that my salvation and my relationship with you don't depend on how "good" I am, but it solely depends on how good You are! Thank you Jesus for coming to this world so that I can be forgiven and loved by God. Use me today to be a conduit of the grace you have extended to me. Amen.
The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church. |
