Daily Devotions On Grace

Philippians 1:6 – God’s Not Done With You

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6 ESV)

From Jordan:

I wish my testimony was one of unwavering faith and steadiness. I wish that you could go and talk to anyone I went to high school with and they would tell you about my commitment to the Gospel and my obvious love for Jesus. Now, some people would, because I do love Jesus and am committed to the Gospel. But others wouldn’t because they’ve seen me fall to sin and act pridefully. In fact, I’d wager that many of us are this way. We wish that we could have another chance at past situations or seasons. These were my thoughts prior to writing this. Pretty grim way to spend an afternoon, right?

But here was God’s answer to my angst and self-disappointment: Continue Reading →

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Romans 3:23-24 – The Beautiful Scandal

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (Romans 3:23-24 ESV)

It’s common knowledge that humans are imperfect. Even if one doesn’t hold to the Christian doctrine of man’s depravity (sinfulness) a popular cultural saying is that, “We’re only human”. It’s both an admission and understanding that people fail often and are imperfect. As believers we should understand that this sentiment springs from the reality of sin in every human’s life. Without “the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” we can do nothing but sin (Romans 14:23), relegating us to a life consistently “short of the glory of God”.

Here’s the good news, Continue Reading →

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Romans 5:8 – Messy Love

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 ESV)

Most of us can remember a time as children when our parents told us to clean up before dinner. We may have been having company over or simply too dirty from playing to sit at a clean table! But this idea that we need to be presentable gets engrained in us as we grow up, and continues to sink its roots deeper within us. Some high schoolers spend hours in the morning picking out the perfect outfits, applying make-up and straightening hair, or making sure their hats are tilted just like Justin Bieber’s.

We work so hard to present ourselves with a certain image, and it often becomes an obsession. Unfortunately, this doesn’t end in high school or even college. In fact, as we age it frequently gets worse. We move into buying homes, cars and jet skis that we can’t afford simply to impress our neighbors and ourselves.

Even though we may appear put together on the outside, many of our hearts are a mess. But God doesn’t Continue Reading →

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Proverbs 3:5-8 – Dependence and Humility

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV)

From Jordan:

Dependence and Humility is part four in the series DEPENDENCE, and holds the greatest value when read in sequence. You can start at the beginning here.

While recovering from surgery all heroic notions of self-reliance were literally chiseled out of me (yes, a literal hammer and chisel were used on my vertebrae). An event the morning following my procedure was the greatest illustration of dependence and humility I have ever received, and most likely will be for some time. In short, I was unable to use the restroom under my own power, which my mind did not immediately equate to a lesson in humility, but in humiliation.

However, as I lay in my uncomfortable fold-in-ten-different-directions hospital bed, the embarrassing experience was used like a spotlight by the Holy Spirit. It sent a beam of stark, shining light straight at the plank that had lived in my eye for so long: my need to be the hero. By God’s grace that idol is crumbling in my heart, though not yet gone completely. I do believe this pride induced longing to be our own heroes, our own saviors, is implanted in us from an early age, and it is deadly.

It will present itself in various forms: Continue Reading →

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Proverbs 3:5-8 – Dependence and the Gospel

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV)

From Jordan:

Dependence and the Gospel is part two in the series DEPENDENCE, and holds the greatest value when read in sequence. You can start at the beginning here.

To rightly begin understanding the Gospel, one must rightly understand dependence. Though it may seem a basic word with far from weighty theological value, dependence is of profound importance to every believer. The Gospel is the beautiful reality of God’s grace returned for man’s rebellion, and it articulates the joy every person may have in Jesus Christ. Pastor Justin Holcomb explains well that, “Our first parents in the garden substituted themselves for God, and, at the cross, Jesus reversed that substitution, substituting himself for sinners (1 Corinthians 15:45-48).”

My folly had manifested itself time and time again in such a way. I labored in my Christian walk professing Jesus as my Savior, while in reality, I harbored the deep lie that I had to first be “good enough” for God to save. I had no problem speaking the grace of God into others’ lives, but I could not accept it for myself. My pride held the Gospel’s beautiful truth at arm’s length, and Continue Reading →

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John 3:17 – God’s Love Or Condemnation?

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:17 ESV)

From Ryan:

Many times in our lives we need to live a little more balanced. When I say balanced I mean meeting somewhere in the middle. A good example of this would be our diet. It isn’t good to just eat junk food all the time, nor can we really expect ourselves to just eat healthy organic food 100 percent of the time and cut out all food that isn’t the best for you. When we try this we usually just fail and end up giving up. So, you meet in the middle. Stay away from junk food as much as possible, and eat fresh organic foods as often as possible. Meet in the middle.

While reading today’s daily devotional verse, this thought came up in my mind. This verse is right between one of the most popular verses ever John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 ESV)

and another verse, John 3:18:

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:18 ESV)

that sounds almost opposite. John 3:16 is all about God’s love for us, while John 3:18 is about being condemned. We can tend to fall a little too far right or left of today’s verse. Continue Reading →

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