Devotion
Saved By Grace
Chipo Biti
It is by grace you have been saved.
A timely reminder that we should always be conscious of. My heart falls whenever I come across Christians who are caught up in their own pride, believing that their righteousness within their personal capacity is the reason why they have received salvation. One of the biggest mistakes you could ever make, as a Christian, is to think that you are able to justify yourselves according to your own works. There is a reason why Jesus had to come to earth. No matter how many times man had tried to fulfill the standards of the Law, they could not do it. They could not be righteous on their own. Every time they tried to, sin would interfere and their actions would be rendered ineffective.
God didn't wait for us to show signs of perfection before He sent his son, Jesus Christ to the earth. No. When man was drowning in their sin, as far away from God as possible, Christ came to the earth. When human beings were nothing but dead souls walking, Jesus Christ came to the earth. He was not moved by what He saw. The state of man did not make him shout in hopeless angst.
Jesus knew what He was coming to face. He knew that He would encounter ignorance. He knew that He would encounter people who would not understand anything He was saying. He knew that He was going to be beaten, mocked, and scorned. He knew that He was going to be crucified on the cross.
Jesus knew all of this but it did not stop Him from fulfilling God's will. Even in Gethsemane, where He wept as He thought of what He was about to face, Jesus rose up and chose to continue with the mission.
He knew that the fate of mankind was dependent on His sacrifice and He counted us worth the pain. God saw us as worth sacrificing His Son, for our sake. We did nothing to merit it. We did nothing to deserve it. We deserved the damnation that was headed our way, but God didn't focus on that.
He focused on saving us so that we could be reconciled to Him. We, as His children, and He as our Father.
Prayer
That is what it means to be saved by grace.
We did not deserve any of the Father's love, but He gave it to us anyway because He loved - and still loves - us that much.
Devotion
The Unjust Manager
Frances Taylor
We all know the story of the unjust servant. He had been stealing from his master and now he'd been caught. He decided to ingratiate himself with those who owed his master money so they would take care of him after he lost his job. His master commended him on his worldly wisdom, what today we might call "street smarts." But dishonesty has a price. It is very hard for someone to trust those who are dishonest. The person who robs a bank, or embezzles money, probably stole from a parent of shoplifted first. People who are dishonest start out early, a few lies, a piece of candy stolen from a store, something minor, then they progress. Acquiring money can get to be a habit, as the parable of the dishonest manager points out. People often misquote the saying, "The love of money is the root of all evil." They say, "Money is the root of all evil." Money itself is not the problem; it's the love of money. There are those who put money above family or ...
Morning Prayer
The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
Inspiration
God has never shirked his responsibility to his children. Bad things may of course also happen to good people, but that is not what is simply meant here. For our earthly bodies are encumbrances in the afterlife, shed so the spirit may roam free. All bad we endure on earth here are at the hands of men, and to be taken as part of God's trails, since he still watches over us. But remember, our ultimate, and our most important safeguarding comes in the afterlife. The faithful are rewarded, and in Heaven their souls are all finally protected from evil. Where we will be at last, safe and secure in everlasting peace.
Prayer
Lord God, my guide and protector, I pray you be with me today as I face unknown trials and tribulations. Help me endure these storms, so that I may be strengthened in my ...
Night Prayer
But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.
Inspiration
As leaders, we must be trainable, which means we are willing to take constructive criticism as a newcomer and understand that we are serving those we lead. We must be open-minded to the way people have functioned in the past and gentle when announcing the change. God bless us with authority, and we seek to use it for the good of others with humble, teachable hearts.
Prayer
Dear Father, when You select us for leadership positions, we will accept them with humility. Instead of leading with tyranny, we will lead with love and open-mindedness. In Jesus' name, Amen.
