Because of God’s holy justice, we deserve judgment for our sin. But Jesus paid for our sin-debt in full, so that now God offers us mercy and grace. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. Grace is getting favors we don’t deserve. “For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8) Grace is a gift, which he has freely given us in Christ.

Not only do we receive God’s grace at salvation, but He pours it on us lavishly moment by moment. He equips us to be His agents of grace in our families and our neighborhood.

I will remember that today is a grace-day:
Great Riches At Christ’s Expense are mine.

I will immerse myself in the ocean of His grace. I will feed on promises of His grace.  I will be a grace-giver in prayer, and in my walk and talk.I will bless someone with grace today.

Dear Father, I’m truly amazed at your grace which you keep pouring out on me. I want to bless someone with your grace today.  Amen.

Questions: Can you think of someone who needs to know and experience the grace of God? Will you reach out to that person today?

What is weighing you down today? Can we pray for you?

“In [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off].” (Galatians 5:1, Amplified Bible)

Aunt Ellie was known for her efforts to renovate the lives of most of the people she came in contact with, especially her nieces and nephews. In my case, she was determined to make me into the perfect child she would never have. Each of her visits would include advice stronger than any given by Ann Landers: “Curl your hair.” “Polish your shoes.” “Tuck in your blouse.” And the one I remember most: “Stand up straight!”

While Aunt Ellie’s words had a negative effect on me (and all other recipients of her “advice”), there is spiritual truth to be gained from that last one. How many Christians live their lives with figuratively bent backs, often caused by unnecessarily carrying loads of regret, shame or guilt? The physical body may be ramrod straight, but looking more deeply into their souls, one sees little of the joy and freedom promised by Christ.

In John Bunyan’s book, Pilgrim’s Progress, we meet the central character named Christian, bowed low with a heavy burden on his back. He is pointed toward the cross of Christ but the way ahead is long and fraught with obstacles. That is our journey, too.  How much easier it would be if we could simply believe that—at the cross—every burden we carry is laid at the Savior’s feet?

Jesus Himself said, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-29, The Message)

Stand up straight, Christian!

Questions: What is weighing you down today? How can you set it down?

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16

On a trip to China, I rode past Tiananmen Square in a bus full of Westerners. We tried to recollect the causes and consequences of the revolt. Our knowledge of history was embarrassing. One gave one date; another gave a different one. One person remembered a certain death toll; someone else disagreed. All this time our translator remained silent.

Finally one of us asked her, “Do you remember anything about the Tiananmen Square revolt?”

Her answer was solemn. “Yes, I was a part of it.”

We quickly grew quiet as she gave firsthand recollections of the bloodshed and oppression. We listened, because she’d been there.

We who follow Christ do so for the same reason. He’s been there . . .

He’s been to Bethlehem, wearing barn rags and hearing sheep crunch. Suckling milk and shivering against the cold. All of divinity content to cocoon itself in an eight-pound body and to sleep on a cow’s supper. Millions who face the chill of empty pockets or the fears of sudden change turn to Christ. Why?

Because he’s been there.

He’s been to Nazareth, where he made deadlines and paid bills; to Galilee, where he recruited direct reports and separated fighters; to Jerusalem, where he stared down critics and stood up against cynics.

We have our Nazareths as well—demands and due dates. Jesus wasn’t the last to build a team; accusers didn’t disappear with Jerusalem’s temple. Why seek Jesus’s help with your challenges? Because he’s been there. To Nazareth, to Galilee, to Jerusalem.

But most of all, he’s been to the grave. Not as a visitor, but as a corpse. Buried amidst the cadavers. Numbered among the dead. Heart silent and lungs vacant. Body wrapped and grave sealed. The cemetery. He’s been buried there.

You haven’t yet. But you will be. And since you will, don’t you need someone who knows the way out?

From 3:16, The Numbers of Hope
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, Inc, 2007) Max Lucado
Used by permission

Question: Where can you see how Jesus faced similar difficulties to the ones you’re facing in your life now?

Learn more about the Fruit of the Spirit with our life lesson on Galatians

“In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain” (Psalms 11:1).

A tame “caged” bird, such as a parrot, needs a lot of love and attention. In our home, Bubba, is a source of entertainment and joy. He needs interesting and new things to keep him entertained. He has a small perch which is portable, an outdoor play station, a small cage for transporting to the vet and a larger cage. Eventually he has to go back to his big cage (nest) for water and food. He also sleeps in “his nest” and it is a refuge for him.

Just as Bubba is comforted and fed in his nest, we as believers in Christ need the “water of the Word,” “the Bread of Life” and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Also, not attending worship and shunning fellowship, can cause us grief, guilt and all manner of things. When we stray from the Lord by sinning or dis-interest, life does not go well.

Psalm 121:2 reads: “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

When the distractions of this world capture our minds and hearts God is always there to help. After all, He is our Maker and he knows us better than we know ourselves. There is no need to criticize ourselves as we are the “apple of His eye.” As soon as we repent and ask forgiveness, He forgives. Keeping sin-free is not a thing we can fully realize in this life, but keeping our eyes on Jesus will produce beautiful fruit in our lives and give us a place to “nest.”

Lord, help us all to remember to approach you when we want to flee to other sources for our needs.  Keep our hearts and minds fixed on you. In Jesus name, amen.

Questions: Where do you flee to as a source of comfort?

“… shall not perish but have eternal life …”

On a trip to China, I rode past Tiananmen Square in a bus full of Westerners. We tried to recollect the causes and consequences of the revolt. Our knowledge of history was embarrassing. One gave one date; another gave a different one. One person remembered a certain death toll; someone else disagreed. All this time our translator remained silent.

Finally one of us asked her, “Do you remember anything about the Tiananmen Square revolt?”

Her answer was solemn. “Yes, I was a part of it.”

We quickly grew quiet as she gave firsthand recollections of the bloodshed and oppression. We listened, because she’d been there.

We who follow Christ do so for the same reason. He’s been there …

He’s been to Bethlehem, wearing barn rags and hearing sheep crunch. Suckling milk and shivering against the cold. All of divinity content to cocoon itself in an eight-pound body and to sleep on a cow’s supper. Millions who face the chill of empty pockets or the fears of sudden change turn to Christ. Why?

Because he’s been there.

He’s been to Nazareth, where he made deadlines and paid bills; to Galilee, where he recruited direct reports and separated fighters; to Jerusalem, where he stared down critics and stood up against cynics.

We have our Nazareths as well—demands and due dates. Jesus wasn’t the last to build a team; accusers didn’t disappear with Jerusalem’s temple. Why seek Jesus’s help with your challenges? Because he’s been there. To Nazareth, to Galilee, to Jerusalem.

But most of all, he’s been to the grave. Not as a visitor, but as a corpse. Buried amidst the cadavers. Numbered among the dead. Heart silent and lungs vacant. Body wrapped and grave sealed. The cemetery. He’s been buried there.

You haven’t yet. But you will be. And since you will, don’t you need someone who knows the way out?

From 3:16, The Numbers of Hope
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, Inc, 2007) Max Lucado
Used by permission

Question: Where can you see how Jesus faced similar difficulties to the ones you’re facing in your life now?

Can we pray for you?

There is much to keep you feeling anxious and worried these days…… yet God calls you to thanksgiving and peace. Let the truth of His word change your anxious heart and mind.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God… And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4: 6 & 7).

Dear God, please help me to remember that worry is a call to prayer. When anxious thoughts give way to fear in my heart may I remember to let my faith take the upper hand and cover over my fear with the power of Your word.

Fill my heart and mind with the recollection of all I have to say “thank you” for.

Thank you that guarding my heart is not just my responsibility, but YOU promise to guard my heart and mind with Your amazing peace as I turn my worried thoughts into faith filled prayers that You will preside over the details of my life.

I praise and thank you in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Questions: How can we keep our minds from being anxious but rather filled with peace? What is causing you anxiety?

Searching for meaning to existence? Take this online study to help you find meaning in your life.

“Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4” (NKJV).

Have you ever desired to be royalty and rule the world?

“For you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9-10).

Have you ever wanted to own the world?

“He who overcomes shall inherit all things…” (Revelation 21:7)

“For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth” (Proverbs 37:22).

“The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord’s, but the earth He has given to the children of men” (Psalm 115:16).

Have you ever wished you could be a super hero?

“Those from among you shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the breach, the Restorer of streets to dwell in” (Isaiah 58:12).

“The people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits” (Daniel 11:32).

“the righteous are bold as a lion” (Proverbs 28:1).

Have you ever longed for peace on earth?

“They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn was anymore” (Isaiah 2:4).

“My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places” (Isaiah 32:18).

“In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, with the birds of the air, and with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, to make them lie down safely” (Hosea 2:18).

We are royalty, the children of the King of Kings. We will inherit the earth and rule with Christ. Together with Him, we will establish His Kingdom, and peace on earth!

“Eye has no seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him”  (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Questions: Have you ever wished you could be a super hero? What would you do? The fact that you are royalty and a child of the King of Kings, how does that play out in your daily activities?

Are you lonely in your relationship? There is someone you can talk to.

“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” (James 2:17, KJV).

“How is Brandy?” I asked my aunt as we were standing in the kitchen of her home one holiday afternoon.

“She’s fine”, my aunt replied as she took the turkey out of the oven. “She writes a list of all the things that she wants to do with her life. She doesn’t do anything with it. She reminds me of how you were a long time ago.” Then, in an exasperated voice, she said, “Do something!”

I had to laugh to myself as I was convicted by her words. I knew God was speaking to me through my aunt. He had just told me, again, to walk in my destiny. And what was I doing? I was still acting the same way I did almost twenty years ago. Writing down the plans and goals that He gave me but not stepping out on faith to get it done. What was I waiting for?

When we are unwilling to do what God tells us to do, we are acting in fear and disobedience. James 2:17 states that “faith without works is dead.” We can believe in our hearts that what God says is true. But if we don’t respond to the truth, it is like not believing at all. We are double minded (James 1:8).

We cannot let fear and unbelief hinder us from our divine assignments. These assignments are given to us to advance the kingdom. God is waiting for us to be willing vessels that He can use as His hands and feet here on the earth. He has already anointed and equipped us with everything we need to get the assignment done (Joshua 1:9).

There is a lost world that needs to see God. The body of Christ represents God. When we are doing what God tells us to do, we are taking God to the world. So take another look at that written vision. Then do something!

Father, thank You for the gifts You have given me to be a blessing to others. Forgive me for not trusting You to carry out the plans that You have for me. Holy Spirit, I submit myself to You. I will continue to remember that this is not about me. The purpose of my calling is all about You. In Jesus name. Amen.

Questions: What assignment has God given you to do that you are hesitant about starting? What is one step that you can take today, by faith, to get you started on your assignment?

“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus”(Hebrews 12:1-2).

This Easter Sunday I am impressed with the newness that the Risen Christ brings to our lives. Being reminded of how His death conquered all that drags us down truly brings us back to the roots of our faith and our freedom. The “stuff of life” can easily distract and pull us away from the life changing truth that is ours on a daily basis.

With renewed commitment today I want to take to heart the words of Hebrews 12:

”Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

1 Peter 1:13 tells us exactly how to do this in very practical terms:

•    Prepare your mind. Keep scripture fresh in your thoughts.
•    Be self-controlled. Pay attention to where your focus lies.
•    Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Let’s receive the grace offered to us on a daily basis, just for today, knowing that the trials of life are not the enemy. Rather the enemy of our soul temps us to make the choice of becoming lost in the trail and fail to grasp the grace held out to us daily to sustain us through the trial.

So let’s run… with the grace given to us for today, and trust God with the tomorrows of our lives. His grace will meet us when we get to tomorrow.

Thank you that Christ is risen indeed! Please help me today to walk in the power and grace of the risen Christ. Amen.

Questions: What sustains you during your trials? How has God shown His grace to you lately?

Do you feel overwhelming stress, fear or anxiety? We are here.

Have you ever wondered about that rooster that crowed right after Peter denied his Lord?  How did it happen that the rooster crowed just then?  Why didn’t he crow sooner?  Or why not later?  Why was it immediately after Peter had denied Christ three times?

Our immediate reaction to these questions might be to answer: “For one thing, Christ predicted that would happen.  For another, by the cock crowing just at that particular time, Peter realized the awful sin he had committed and went out and wept bitterly in repentance.”

We know the Lord loved Peter.  We know also that He dearly loves each one of His followers. Thus Christians can be assured that if He had a rooster crow at the right time for Peter, then He is ready to alert us when we stray off the path of righteousness!

Could it be that our downward path toward disobedience and sin starts in the same way as Peter’s?  When Jesus predicted that His disciples would desert Him, Peter declared, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will” (Matthew 26:33)!

Oh, how sure we get of ourselves sometimes!  We get so sure that we find ourselves relying on our own instead of the Lord’s strength.  The longer and stronger we go with the Lord, the more prone we seem to do this, for we may become proud of our own Christian strength!

Then we go to sleep, as Peter did in the Garden of Gethsemane.  “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” Jesus asked Peter (Matthew 26:40).  We may get so wrapped up in our ritual of “serving the church” that we go to sleep; we lose our vision for winning lost souls to Christ.  We are in a nice, restful rut.  We tell the Lord we would never deny Him, but we fall asleep when He needs us most.

Ah, but we still have some spurts of zeal!  See, as the soldiers come to arrest Jesus, Peter leaps up with his sword and lops off an ear!  On the surface, this looks pretty brave, but if we look closely we find that Peter had not stopped to pray about it, even when he had been told by Jesus what would happen.  In the flesh, Peter lopped off an ear; in the Spirit Jesus restored it (Luke 22:51).  Sometimes in our spurts of zeal for the Lord our efforts might drive lost souls further from Him.  How careful we must be in all His work to be led by His Spirit!

Now Peter’s faith was low.  His Lord had been arrested and led away for trial.  In the darkest hour before dawn, temptation struck and Peter fell.  He cursed and lied, but worst of all, he denied three times the Son of God, Jesus Christ.  Similarly, temptation strikes us at the darkest hour when we are totally unprepared..  After we have relied upon ourselves, gone to sleep, worked in the flesh, then temptation strikes!  And like Peter, we may fall.

Then God has a rooster crow for us.  It may be a sermon, a devotional message, a Bible lesson.  Or a difficult circumstance may cause us to awaken from our sleep.  When God confronts us and we realize how we have sinned against Him, then like Peter, let us repent with tears of sorrow.  Then forgiven, we can lift up our heads, and living in the Spirit we can go forth to make our lives count for Him in His power.

Father God, I do work hard, often with zeal of my own, neglecting to spend time in prayer listening to Your still small voice of guidance. Thank you that You keep my heart on course by the nudging of Your Holy Spirit to reveal the sin in my life. Help me to respond quickly and willingly and allow You to fill me with fresh joy and zeal that comes from You. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Questions: Tell us of a situation where you served the Lord with much zeal but forgot to pray about it. Why do we need to pray and listen to what the Lord tells us?