Promise for Today - A Never-ending Story

We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don't know what to do, we never give up. In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down, we get up again . . . we know that God raised the Lord Jesus to life. And just as God raised Jesus, he will also raise us to life. Then he will bring us into his presence together.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9, 14 (CEV)

When the future is uncertain and there is a lot of fear, it might seem like your story is coming to an end. When life seems uncertain, remember this truth: You can’t lose! You’ll win in the end, no matter what happens. Even when you lose your life, you’re going straight into the presence of God if you believe in Jesus Christ as Savior. 

And when you arrive in heaven, your story is only just beginning.

Have you ever watched a TV show where every single episode ended in a cliffhanger and left you thinking the hero might not survive? Even though it’s just a story, the tension can feel enormous. But when all the episodes from the entire series are available to stream, you don’t feel as much tension because you know the hero survives for another six seasons. When you know the series will continue, then you know each episode is not the end of the story. The hero will make it out of a tight spot and on to the next season.

That’s how your life is. Even when you’re in a difficult circumstance, you know that the tough spot isn’t the end of your story. You can live with hope in the middle of a crisis because you have an eternal perspective.

One day, when you meet Jesus in heaven, all your pain, sickness, sorrow, sadness, stress, and grief will end. Here's what you can look forward to in heaven: "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (Revelation 21:4 NIV).

This life is not the end of the story. We don't know what the future holds, but we do know who holds the future.

Talk It Over

In what specific areas of your life do you need to change your focus from fear to hope?

What tools do you have to remind you of the hope of Jesus when you feel discouraged or fearful?

Why is it important for the world to see that Christians have hope and confidence, even in the midst of a crisis?

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Are you certain of where you will go when you die?
One day your life on earth will end—but your story won’t end. If Jesus is your Savior, you’ll spend eternity with him in heaven. How can you have confidence that your story will continue after you die?

The Bible says that every one of us sins and that the penalty of sin is death. But God loves you so much that he sent his Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty of your sins, to bring you into the family of God, and to save you from the fear of death.

PRAYER:

If you’re ready to enter God’s family, here’s a prayer you can pray: “Dear God, I know that when I die, I’m going to give an account of my life to you directly. I confess I have ignored you. I know I have sinned against you, and I have lived by my plan, not yours. I want that to change, starting right now. I want to turn away from my sins and toward you.

“Thank you for sending Jesus to die for all I’ve done wrong so that I don’t have to pay the penalty. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I know only your grace can save me, Lord.

“Jesus, thank you for loving me so much that you took all my guilt on yourself. You made me acceptable for heaven, and I ask you to save me. Please save me from my sins and from my fear of death. I believe in you, Jesus, and your promise to save me instantly and bring me to heaven one day to continue my story with you in eternity. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.”

If you prayed the prayer above, please write and tell me at Rick@PastorRick.com. I’d like to send you some materials as you begin your journey with Jesus.

Promise for Today - Love You Most

We Christians glory in what Christ Jesus has done for us and realize that we are helpless to save ourselves. 

Philippians 3:3 TLB

Realizing there’s nothing you can do to make God love you more is one of the most liberating feelings in the world—and it’s a key to happiness. He already loves you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). Each time you forget this truth and think you’ve got to somehow earn God’s love, that’s legalism, and it robs you of happiness.

Legalism is trusting in what you can do for God instead of trusting in what Jesus has already done for you. Legalism is following a list of rules and regulations to try to prove yourself worthy, and it’s a trap that keeps you from relaxing in God’s grace.

Paul knew how to relax in God’s grace. He said in Philippians 3:9, “I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ” (NLT). In other words, the way you earn the love of God is this: You don’t earn it. It’s not about your performance; it’s about his pardon.

How do you know when you’re being legalistic? When you realize you’re often judgmental of other people. That’s because it’s easier to be critical of others when you don’t feel accepted and loved yourself. Why would you want other people to feel good about themselves when you don’t feel good about yourself?

On the other hand, how do you know when you’re living by grace? When you’re living by grace, you’re gracious to others. You find it easier to forgive because you recognize that God continues to forgive you. And since you’re not trying to earn your way to heaven, you can relax.

Every morning, remind yourself of God’s grace by praying, “Lord, today I’m thankful that I am completely forgiven. There’s nothing I can do to make you love me more. And there’s nothing I could do that would make you love me less!”

The more you live by grace, the more joy you’ll have.

Let's talk about this. Have you trusted Jesus with your life?
The Bible says you can only get to heaven by trusting in God through his Son, Jesus Christ. You cannot earn your way into heaven: “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV).

If you’re ready to confess your sins and trust Jesus with your life, start with this prayer:

Dear God,
You have promised that if I believe in Jesus, everything I’ve ever done wrong will be forgiven, I will learn the purpose of my life, and you will accept me into your eternal home in heaven one day. I believe Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect life, died on the cross, and then rose from the grave. And through His death and resurrection, my sins are forgiven, and I can have a relationship and a forever home with You. I confess the ways I’ve sinned against you and lived for myself, and I submit to Jesus as my Savior and Lord. Jesus, I want to follow you and serve you. I commit my life to you and ask you to save me and accept me into your family. In Your Name I pray. Amen.

From Pastor Rick:
If you just prayed to accept Jesus, please email me at Rick@PastorRick.com and let me know about it. I’d like to send you some free materials to help you start your journey with Jesus.

Promise for Today - The Most Powerful Witness-part 1of 2

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Luke 6:36 (NIV)

Have you noticed how unmerciful and unforgiving our world is? It seems the highest form of humor is the put-down. Even comedians get paid for their sarcastic and cynical jabs at others. In an increasingly unkind world, your greatest Christian witness can be showing people mercy. For when people see you showing mercy, especially considering how rude and mean society has become, they’ll say, “That’s what I expect a Christian to be like—like Jesus.”

Jesus said it, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (NIV).

There are four things you can do to build a lifestyle of mercy. We’ll look at two today and two tomorrow.

Watch and listen for the needs of others. Whose needs? The needs of people in your neighborhood, at your work, and in your family. Mercy always begins with awareness. If you’re not aware, then you don’t care. 

The Bible says, “Look out for one another’s interests, not just for your own” (Philippians 2:4 GNT).

You don’t struggle to be merciful because you’re a bad person. It’s because you’re too busy. Busyness is the number one destroyer of mercy in your life. When you’re moving from event to event and task to task, it’s hard to pay attention to the people around you. And when you’re not looking and listening for people’s needs, it’s nearly impossible to be merciful.

Don’t be offended by the sins of others. You can’t say, “Go clean up your life, and then I will accept you.” No - mercy is unconditional! If you’re going to show mercy to people, you can’t be offended by them. You can’t minister to people if you’re looking down on them.

Jesus wasn’t offended by people’s sins. In fact, he hung out with the worst kinds of sinners. He was even accused of “guilt by association” because he spent time with people who were corrupt, unloving, and manipulative.

This doesn’t mean Jesus approved of everything they did. God doesn’t approve of everything you do, but he accepts you completely. Showing mercy doesn’t mean you say everything someone does is okay. Drug addiction and adultery, for example, are not okay.

But you can still show mercy. You can do for others what Christ has done for you.

1 Peter 4:8 ICB reads, “Most importantly, love each other deeply. Love has a way of not looking at others’ sins.”  - written by Pastor Rick

Talk It Over

Why is mercy so hard to find in the world today?

Who has shown you mercy, even when you didn’t deserve it? What were the circumstances?

Have you ever withheld mercy from someone because you didn’t agree with their lifestyle? If so, how might you react to them differently today?

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Prayer:

Father, 

          Thank You for Your Grace - it truly is amazing! Please help us to fully grasp the miracle of Your mercy and grace toward us. And teach us how to be merciful and full of grace toward others. Forgive us for all the times we missed it. Let us see with Your eyes of love - to recognize needs in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our jobs, and for those in our church. Provide us the wherewithal to be Your hands and feet to those You have placed within our sphere of influence. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

2026 Lenten Season - Day 27 - The Strength to Look Up

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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What allows you to humbly and honestly look back is the invitation to look up at the same time.

I wish I could say I asked you, but I didn’t.

I wish I could say I reached for you, but it didn’t happen.

I wish I had thought that I needed help, but my mind was elsewhere.

I wish I had sought your wisdom, but I saw myself as wise.

I wish I had leaned on you, but I thought I was standing up straight.

I wish I had cast myself on your grace, but in the mirror I looked like someone who didn’t need it.

I wish I’d begun each day with you, but I was too busy.

I wish I had ended the night with you, but I was too tired.

I wish I had spent more time in your word, but I had people to see, places to go.

I wish I had looked ahead to a pathway I couldn’t traverse alone, 

but I was too focused on the here and now.

I am older now with more life behind me than in front of me.

I mourn my assessments of strength, 

my appraisals of wisdom,

tagging myself righteous,

my quest for independence.

I regret the moments lost, opportunities gone, dreams now faded.

If it were not for your grace, I would spend my last days in the cloud of despondency, 

beating myself up, hoping to get back what is forever gone.

I would not be able to look up as I look back.

You went to the cross knowing every choice I would make, 

all that your mercy would need to cover.

I can be honest about my choices.

I can confess it all,

and I can rest because your grace is that thorough and your love has that much power.

Through the years, I have learned that to find the strength to look back,

I need the grace to look up.

GOING DEEPER

Reflection Questions

1. What are some of your biggest regrets in life? As you answer this question, do you consider spiritual regrets first, or as an afterthought?

2. Which of the regrets listed do you most resonate with?

3. Write your own “I wish” poem.

Read Acts 3:17–20, and let it refresh your heart as you repent and receive God’s forgiveness.

17 “Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. 18 But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things. 19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. 20 Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.

2026 Lenten Season - Day 22 - The Love and Grace of Warnings

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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On this side of eternity, it is easy to love the gift more than the giver.

Parents instinctively know that issuing warnings is an important part of true love. Parents who love their children spend a lot of time over the years warning them. From the early warnings about things that are hot, sharp, dirty, or poisonous, to the later warnings about the temptations of a fallen world, one of the ways that parents regularly express love for their children is by warning them of the dangers ahead. I have two granddaughters, and when I am with them, I find myself doing this all the time. Sometimes those warnings are attached to the rules that children have been taught and asked to obey. These warnings carry with them the threat of consequences or judgment. But warnings are not the same as judgment. If all I wanted to do was judge you, I wouldn’t warn you. I warn you because I love you, and I don’t want you to have to experience the consequences of your disobedience. When you are warned, you are being loved. To be warned is to receive grace.

Scripture warns us about a subtle kind of idolatry that masquerades as the worship of God but is really driven by the love of things. The war between worship of God and worship of things is not always as apparent to us as we think.

A seminary professor of mine told of a moment in his church when his brothers and sisters were enjoying a time of public praise. One woman stood up and shared how she had been facing bills that she could not pay, that she had prayed, and that God had supplied the money necessary to pay them all. Then she said, “I am just so thankful to God for his faithfulness.” It seems that everything was right in this moment of praise, except my professor kept thinking, “What if he hadn’t?" What if God, for his eternal glory and her spiritual good, had allowed her to face the stress of the even greater financial consequences of those bills being unpaid? Would she have still stood up and thanked God for his faithfulness?

Now, it may seem like a judgmental way of hearing this woman’s gratitude, but the professor’s observation points us to how subtle and deceptive the war for our hearts can be. Could it be that we are most excited about God’s presence in our lives when he has met a physical need or delivered to us something that we want? Could it be that there are ways in which God has been reduced from the one that we love to the deliverer of the thing that we love? Could it be that love of the world masquerades in our hearts as the worship of God? After we get what we want and we thank God for it, we think we are worshiping him, but perhaps, in reality, what has captured our hearts is not God but the thing.

The world around us is filled with sight, sound, touch, and taste attractions. We also find delights that are not physical, like affection, success, position, respect, power, and control. All of these created things, both material and immaterial, appear to give us life. They seem to have the power to produce joy and satisfaction or, when absent, sadness and discontent. So it is quite tempting to reach for them,  hoping they will do for us what they were never intended to do. It is tempting for all of us to look around and say, “If only I had _____ then my life would be ______.” Whatever sits on the other side of your “if only” is the thing you are living for at that moment and the thing that you think will give you the peace of life that you think is missing. Consider these heart-revealing questions.

When does God excite me most?
When do I shout the loudest, “God loves me!”?
When am I most thankful that I am one of God’s children and the object of his fathering care?
When does my relationship with God provide me the most joy?
What does God need to do for me in order for me to be content?
When do I tend to question God’s love?
When do I struggle the most to believe that God is faithful?
When am I tempted to envy others or to think God has favorites?
When does my praise of the Lord feel empty?
What causes me to feel that my prayers go unheard?
What would God have to do to produce real joy in me?

I don’t know about you, but I find these questions to be uncomfortable and revealing. I don’t think of myself as one who loves the gift more than the giver, but perhaps there are ways in which I do. Do I really believe that God is good, does what is good, and gives what is good to all his children all the time? Is it really true of me that because of the joy and satisfaction of knowing him and being loved by him, I am able to live with plenty or live with want? Does the withholding of what seems good cause me to question if he is good? Can I stand next to someone who has what I think I need and still love my Lord and rest in his love for me? Are there things that I have set my heart on, the absence of which will cause my faith to waver and my praise to be silenced? Where does my heart still live under the rulership of the gift rather than the righteous and loving rule of the giver?

During this season when you are letting go of the things of the world, confessing areas of sin and weakness, and running to your Savior for rescue and help, perhaps you should also confess one of the subtlest forms of idolatry. Perhaps it would be good to confess that what appears as worship may not be worship at all. It may be worship of the thing that reduces God to the delivery system for what your heart really craves. And remember, God sent his Son not only to forgive our sins, but also to liberate our hearts from the bondage to anything but him. He is not shocked or disgusted by your struggle. He will turn not away from you, but toward you with love and grace.

So today, hear this loving warning. Could it be that the confession of ongoing struggles of idolatry, no matter how subtle, is the first step toward a heart that is consumed by the worship of God alone?

GOING DEEPER
Reflection Questions

1. When have you found yourself closest to God? When have you been tempted to love him for the gifts he has given rather than for himself?

2. How can you grow in satisfaction in God himself while still being thankful for the gifts he gives?

3. What do you need to confess as an area where “what appears as worship may not be worship at all”?

Read Psalm 50:8–15, and hear God’s heart of love that longs for relationship, not empty sacrifice.

Psalm 50:8–15

I have no complaint about your sacrifices or the burnt offerings you constantly offer. But I do not need the bulls from your barns or the goats from your pens. For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird on the mountains, and all the animals of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for all the world is mine and everything in it. Do I eat the meat of bulls? Do I drink the blood of goats? 

Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High. Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.

2026 Lenten Season - Day 20 - To Silence Complaint

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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It is good to silence complaint in your life by sitting down and taking the time to count your blessings.

So many blessings, so many graces, so many gifts, so much love. There is no rational explanation; there is no human reason; there is no scientific formula; no evolutionary theory; no political machinations; no cultural privilege; no chance; no fate; nothing earned; nothing achieved; nothing deserved; no right; no entitlement; no family inheritance; no right of passage; no reward for work done; no prize for achievement; no deserved recognition.

There is a miracle operating here; there is amazing favor; there is unprecedented mercy; there is boundless love; there is only one explanation; there is but one rationale. Blood was shed outside the city walls, a perfect man with the criminal element nailed to a torture tree, hung there by those he made. No words of defense, no actions of resistance. Favored Son, now willing Sufferer, carrying the sin of multitudes. Mocked by onlookers, forsaken by the Father, willing Lamb, acceptable sacrifice, planned from eternity, accomplished in time, so we would know so many blessings, so many graces, so many gifts, so much love.

During this season when you are thinking about the hold that the world still has on you, when you’re confessing your struggle with sin, and when you’re focusing on the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus that secured your hope in this life and the one to come, take time to count the many right-here, right-now blessings that the work of Jesus has delivered to you. You probably don’t need me to tell you this, but I will: it is more natural for sinners to complain than to give thanks. If you listen to yourself, you'll find that this is true. Our tendency to complain is one of the results of the selfishness of sin. Complaint reminds us that we keep sticking ourselves in the center of our worlds and making life all about us.

Gratitude is a powerful weapon against complaint. It is impossible to give thanks and complain at the same time. The more you spend time counting your blessings, the less time you’ll have to number your complaints. Complaint is a distorted and inaccurate way of looking at your life. For the child of God, a life of grumbling is the result of a factually inaccurate way of assessing life. It is factually inaccurate because it misses the ultimate facts of your existence: the intervention, operation, and generous blessings of God’s amazing grace. It focuses on what you don’t have and forgets the marvelous blessings that are yours that you could have never earned, achieved, or deserved in your own strength or based on your own performance. God’s grace unleashes into your life blessings that are too many to number. No matter what difficulties you are facing, they are outweighed by the storehouse of blessings that are yours in Christ Jesus.

So take time out of each day, if only for a few moments, to count your blessings. Buy a journal or open a Google Doc, and each day catalog the blessings in your life, from the smallest and most mundane to those that are huge and life-changing. Fight the battle with complaint by developing a day-by-day habit of gratitude. Begin counting your blessings, and watch how the practice begins to alter the way you look at your life. No one is more worthy of your praise than your generous, loving, faithful, wise, and gracious Savior.

Gratitude silences complaint.

GOING DEEPER
Reflection Questions

1. Looking at a typical day, what percentage of your time is spent grumbling and what percentage is spent giving thanks?

2. Why do you think it is so difficult for us to remember to give thanks? What practical things can you do to draw your heart away from complaining and toward praise?

3. Have you ever kept a gratitude journal? What benefits did this have—or could it have if you haven’t tried it yet—for you?

Read Psalm 103, and thank the Lord for his many blessings.

A psalm of David.

1 Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. 2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. 3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. 4 He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. 5 He fills my life with good things.My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

6 The Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly. 7 He revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel. 8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 9 He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever.10 He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

13 The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. 14 For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. 15 Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die. 16 The wind blows, and we are gone—as though we had never been here. 17 But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him. His salvation extends to the children’s children 18 of those who are faithful to his covenant, of those who obey his commandments!

19 The Lord has made the heavens his throne; from there he rules over everything.

20 Praise the Lord, you angels, you mighty ones who carry out his plans, listening for each of his commands. 21 Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels who serve him and do his will! 22 Praise the Lord, everything he has created, everything in all his kingdom.

Let all that I am praise the Lord.

2026 Lenten Season - Day 10 - No Easy Way Out

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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Jesus did what he did for us because there simply was no other way.

All of us can relate to finding ourselves in a mess of some kind and looking for the easy way out. We tend to buy into the hope of quick solutions with minor consequences. We hope that we can avoid personal responsibility, loss, and the cost of restoration. We can look at something that is hopelessly broken and fantasize that it’s not. Or we can hope that the person who has been deeply hurt by us will let it pass this time. Or we keep banking on the hope that the physical pain we’ve been experiencing will just fade away. We spend too much, hoping that debt won’t catch up with us, or that when it does, we’ll find a novel way out. We park illegally, hoping that miraculously, we’ll be the person the parking police decide to show grace. We waste time, hoping we’ll get it back somehow. We procrastinate, trusting that we’ll be able to complete the task in a much shorter time than what originally seemed necessary. In some way, the quest of every fallen human being is to find the easy way out.

This is one of the reasons it is helpful to mark out a period of time each year [Lent] to meditate on the cross of Jesus Christ. The cross is a powerful interruption to our “easy way out” thinking. It catches us up short. It confronts our vain wishes. The horrible suffering and death of the perfect Messiah, Jesus, on a criminal’s cross, outside of the city on a hill of death, tells us in no uncertain terms that when it comes to humanity’s deepest and inescapable problem, there is no easy way out. None. The cross calls us to quit hoping in, to stop searching for, and to give up on our belief in our ability to manufacture or stumble upon a cure. Sin brought death into the world. Sin separated us from our Creator. Sin turned us all into rebels and fools. Sin’s pathway is destruction, and its endpoint is death. There are no escape routes. We can’t buy our way out. We can’t earn a better destiny. There is nothing we can do. We are being propelled blindly down a roadway of death. We may smile and celebrate and accumulate, but left to ourselves, we have no hope. Apart from some miraculous intervention, we are doomed. There is not and never has been any easy way out of this terminal disease, the one that infects us all: sin. The cross screams to us, “Stop looking elsewhere. This is the only way!” The world offers endless promises of self-atonement, but each is a lie. The world offers endless excuses for sin, personal and corporate, but each is built on falsehood. The world offers philosophies built on proving that there is no God, so there is no moral responsibility, and therefore, no such thing as death. The world offers scientific denials of divine origins and the afterlife. Most of us work to make ourselves think we’re better off than we are, as though we don’t desperately need what the cross tells us is essential.

The gravity of the cruelty meted out against Jesus forces this question upon us: “Did God really have to go to this extent to fix the problem of sin?” Did God really have to control all the situations, locations, personalities, machinations, institutions, and governments of earth so that history would march toward the right time and place: the birth of Jesus? Did Jesus really have to subject himself to the full range of the darkness and temptation of this fallen world? Was it really necessary for him to live a life that was spotlessly perfect in thought, desire, motive, choice, word, action, reaction, and response? Was it necessary for him to lay down concrete and empirical evidence during his life that he was not just a wise man, but in fact, the one and only Son of God? Was it really necessary for him to be mocked, spat upon, and executed in a torturous and public way? Was it necessary, at the point of his death, for graves to open and the veil separating the Holy of Holies to be spontaneously torn in two? Did he have to be put in a carefully sealed, well-guarded borrowed grave? Was it essential for him to be there for three days, certifying that he was really dead? Was it vital for him to walk out of that tomb, alive and well? Was it essential to the plan that he appear to some five hundred people after his resurrection? Was it necessary that he would ascend back to the right hand of his Father?

The answer to every one of these questions is a resounding YES! Every detail of the history of redemption was necessary. Every moment in the life of Christ was necessary. Every aspect of his suffering, death, and resurrection was necessary. It was all essential because there was no other way to reverse the damage that sin had done or to rescue those who were held in its death grip. No novel solutions to be found, no quick fixes, and no exceptions to the rule. There was no easy way out.

Here’s what Jesus said about his identity and his mission:

Luke 9:18–24 - Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

Take time during this season to focus on the doom that was your destiny apart from the cross. Meditate on what God was willing to do in order to purchase your forgiveness, reconciliation, and new life. Think about the terminal disease that you were born with and your need for the Great Physician, the sacrificial Lamb, the suffering servant Jesus, and be thankful. And may this season of remembrance free you from ever again minimizing your sin and buying into the vain hope that there may be an easy way out.

GOING DEEPER

Reflection Questions

1. In what ways do you look for the easy way out, spiritually speaking? Where are you making shortcuts in your walk with the Lord, and what effect do you think that is having on your life?

2. Write out the gospel in simple terms, the way you would if you were talking with an unbelieving friend. Better yet - share it with an unbelieving friend. What fresh insight do you gain from looking at the gospel with fresh eyes, as if for the first time?

3. How would you answer the question, Why was all this sacrifice really necessary?

Read Romans 5:1–21, and rejoice in Christ’s finished work on your behalf.

Romans 5:1–21  NLT
1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace[a] with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
Adam and Christ Contrasted

12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. 13 Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. 14 Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. 15 But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. 16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

18 Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. 19 Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

20 God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. 21 So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

2026 Lenten Season - Day 8 - If I Just Had ___________

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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It’s good to be poor. It’s the only pathway to the riches of grace.

You don’t have to pay very close attention to see that our culture is obsessed with riches. We are very interested in the lives of wealthy people. We want to get behind the gated driveways, to get inside the closed doors, and to peek over the tall hedges to see what those castles look like and how the elite really live. We point out exotic cars to one another, talk about that once-in-a-lifetime expensive meal, or reminisce about the crazy stores on the designer strip we once walked. We deny it, but we secretly want to be one of those wealthy people, because deep down we believe that this just may be the good life. We don’t admit it to one another, but our discontent is just below the surface. We still tend to think, “If I just had ______, then I would be happy.”

As Christians, we tend to esteem the spiritually rich as well. These are people who we think have risen above the normal things that we all tend to struggle with, who seem somehow to be easily and independently righteous and just don’t seem to require God’s rescue much. We envy people who don’t seem to have any marriage struggles or who seem to parent with ease. We want to be that rich brand of Christian, you know, the kind who tends to think, desire, and do the right thing seemingly all the time.

This is where the season of Lent stops us, interrupts us, confronts us, and calls us to buy into a completely different narrative. That narrative is found in a few simple words of Jesus: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). What? How is poverty of any kind a blessing? How is it ever good to have nothing, and to have to admit you have nothing? How is it possible for the impoverished life to be the good life? These are the questions the season of Lent forces us to face and to answer because Lent isn’t for the rich; it is for those who are poor.

When Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” he knows his words aren’t as radical as they sound.  Let me unpack the logic here. Jesus knows that no one is independently rich in spirit. No one independently has his act together. No one is righteous on his own. No one loves as he should in his own strength. No one naturally has all the right motives. No one’s mind is independently pure. Independent spiritual riches are a delusion. People who think they are righteous are doomed. People who have successfully convinced themselves that they are okay are in trouble. People who strut their spiritual knowledge and good deeds are the ones we should be concerned for. They have bought into the darkest of delusions, that it is possible for a human being, without external intervention, to please God. Apart from the miracle of intervening, rescuing, forgiving, and transforming grace, there simply are no spiritually rich people out there, none. But self-righteousness is a self-supporting deceit. Every moment of self-assessment just deepens the blindness.

So we all need bankruptcy. This is the first step of God’s work of grace in our lives. In an act of divine mercy, God opens the well-guarded vault of our righteousness to show us that, contrary to what we thought, it is absolutely empty. We then must face the shocking realization of our complete poverty, that rather than being righteous, we are, in fact, unrighteous in every way, and this drives us to cry out for forgiveness and help. In this way,the magnificent blessings of the kingdom of God are open and available only to the poor. It is admitting that you have nothing that causes you to reach out for the amazing “something” that is offered to you in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Here is the whole gospel story in one verse: 2 Corinthians 8:9, “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich”. The infinitely rich one was willing to become sacrificially poor, so that we might be rescued from our bankruptcy and become rich. If there were such a thing as independently spiritually rich people, this gospel narrative wouldn’t make any sense. But everyone is born poor. The only difference between us is that some of us have been given eyes to see and confess our poverty, and the rest of us are under the sad delusion that we are rich.

It is sad to note that not only are the hallways and pathways of humanity filled with people who think they are rich, but there are churches filled with them as well. If you were financially bankrupt, you’d be in a panic. You’d spend sleepless nights wondering what in the world you were going to do; you’d be crying out for help. You would be grieved, but open and approachable. You’d eventually quit faking it and face the fact that without some kind of intervention, you are doomed. Poverty wouldn’t leave you relaxed,  disinterested, and rather self-assured. It would make you ashamed and afraid and ready to do something about it. Spiritual passivity and spiritual disinterest are never the result of confessing that you are spiritually poor. Only those who by grace have become willing to confess how poor they actually are will daily seek and celebrate the vast storehouse of riches that are theirs because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

In this season, stop and take time to assess where you’re still telling yourself that you’re rich (righteous) and admit the extent of your past and present poverty, so that you can truly celebrate the once-unattainable riches that are yours, not because of what you have done, but because of what has been done for you. The richest man who ever lived became poor so that we would, because of him, be rich beyond our wildest imagination. No, I do not mean in the temporary riches of physical things, but rich in the most important way: rich in spirit.

GOING DEEPER

Reflection Questions

1. If you’re being totally honest with yourself, what is the thing that fills in the blank: “If I just had _____, then I would be happy”? What does this answer reveal about your spiritual condition?

2. On a daily basis, how aware are you of your spiritual bankruptcy apart from Christ? How might you grow in this awareness, particularly during the season of Lent?

3. Would your friends characterize you as spiritually self-sufficient or as one who knows the blessing of spiritual poverty - and are you satisfied with the answer to that question?

Read Ephesians 2:1–22. Click on the following link, then reflect on who you were before Christ and what is now yours in Christ. Ephesians 2:1-22 NLT

2026 Lenten Season - Day 3 To Groan or Not to Groan

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
We will share "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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Keep reminding yourself that you live in a world that is groaning, waiting for redemption, but remind yourself also that the cross guarantees that the groaning will someday end.

Permit yourself to groan; you have valid reasons to do so. Give yourself to seasons of groaning; it is spiritually healthy to do so. And as you groan, remember that your Lord hears your groaning and responds with tender loving care. However, it is important to note that most of our groaning is not only spiritually unhealthy; it is spiritually debilitating. We most often groan because we have not gotten our own way or because something or someone has gotten in our way. Often our groaning is little more than verbal pouting. It is a symptom of our continuing desire to be sovereign so as to guarantee that we will get the pleasures, treasures, and comforts that we have set our hearts on. Sadly, so much of our groaning is self-oriented frustration that ends up making us despondent, discouraged, and a bit bitter.

But we have reason to groan because we live in a world that is breaking under the harsh burden of the destructiveness of sin. Every day we are greeted by corporate sin, cultural sin, institutional sin, and individual sin. Sin never has a good harvest. Sin always deceives, divides, and destroys. It always promises what it can’t deliver and delivers things that were not part of the bargain. Sin masquerades as something it is not and can never be. It is the ultimate wolf in sheep’s clothing. It has left both humanity and the surrounding creation broken and crippled.

Think about when we typically groan. We groan when we’re disappointed. We groan when we’re grieving. We groan when we’re in pain. We groan when we’re frustrated. We groan when we feel weak. We groan when we’re exhausted. We groan when things are not the way they are supposed to be. It’s right to groan for the right reason. It’s right to be sad at what sin has done to you and everything around you. It’s good to be frustrated when you’ve allowed yourself once again to be hoodwinked by sin. It’s good to groan at how sin makes marriage difficult and parenting a travail. It’s good to mourn the effect of sin on the church and the workplace, on education and government. It’s good to groan when the spiritual battle has left you tired and wounded. It’s right to groan when you see loved ones trapped in sin’s deceit.

Here’s what is important to understand: your groaning is either anger that you’ve not gotten your way or a cry that God would get his holy, loving, wise, and righteous way. Groaning is either, “Will my kingdom ever come?” or it is, “Your kingdom come.” It is good to stop and examine your groaning and to give yourself to a season of the right kind of groaning. After all, you do live in a groaning place. Paul says it this way in Romans 8:22: “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in pains of childbirth until now.”

But it’s tempting to avoid groaning, to keep yourself too busy or too distracted to be able to think about your struggle with sin and the brokenness of the world around you. It’s tempting to try to convince yourself that you are okay and the things around you are not that bad. It’s tempting to numb your heart with the physical pleasures of this fallen world. It’s tempting to put on a happy face when you’re not really happy or happy with how you’re doing. It’s tempting to give non-answers or evasive answers when someone asks you how you’re doing. It’s tempting to try to convince yourself to feel good about things that are not good. It’s tempting to work at not groaning.

So, it takes grace to groan over sin internal and external. It’s counterintuitive to do so. At the point of sinning, sin doesn’t look horrible; it looks attractive. When you’re lusting, you don’t see danger; you see beauty. When you’re gossiping, you don’t think about its destructiveness, because you’re carried away by the buzz of carrying a tale. When you are overeating, you don’t see the sin in what you’re doing, because you are enjoying the pleasure of the sights and tastes of the food. When you’re cheating on your taxes, you don’t think about the danger of a heart that has become comfortable with thievery, because you’re caught up into thinking about how you will spend the money gained. Part of the deceitfulness of sin is its ability to make what is destructive appear attractive.

When you are groaning sin’s destruction, you are groaning because you’ve been blessed with eyes that see clearly, a mind that thinks wisely, and a heart that has been made tender by grace. The problem is not that we groan, but that we groan selfishly or we do not groan at all. Grace will make you groan and then will turn your groaning into rejoicing. In your groaning, you rejoice because you know that God meets you in your groaning.

The apostle Paul says that God hears and answers even when we are without words with which to groan (Romans 8:, And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.) You see, we are not just groaning into the air as some cathartic exercise. No, we groan to someone who has invited us to groan and has promised to hear and to answer. We groan to one who is in us, with us, and for us, who has blessed us with life-altering promises and who will not quit working on our behalf until we have no more reason to groan. We groan to one who has already won the victory over everything for which we groan and who will not rest until all his children are experiencing all the fruits of that victory. In this way our groaning is not selfish anger, but a cry for help to the only one who has the power, authority, wisdom, and grace to come to our aid and give us what we really need. And in our groaning, we confess that too often we groan for the wrong reason.

So, stop and groan. Let your heart feel the burden of the full weight of sin, both internal and external. Scan your life, scan your heart, scan your thoughts and desires, scan your words and behavior, scan the struggles of the people around you, scan the world you live in, and find reason to groan. Let sin’s sadness drive you once again to the cross where your Savior groaned aloud on your behalf as he bore the horrible weight of sin. Take time to let sadness sink in so it may lead you to redemption’s celebration, as you remember that the debt has been paid and the ultimate victory over what makes you groan has been guaranteed.

Yes, indeed, it is good to groan.

GOING DEEPER

Reflection Questions

1. Thinking of both the subject of your groaning and its effects, how can you tell whether your groaning is spiritually healthy or spiritually unhealthy?

2. In what ways do you find it challenging to engage with spiritual lament?

3. How could you more effectively groan over your sin, and what spiritual benefits might that offer?

Read Psalm 74, and then use it as a catalyst for writing your own song of lament. Include both private and corporate confession and need.

Psalm 74 NLT   A psalm of Asaph.

¹ O God, why have you rejected us so long? Why is your anger so intense against the sheep of your own pasture? ² Remember that we are the people you chose long ago, the tribe you redeemed as your own special possession! And remember Jerusalem, your home here on earth. ³ Walk through the awful ruins of the city; see how the enemy has destroyed your sanctuary. ⁴ There your enemies shouted their victorious battle cries; there they set up their battle standards. ⁵ They swung their axes like woodcutters in a forest. ⁶ With axes and picks, they smashed the carved paneling. ⁷ They burned your sanctuary to the ground. They defiled the place that bears your name. ⁸ Then they thought, “Let’s destroy everything!” So they burned down all the places where God was worshiped. ⁹ We no longer see your miraculous signs. All the prophets are gone, and no one can tell us when it will end. ¹⁰ How long, O God, will you allow our enemies to insult you? Will you let them dishonor your name forever? ¹¹ Why do you hold back your strong right hand? Unleash your powerful fist and destroy them. ¹² You, O God, are my king from ages past, bringing salvation to the earth. ¹³ You split the sea by your strength and smashed the heads of the sea monsters. ¹⁴ You crushed the heads of Leviathan and let the desert animals eat him. ¹⁵ You caused the springs and streams to gush forth, and you dried up rivers that never run dry. ¹⁶ Both day and night belong to you; you made the starlight and the sun. ¹⁷ You set the boundaries of the earth, and you made both summer and winter.¹⁸ See how these enemies insult you, Lord. A foolish nation has dishonored your name. ¹⁹ Don’t let these wild beasts destroy your turtledoves. Don’t forget your suffering people forever.  ²⁰ Remember your covenant promises, for the land is full of darkness and violence! ²¹ Don’t let the downtrodden be humiliated again. Instead, let the poor and needy praise your name. ²² Arise, O God, and defend your cause. Remember how these fools insult you all day long. ²³ Don’t overlook what your enemies have said or their growing uproar.

Promise for Today - By His Grace

So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
Ephesians 2:7-8 NLT

Do you ever find yourself reading about different ones in the Bible and wondering, 'Why? Why did you do that? How COULD you do that after all God had done? What were you thinking?' Only to read on a little further and recognize yourself in their actions? 'O Father, forgive me. Who am I to judge? Except for Your grace, I would be so much worse than what I am.'

Paul was well aware of God's grace in his own life and the lives of those around him, and for all future generations. Did you catch that part of the verse? 'So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace...'

A little further down in this chapter, verse 10 reads, 'For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.' There are many things God has laid on our hearts that we think, 'I can't do that. Un-unh...no way. I've done this or I've done that, who's gonna listen to someone who has done that? Nobody's going to listen to what I have to say. I'm not a speaker.' Except for His grace... Neither was Moses. Neither was Peter. Neither was Paul.

And the litany in your head continues, 'I can't...I can't... I can't...' And you're right, you can't. Except for His grace...

By grace, Paul - former Christian killer - became an apostle.

By grace, Rahab - a harlot - became part of the lineage of Christ.

By grace, David - a shepherd boy who was so NOT impressive that his father didn't even call him to the house when the prophet came - he became king.

By grace - Jacob - a liar and a cheat from a long line of liars and manipulators - inherited God's blessing and God changed his name to Israel.

Don't tell me what you can't do. Tell me what you will allow God to do through you...by His grace.

Scripture is quite clear..."For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we CAN do..."

Prayer:

Father,
          I pray as Paul prayed, When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to You, Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from Your glorious, unlimited resources You will empower us with inner strength through Your Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in our hearts as we trust in Him. Our roots will grow down into Your love and keep us strong. And may we have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep Your love is. May we experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then we will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from You. Now all glory to You, God, who is able, through Your mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to You in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.

Promise for Today - Priceless

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -

Ephesians 2:4-8 NIV

I’ve been thinking lately about the grace of God. How do we measure grace? Should we at least try to measure it? Personally, I think we should. We need to know what it means to our eternal lives and we need to realize that although it was freely given, it was not free.

One of my favorite songs for all time is "Alabaster Box". It tells of Mary Magdalene and the alabaster box of costly oil that she poured out on the feet of Jesus (John 12). My favorite passage in the song is toward the end – "You don’t know the cost of the oil – you don’t know the cost of my praise…" She was a woman who understood God's grace.

I really have no idea what God’s grace covers in your life and you have no idea what God’s grace covers in mine. I know a lot of people – myself, included – who tend to struggle with receiving something they think they haven’t earned in some way, whether it’s love or a gift…or grace. And there’s the rub. We can’t earn any of those things. These are the things in life that are priceless. There's no way to put a dollar value of any kind on them.

I am all too aware of what grace has covered in my life, and when I think of a pure and holy Christ giving His life for mine, I am overwhelmed. I know the cost of grace for me – His life for mine on the Cross at Calvary. Something only God and I know the real value of when it comes to my life. Something only God and you know the real value of when it comes to your life.

Oh, the incomparable riches of His grace. Priceless!

Prayer:

Father,
           Help us to live for You as though we are worthy of the value You have placed on our lives. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today Favorite - Can't Argue with That

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.

Galatians 5:16-17 NLT

I remember a particular time when my life was an illustrated sermon of this Scripture passage. I had an appointment where I had to interact with a technician. For a moment, I couldn't make up my mind whether I was going to write "forced me" or "allowed me to interact" but in all reality, it was both. At the beginning, I felt forced.

I can't explain it, but the minute the person opened her mouth, it went right to my last nerve and I was irritated. I wanted to be judge, jury and executioner, but felt the nudge in my heart to hold my tongue. To just be quiet. Hold my peace. I wanted so badly to point out and emphasize each of this person's inefficiencies, but the thought came unbidden, "What would Jesus do in this situation?" and I was reminded of every time God had shown me mercy and offered me grace for mistakes I made when I was trying to do the right thing. How could I argue with that?

In Phase 2 of the interaction, I thought I might get a different tech. No, not a chance. Same person and for the second phase, I was the captive audience for over an hour. While the tech ranted and raved about politics and conspiracies that had nothing to do with the work being done, I was trying to convince God that there was no possible reason I should have to listen to her drivel. I could make it stop. He reminded me of all the times He had listened to me rant and rave about everything and anything. And He reminded me that when I would finally run out of steam, He would speak a Word of Truth to my situation, and I would be changed. Then He graciously topped it off with this passage in Colossians 3, "Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony." (vv. 12-14 NLT). I definitely could not argue with that.

And sure enough, there came a place in the one-sided conversation where she asked an open-ended question, which then gave me the perfect opportunity to say that my trust is in God, and not in the government. That God alone has the plan and purpose for not only us, but also for all the elections and the world. Next thing you know, she's pouring out her heart about circumstances in her family, and God allowed the opportunity for me to speak Truth to her situation. And while I just planted the seeds into her life, I know someone else will come along and water those seeds, and God will give the increase because His Word says He will (1st Corinthians 3:6).

Now, for good measure to test the battle in my flesh, after I left the facility the second time, the tech called me again to say she'd forgotten to send me for the third part while I was there and asked when I could come back. I wanted to be mad. I really wanted to... but I got a mental image of the seed just sown being burned up before it had a chance to root. How do I argue with that?

Reflecting on the day where I spent much of it in battle with myself, I am grateful that God, in His great mercy and love, provides companions for this journey who point out His goodness and who help to keep me focused on what truly matters. I am thrilled that I can thank God for the victory He gave instead of suffering the guilt of wounding someone and missing His purpose for today. And while my preference would be a day without battles, His ways are not our ways. And I sure can't argue with that!

Prayer:

Father,
          As it is written in Romans 5:3-5, "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly You love us, because You have given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with Your love." Please continue to grow us up in You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today Favorite - No One

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 1:17 NKJV

For a couple of days now, I've been "chewing on" something I read. It's rich. It's deep. It's more than we could ask or think... sometimes more than we can grasp; however, absolutely profound, if we could but understand it. I'm talking about the grace of God. So every time I find a written expression of it that opens my understanding in a new way, I'm going to share it. The following excerpts come from the book, Grace >> More Than We Deserve | Greater Than We Imagine.

Have you been changed by grace? Shaped by grace? Snatched by the nape of your neck and shaken to your senses by grace? ... Grace is the voice that calls us to change and then gives us the power to pull it off.

When grace happens, we receive not a nice compliment from God but a new heart... "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you" (Ezekiel 36:26).

The author then goes on to tell the heart-wrenching story of a young teenage girl who died in a skiing accident. The parents decided to donate her organs and another young girl received the heart, giving the second child a new chance at life. The first mother had one request - to hear the "still-beating heart" of her daughter.

"...grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." His death on the Cross. His burial. His resurrection. All to give us a new chance at life. The author goes on to ask,

And when God hears your heart, does He not hear the still-beating heart of His Son? As Paul said, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20).

Romans 8:33-34 New Century Version (NCV), "Who can accuse the people God has chosen? No one, because God is the One who makes them right. Who can say God’s people are guilty? No one, because Christ Jesus died, but he was also raised from the dead, and now he is on God’s right side, appealing to God for us."

Who can undo what Christ has done for us through His death, burial and resurrection? 

No one.

Prayer:

Father,
           Cause Your Word to come alive in us. Open our eyes of understanding to know Your Truth and change our hearts to be able to receive this precious gift of Grace, so that according to Your Word, we can come near to You with a sincere heart and a sure faith, because we have been made free from a guilty conscience. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - Not Without Effect

But by the [remarkable] grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not without effect.
1st Corinthians 15:10a AMP

Sometimes, life can be so great! Weddings and birthdays and celebrations of milestones in life are all wonderful, joyous events. Stressful, now and then, but still wonderful. However, sometimes the perceived demands of life can be overwhelming. The stresses of responsibilities, our jobs, and what's going on in the world itself. All of these things affect us one way or another.

As mere humans, when it's a negative effect, we lean toward buckling down, pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps, mustering up enough strength, trying to muscle our way through. Often, trying in our own strength, we find we are not very successful.

As Christians, we should turn to the only Truth we have - God's Word - where we are promised that His grace is sufficient for all we face (2nd Corinthians 12:9). And we are assured in Hebrews 5:15-16, that Jesus, "This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most."

John 1:16 tells us, "Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given." His never-ending grace, an endless supply, grace upon grace so that we are able to love and forgive, to persevere, to serve, to be victorious overcomers... not in our own strength, but only by His grace.

Prayer:

Father,
          It is Your amazing, remarkable Grace that saves us from the wrecked and wretched ways of the world! We are so grateful for the efficacy of Your Grace to us and through us to overcome sin. Thank You, Father, that it is not without effect. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise fir Today - Trust in the Lord

 Never envy the wicked! Soon they fade away like grass and disappear. Trust in the Lord instead. Be kind and good to others; then you will live safely here in the land and prosper, feeding in safety. Psalm 37:1-3 The Living Bible

This is SO good!

4 Be delighted with the Lord. Then he will give you all your heart’s desires. 
5 Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him to help you do it, and he will. 
6 Your innocence will be clear to everyone. He will vindicate you with the blazing light of justice shining down as from the noonday sun.

7 Rest in the Lord; wait patiently for him to act. Don’t be envious of evil men who prosper.

8 Stop your anger! Turn off your wrath. Don’t fret and worry—it only leads to harm. 
9 For the wicked shall be destroyed, but those who trust the Lord shall be given every blessing. 
10 Only a little while and the wicked shall disappear. You will look for them in vain. 
11 But all who humble themselves before the Lord shall be given every blessing and shall have wonderful peace.

12-13 The Lord is laughing at those who plot against the godly, for he knows their judgment day is coming. 
14 Evil men take aim to slay the poor; they are ready to butcher those who do right. 
15 But their swords will be plunged into their own hearts, and all their weapons will be broken.

16 It is better to have little and be godly than to own an evil man’s wealth; 
17 for the strength of evil men shall be broken, but the Lord takes care of those he has forgiven.

18 Day by day the Lord observes the good deeds done by godly men, and gives them eternal rewards. 
19 He cares for them when times are hard; even in famine, they will have enough. 
20 But evil men shall perish. These enemies of God will wither like grass and disappear like smoke. 
21 Evil men borrow and “cannot pay it back”! But the good man returns what he owes with some extra besides. 
22 Those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the earth, but those cursed by him shall die.

23 The steps of good men are directed by the Lord. He delights in each step they take. 
24 If they fall, it isn’t fatal, for the Lord holds them with his hand.

25 I have been young and now I am old. And in all my years I have never seen the Lord forsake a man who loves him; nor have I seen the children of the godly go hungry. 
26 Instead, the godly are able to be generous with their gifts and loans to others, and their children are a blessing.

27 So if you want an eternal home, leave your evil, low-down ways and live good lives. 
28 For the Lord loves justice and fairness; he will never abandon his people. They will be kept safe forever; but all who love wickedness shall perish.

29 The godly shall be firmly planted in the land and live there forever. 
30-31 The godly man is a good counselor because he is just and fair and knows right from wrong.

32 Evil men spy on the godly, waiting for an excuse to accuse them and then demanding their death. 
33 But the Lord will not let these evil men succeed, nor let the godly be condemned when they are brought before the judge.

34 Don’t be impatient for the Lord to act! Keep traveling steadily along his pathway and in due season he will honor you with every blessing, and you will see the wicked destroyed. 
35-36 I myself have seen it happen: a proud and evil man, towering like a cedar of Lebanon, but when I looked again, he was gone! I searched but could not find him! 
37 But the good man—what a different story! For the good man—the blameless, the upright, the man of peace—he has a wonderful future ahead of him. For him there is a happy ending. 
38 But evil men shall be destroyed, and their posterity shall be cut off.

39 The Lord saves the godly! He is their salvation and their refuge when trouble comes. 
40 Because they trust in him, he helps them and delivers them from the plots of evil men.

Prayer:

Father,
          May we walk in such a way as to be counted godly in Your sight, giving thanksgiving and praise for Your saving Grace. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen