Tag: Grace

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Daily Devotion July 14th

TUESDAY 14th

John 1:16-18

NIV  – ‘Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.’  

ESV – ‘For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.’

I hadn’t included these verses but while looking back over what I had prepared I felt compelled to touch on them, and so I have included the verses above for today as they touch upon the word grace.

Notice first that his grace is contrasted with Moses’ law. The law came from God and was given through Moses, grace also comes from God and is given through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace is one of the most precious words in Scripture, because of who and what grace is.

Firstly, it is all about Jesus, for he himself is grace, as our text says, ‘For from his fullness, or from out of his fulness, we have received grace upon grace’ In verse 14 John has already said, ‘. . . we have seen his glory . . . FULL OF GRACE and truth.’

Secondly it is precious because of his fulness of grace which he pours out. Because he is full of grace, he has an inexhaustible supply of grace, which as we will discover through this gospel and throughout the Scripture, he is willing to pour out into or upon the whosoever that will believe. None of us deserve his grace, we are all unworthy of ourselves as sinful humanity, but out of his love and mercy he makes his grace available, he makes us worthy through his shed blood. And it is by his grace that he saves us. (Ephesians 2) As I am preparing this devotion I am reminded of the following song:

Unworthy am I of the grace that he gave,

Unworthy to hold to his hand;

Amazed that a King would reach down to a slave,

This love I cannot understand.

Unworthy, unworthy, a beggar;

In bondage and alone;

But he made me worthy and now by his grace,

His mercy has made me his own.

My sorrow and sickness laid stripes on his back,

My sins caused the blood that was shed;

My faults and my failures have woven a crown

Of thorns, that he wore on his head.

Unworthy am I of the glory to come,

Unworthy with angels to sing;

I thrill just to know that he loved me so much,

A pauper, I walk with the King

When we see Jesus in John 4 as he is talking to the woman of Samaria, as he talks to her it is grace at work, everyone else would have condemned her, criticised her, even shunned her, but Grace himself, spoke with grace and spoke grace into her life and what a result. Later in John 8 as the Scribes and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus, as they were condemning her according to the law, Grace himself spoke, and again he spoke with grace and he spoke grace into her life. The law is to condemn, condemn, condemn, but grace is to forgive and forget and of course as we see in John 8 ‘go and sin no more’ (v11)

When Satan tempts me to despair, and he does and he will, I point to grace, for his grace that saved me is continually being poured into my life on a daily basis, reminding me I am a child of God, no longer under condemnation, for it is in the grace of God I stand.

Thank God the day is coming that because of the grace of God that has worked in our lives and saved us and is continually at work in our lives keeping us, that when we stand before Him on that day of reckoning, there will be no law to condemn us, but rather his grace, in the person of Jesus and as an act of his infinite mercy will usher us into his eternal presence. ‘Mercy there was great, and grace was free, pardon there was multiplied to me, there my burdened soul found liberty, at Calvary.’

We do not condone sin, but we cannot also sit in judgment, for but by the grace of God that is where we would still be, rather we should be looking for ways to be channels in which the grace of God can be shown, so that what we have received, others will also receive, his grace which is still freely available because he himself has paid the great cost.

I mentioned earlier I felt compelled to write todays devotion about grace, can I ask you where do you stand, does your unforgiven sin condemn you, or have you received his grace? Today come to the one who is Grace, allow him to pour his grace into your life, as you confess your need of the Saviour, repent of your sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. ‘Saved by grace alone, this is all my plea, Jesus died for all mankind and Jesus died for me.’

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Daily Devotions June 15th

MONDAY 15th

Ephesians Chapter 1

Ephesians 1:3 ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places’

Over the weeks that I have been preparing the devotions, I have touched on this verse as it is a reminder to us as the children of God that we are a blessed people. God has blessed us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. The whole realm of redemption is God at work through Christ to redeem and to reconcile mankind back to himself. Christ’s coming into the world and dying on the cross and rising again was God’s way of undoing or reversing the fall that happened way back in the Garden of Eden. Back then in that garden our fore-parents Adam and Eve, disobeyed Gods commandment, but Christ came and he in his garden experience chose to say ‘Not my will, but your will be done’ and he went in obedience the way of the cross to redeem all who would come to believe in him. I have also touched on a few occasions on the second chapter of Ephesians which show to us the then and now, what we were and what we have become as a result of believing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are all different as individuals, my story will be different to your story, what you were like before you were saved will be different to what I was like before I was saved except that we were all sinners, lost and hopeless, as the Scripture says, born in sin and our own righteousness was like filthy rags. But as the one song writer puts it, Jesus came along and he touched me, I have never been the same, touched me by his mighty power, glory to his matchless name, my life was filled with so much confusion, my life was filled with sin and shame, but Jesus came along and he touched me,  I have never been the same. In the words of another song that I have previously mentioned, ‘He touched me, he touched me and oh the joy that filled my soul, something happened, and now I know, he touched me, and made me whole.’

We who have been born again have been changed, transformed because we have been touched by the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. For me, the moment I was born again took place 51 years ago, what about you, regardless of how long ago the moment may have been I trust we are still rejoicing and excited about the fact that we are saved, that we have become the redeemed of the Lord, members of the family of God. Has the joy that filled your soul on that momentous day remained?

In Ephesians chapter one, Paul lists many of the blessings that are ours in Christ Jesus, it is a good exercise to go through the chapter verse by verse, maybe spend some time during this week doing this and as you go through it be reminded of the blessings and the privilege position we are in as believers, allow the excitement and joy that redemption should bring to you fill your heart and soul again. Let us get excited again about who and what we are in Christ Jesus.

I cannot count Your blessings Lord they’re wonderful

I can’t begin to measure Your great love

I cannot count the times You have forgiven me

And changed me by Your Spirit from above

How I worship You my Father

You are wonderful how I glorify You

Jesus You’re my Lord

How I praise You Holy Spirit

You have changed my life

And You’re now at work in me

To change the world

When I was blind You opened up my eyes to see

When I was dead You gave me life anew

When I was lost You found me and You rescued me

And carried me rejoicing home with You

I cannot count Your mercies Lord they’re marvellous

I can’t begin to measure Your great grace

I cannot count the times that You have answered me

Whenever I have prayed and sought Your face

Whenever I consider what I am to You

My heart is filled with wonder love and awe

I want to share with others that You love them too

And tell the world of Jesus more and more

© 1988 Thankyou Music CCLI788682

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Daily Devotion June 8th

MONDAY 8th

Genesis 4:1-16

Today we turn to verse 4 of Hebrews 11, ‘By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.’

Our example today and tomorrow is that of Abel, ‘By faith Abel offered’.

I will call todays devotion ‘Faith Versus Works.’

What we discover about Cain and Abel in this chapter is that they both worship God and they both bring a sacrifice to God, Cain’s sacrifice was from the fruit of the ground and Abel’s sacrifice was through the sacrifice of an animal, Cain’s sacrifice was rejected by God while Abel’s sacrifice was accepted by God

The end result was that a jealous Cain on seeing his sacrifice rejected and Abel’s accepted became very angry and his outward expressions became contorted and God gives this verdict in v7, ‘Sin lies at the door of your life and you are allowing it to control you rather than you controlling it.’ Later Cain catches up with Abel and the sin that lay at the door expressed itself in an even greater measure to the point that Cain killed or murdered his brother Abel. V8 shows us how one sin can lead onto another. Cain then lies to God as to the whereabout of his brother to which God in response punished him by saying his future labour would be decreased in what it produces and that he would become a vagabond and a fugitive, never finding a place to rest or settle. V16 is a sad verse, ‘Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord’.

What can we learn from this account?

Hebrews 11:4 answers the question for us, ‘By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice.’

It could be said that although Cain brought FRUIT as a sacrifice to God it was a sham because the fruit that was expressed through his life and his character was far from anything that it should have been if he had had a genuine relationship with God.

We should challenge ourselves here – as we seek to worship God and bring our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to him, in particular on a Sunday morning worship service would it be acceptable to God if it was contrasted to the kind of fruit we may have been showing during the week? We cannot live one way in the world during the week and then act differently when we come together on a Sunday. The fruit of our lives, the fruit of our lips should be the same 24/7.

The difference in the two sacrifices these brothers made is symbolic as to how mankind will try to seek to come to worship or to reach God throughout history. It will be one of two ways:

The way of Cain which is through works or the way of Abel which is by faith.

Cain’s sacrifice was a result of his works, that is working and toiling with the ground. Abel’s sacrifice came through the shedding of blood, he took from the firstborn of his flock.

Cain represents all the man-made religions of the world that seek to come to ‘God’ through human effort, through works centred religions and isms. Abel represents all that will come by faith to God through the blood sacrifice that Christ has made on their behalf.

The one through works the other through shed blood. And God will only accept the one way, the better way, the way of the cross and not the way of works. Isaiah clearly portrays for us that all our own efforts are like filthy rags, or polluted garments, ‘We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.’ (Isaiah 64:6) This verse clearly portrays that even our very best of efforts cannot redeem us, or as Paul later says in Ephesians 2 that even with the very best we can give in the way of good works this will never be sufficient to save us. ‘For by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one may boast.’ (Ephesians 2:8)

Going back to Cain and Abel, you can imagine Cain picking the very best of the produce, proud to present his very best before God – sounds good doesn’t it, we would think that it seems a good thing to do, yet it was rejected. When Abel took his sacrifice, it would have been bloodied and marred and in all honesty not really a very pretty sight, nothing really to be able to boast about and yet God accepted it. Abel’s sacrifice reminds us of Isaiah 53 ‘He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief: and as one from whom men would hide their faces . . . Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.’

Psalm 149:4 ‘For the Lord takes pleasure in his people, he adorns the humble with salvation.’

Psalm 138:6 ‘For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows afar off.’

Cain’s murder of Abel comes about because of the rejection by God of his works orientated sacrifice and of his refusal to come the same way as his brother Abel did, the way of faith. This is also symbolic of the struggle, strife, hatred and persecution that faith-based Christianity has faced and still faces from the works-based religions of the world. As Cain persecuted Abel even to death, so the Church throughout its history has been persecuted by all who reject the way of faith.

What we can clearly learn from the lesson of Cain and Abel is that all who base their religion in the  same way as Cain, will go the same way as Cain, they will be cut off from the presence of God for eternity but all who go the way of Abel because of faith in the blood sacrifice that Christ has made on our behalf, even though we will die we will be raised to be with God throughout eternity.

John11:25-26 ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?’

Grace! ’tis a charming sound,

Harmonious to the ear;

Heav’n with the echo shall resound,

And all the earth shall hear.

Saved by grace alone!

This is all my plea:

Jesus died for all mankind,

And Jesus died for me.

’Twas grace that wrote my name

In life’s eternal book;

’Twas grace that gave me to the Lamb,

Who all my sorrows took.

Grace taught my wandering feet

To tread the pilgrim road;

And new supplies each hour I meet

While pressing on to God.

Grace taught my heart to pray,

And made my eyes o’erflow;

’Tis grace which kept me to this day,

And will not let me go.

Grace all the work shall crown

Through everlasting days;

It lays in love the topmost stone,

And well deserves the praise.

Oh, let that grace inspire

My heart with strength divine;

May all my powers to Thee aspire,

And all my days be Thine.

P Doddridge CCLI788682

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Daily Devotion May 18th

MONDAY 18th – Ephesians 2:11-22

We continue from yesterday and will go to the second ‘but’ in this chapter, in verse 13 ‘But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.’ A similar portion of Scripture is found in Paul’s letter to the Colossians, ‘For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him’

In Ephesians 2 Paul makes a statement about the Gentile, that is the non–Jewish people, that they (which also includes us) were separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth (or family) of Israel, not included in the covenants of God and we were without hope and without God in the world. It is a sweeping statement that sums up that until that time, everything that God seemed to do and be doing was for and involving Israel. They were his special people, they had been given the law, they had been given the covenants or promises. It was an ‘us and ‘you’ kind of programme of events, but thank God again for the ‘but’ found here in verse 13, it all changed at Calvary, for Paul says ‘BUT NOW in Christ you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.’ The cross now meant that God was working not just with the Jew in mind, but also for the Gentile. When Christ died on the cross he was dying for the whosoever, when he became a substitute, dying as the Passover Lamb, he was atoning for the sins of the world and as a result we all, that is Jew and Gentile as we come to believe have access in one Spirit to the Father.

The but in verse 13 leads to a complete change in the situation. There is reconciliation in two ways, first between the Jew and Gentile, the division between both is taken away, so there is no longer an ‘us’ and ‘them’ but through the cross we enjoy the same benefits, the same means of salvation, the same results of salvation and the same blessings that spring from salvation. Instead of the Jew and the Gentile, the cross led to the creation of one new man, that is one new united group or body which is the Church. The second reconciliation is found in verse 16, ‘reconciled us both (Jew and Gentile) to God’. This is good news for in contrast to verses 11-12, verse 19 says that we (the Gentiles) are no longer strangers and aliens but are fellow citizens with or as the saints and members of the household of God.

Yesterday we looked at Gods abundant mercy, great love, and amazing grace. The whole of Ephesians chapter 2 also reminds us of Gods incredible plan. Yes, as Paul puts it in the chapter, it seemed as if everything God was doing up until that point was all toward and for Israel the Jew, but in reality, he had a plan that was purposed even before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1:9 says ‘making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ’ This purpose he put into effect immediately after the fall when he pronounced to the serpent, ‘I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.’ (Genesis 3:15) And time rolled on, various events and characters in the Old Testament pointed toward a coming Saviour, who finally arrived at the God appointed moment (Galatians 4:4 ) and that which had been foreordained happened as he, the one born to be the Saviour, surrendered his life as a substitute at Calvary so that we who were dead in our trespasses and sins might be made alive. Ephesians 1:4 says ‘even as he (God) chose us in him (Jesus) before the foundation of the world,’ our inclusion into the family of God, our becoming members of the family of God, our being fellow citizens in the household of God, our being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit wasn’t an after-thought God had thousands of years after he had been dealing with the Jew, it was decided, purposed and planned even before the foundation of the world.

We will let the apostle Peter have the final word today: 1 Peter 2:9-10 ‘But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.’

Wonderful grace

That gives what I don’t deserve

Pays me what Christ has earned

And lets me go free

Wonderful grace

That gives me the time to change

Washes away the stain

That once covered me

And all that I have

I lay at the feet

Of the Wonderful Saviour who loves me

Wonderful love

That held in the face of death

Breathed, in it’s final breath

Forgiveness for me

Wonderful love

Who’s power can break every chain

Giving us life again

Setting us free

John Pantry ©Harper Collins CCLI788682

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Daily Devotion May 17th

SUNDAY 17th – Ephesians 2:1-10

‘No ifs, no buts’

I wonder how many of us know of this little phrase, ‘no ifs, no buts’ and if so, in what context? For me it takes me back to growing up on the farm and either my mum or dad would give an instruction, usually in regard to a job that needed doing or maybe homework that need completing  and one of us would start with our objections as to why we thought we couldn’t do what was being asked and out it would come, ‘no ifs, no buts’ just get on with it.

I was out walking and contemplating the devotions for this week and this phrase dropped into my mind, and the thought I had was this, thank God that there are some ifs and buts in Scripture. For example, in 2 Chronicles 7:13 the Lord says ‘When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land or send my pestilence among my people . . .’ This isn’t good news, that God would do these things, but it is followed by an ‘if’ in verse 14, ‘IF my people who are called by name . . . I will hear . . . I will forgive . . . I will heal their land.’

In the New Testament we have as an example, Ephesians 2:12 ‘remember that you were at that time separated from Christ . . .’ then verse 13 continues, ‘BUT now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.’

To start this week we will look at two of the ‘buts’  If you have already read the verses for our reading and maybe continued in the chapter, you may have noticed it contains two ‘buts’, the first is in verse 4, ‘But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us’  the second is in verse 13 as quoted above.

In this chapter the ‘but’ defines a change, a change in what we were to what we have become, a change in our situation and in our position and the changes have come about because of Gods abundant mercy, his great love, and his amazing grace.

A brief summary of the first few verses in this chapter tells us that we were spiritually dead because of our trespasses and sins, we walked as the unbelieving world walked, we lived selfish and sinful lives and we were under the wrath of God. In other words we were depraved sinners and deserving eternal punishment yet because of the ‘but’ in verse 4, we have instead come to know Gods mercy, love and grace and we have been made spiritually alive, the wrath of God has been turned away from us, we are in Christ, and we are already knowing and will continue to know his unmeasurable riches of grace in our lives, and we have become his workmanship. (Philippians 2:13 ‘for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure’) We no longer live according to the flesh but we are living out good works which he prepared for us to do. What a transformation, what a change, an incredible change in our character, in our position and in our lifestyle.

Thank God that we have come to know this wonderful change in our lives, and it is because of a ‘but’, because of Gods abundant mercy, great love, and amazing grace.

Let us ponder on these three things today.

Abundant mercy – Our text says that God is rich in mercy, this means that despite the depth of our sin or the depravity of our human nature, God’s mercy is far greater. One hymn writer puts it this way, ‘Come, ye sinners, lost and hopeless, Jesus’ blood can make you free; For He saved the worst among you, When He saved a wretch like me. And I know, yes, I know, Jesus’ blood can make the vilest sinner clean, And I know, yes, I know Jesus’ blood can make the vilest sinner clean.’

In Psalm 51:1 the Psalmist cries out ‘Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.’ Imagine where we would be if God were not a God of mercy! We may not think that we should be called the vilest sinner, but the truth of the matter is that whatever our sin we were all lost, hopeless, deserving of hell, but because of his mercy, he came to seek and to save the lost. He found you and he found me. Titus puts it this way, Titus 3:5 ‘he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.’

Gods mercy is linked with his love, Psalm 103, verse 11 is translated in the KJV as ‘For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.’ The modern versions translate ‘great is his mercy’ as ‘great is his love’ (ESV, NIV) Our text v4 says that God is rich in mercy because of his great love. They are both (mercy and love) eternally entwined in the character and nature of God and in his dealings toward mankind. Sadly, many still choose to reject both his love and his mercy. Our testimony is this, ‘Mercy there was great, and grace was free’

Great love – We have already seen how the mercy of God is extended towards mankind because of his great love. I almost should not need to expound on the greatness of his love, for we who believe have all come to be recipients of it because of Calvary. John 3:16 tells us that God so loved, (that is he was bursting with so much love for) the world (lost and sinful humanity) that he gave his one and only Son (to be a sacrifice for the sinner at Calvary) so that if we believe on him we will not perish (go to Hell) but will have eternal life. (italics mine) The immensity of the love of God should never cease to amaze us and should always win a positive response from us. ‘Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. The song writer expresses it this way, ‘The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell.’

1 John 4:10 ‘In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’

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

Amazing grace – It was John Newton who penned the words of the famous song ‘Amazing grace, how sweet the sound’ he was a man who knew what he deserved as a wretched sinner and yet had become a recipient of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And such were we, wretched, lost, and helpless until Gods amazing grace got hold of us and saved us.

Someone has said that GRACE can be described acronymically as ‘Great Riches At Christs Expense’. In other words, we get what we do not deserve because somebody else, in our case, Christ, does whatever is necessary for us to be able to receive it, (salvation) he died in our place as our substitute. We get what we could not earn, (redemption) we get what we could not achieve, (righteousness) we get status which we could never ever attain to, (seated with Christ in heavenly places) and all because of his grace which is given to us through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul’s letter to the Church at Rome is a great book of grace, the word grace appears around thirty times, I will end this devotion with some verses from that letter. Notice it is a ‘but’, Romans 3:21-25 ‘But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 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, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.’

Years I spent in vanity and pride,

Caring not my Lord was crucified,

Knowing not it was for me He died

On Calvary.

Mercy there was great, and grace was free;

Pardon there was multiplied to me;

There my burdened soul found liberty,

At Calvary.

By God’s Word at last my sin I learned;

Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned,

Till my guilty soul imploring turned

To Calvary.

Now I’ve giv’n to Jesus everything,

Now I gladly own Him as my King,

Now my raptured soul can only sing

Of Calvary.

Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!

Oh, the grace that brought it down to man,

Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span

At Calvary!

William Reed Newell CCLI 788682