Text:
Ephesians 2:4-6 (ESV)
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Observation:
I was challenged by the Word of God, and the Spirit of God to spend some time recently meditating on how huge it is that God loved me when I was at my worst.
We love people when they are at their best, and we like to be around people who are good, and who are mostly like us. However, God who is so much higher and better than us, looks at people differently. He sees how they can become, and provides the means for them to become a brand new person.
God is a relational Father, and He desires to have a personal and intimate relationship with His children. Jesus demonstrates in His work of grace toward us that mercy, love, forgiveness, and grace are vital ingredients in our relationships with God, and in our relationships with others.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
God has remade His children, and equipped us to be demonstrations of His love to others. Are you doing your best to be who He made you to be?
Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Prayer:
Father God, I am so grateful that You loved me when I was at my worst, and provided the means by which I could have a close and intimate relationship with You; not just for a season, but for eternity.
Father, I thank You that this grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness was not just a one time gift; it is a gift that is available all of the days that You allow for me to live in this fallen world.
Father, there are still days when I am at my worst, and there is never a time when I don’t need a little more grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness.
Father, since I am the recipient of so much love, I pray that I will be willing to show an abundance of Your love to others. Father, make me, and all of Your beloved children more like You in our relationships with others.In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
—
Isaiah 55:11 (KJV)
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Read the Daily Devotional by Herb Cotton; click here:
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