Grace of God is A Gift of Love:

⁴ Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. ⁵ However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. ⁶ David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

⁷ “Blessed are those
    whose transgressions are forgiven,
    whose sins are covered.
⁸ Blessed is the one
    whose sin the Lord will never count against them.” Romans 4:4-8

The reason this verse is so meaningful to me is because I am a sinner saved by the grace of God.

I have not received forgiveness by working for it. It was a free and wonderful gift from God, Himself.

No matter what I do, I cannot earn God’s grace and forgiveness. The wages of forgiveness have been earned by Jesus Christ, and by what He did for us on the cross, and through His death and resurrection. He won the victory over sin and death! He freely gave me the gift of forgiveness that cost Him so much!

If you are in need of God’s saving grace, He is willing to give it to you for free!  You do not need religion, laws, or a rigid task of perfection. Just simply ask with faith, and He will forgive you of all your sins. Not only that, but He will make you righteous, and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.  I have posted previously about one of my favorite verses, 1 John 1:9. (It is 9-1-1 backwards)–my emergency verse.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

One more thing I need to say is that our personal relationship with God is the thing that matters most.

Our church cannot save us. Our parent’s faith cannot save us. We cannot find redemption or salvation in any other name, but Jesus Christ. God sees our hearts, not our outward appearance. We cannot fool him with our actions or our appearance of being religious.

Abraham was chosen of God before he was a Jew, and before he was circumcised.

Rahab, a prostitute of the town of Jericho, was chosen of God to be in the lineage of Jesus’s family, and she helped save the Israelites.

Paul was persecuting Christians when the light and glory of Jesus blinded him. He was a devout Jew who persecuted Christians. Paul was exposed to the truth, and he followed Jesus and never looked back.

Jonah tried to run from God’s calling to preach to the people at Nineveh. Those people weren’t even of Jonah’s faith. They were really bad! God cared about the people of Nineveh though. They needed to hear about the destruction that was planned for their city if they didn’t repent. They heard the words of God, through Jonah’s amazing testimony, and they were saved from being destroyed.

God is so merciful and willing to save us, no matter who we are or where we’ve come from!

Dear God, make us real men and women of faith. Help us to be overjoyed to love and serve You, not to earn wages, but to share the grace we received with others, so they can be saved too. Help me to be a good ambassador for You. In the Precious, Wonderful name of Jesus, Amen.

-Dawn-

Liberty and Laws Go Together:

Galatians 5:1

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

I read this verse this morning, from the Duck Commander Devotional, for May 12. Si Robertson wrote the article that followed.

He explained that as Americans, we love our freedom, but we love our laws too.

What good would liberty do without laws? If we could go about hurting one another when we got mad, with no penalty, or decided it was okay to murder someone, because we didn’t like their hair color, that would be terrible freedom to have, with no consequences for our actions. Destruction follows lawlessness.

We need laws to keep us in check. They help us to know our boundaries, for our own good.

Si said that Christians love their freedom, too, and we love God’s laws.

God’s laws show us how to love, how to respect God and people.

To sum them up; there is only one God, and we are not to worship or bow down to any images. We are told not to misuse God’s name, and we are to keep the Sabbath Holy, and observe it as a day of rest.

We are to honor our parents. Murdering, stealing, lying, and bearing false witness are all prohibited. Desiring, or coveting, what your neighbor has, is also prohibited.  (Deuteronomy 5)

All of us have fallen short of the glory of God, but if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

As Christians, we have the law, but we have freedom too.

Dear God, thank You for laws that were made to show us the right way to live. Thank You for forgiveness through Christ, when we fail. You knew we would make mistakes, do wrong things, and still have a desire for You. Your wonderful provision of salvation through Christ, has reconciled us. What Jesus did on the cross was so amazing! I praise You for all that You’ve done. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

-Dawn-