Devotion: Jesus Is Lord!

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

“And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger (feed trough); because there was no room for them in the inn.  And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon (stood before) them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore (greatly) afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not:  for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes (cloths), lying in a manger (feed trough).  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men.  And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass which the Lord hath made known unto us.  And they came with haste and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.  And when they heard it wondered (marveled) at those things which were told them by the shepherds” (Luke 2:7-18).

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16-18).

“And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things (those) in heaven, and things (those) in earth, and things (those) under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:8-11).

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed (put to shame).  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:9-13).

“Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.  This is the stone which was set at nought of (rejected by) you builders, which is become the head of the corner (chief cornerstone).  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:10-12).

“Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds (ages); who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged (cleansed) our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they” (Hebrews 1:2-4).

My Bible says that in Christ alone is salvation found.  Jesus himself tells us that he is the way, the truth, and the life and that no man comes to the Father but by him (John 14:6).  Scripture tells us that God has highly exalted Jesus and has given him a name that is above every name (Philippians 2:9), where “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9 NIV).  You see, there is power in the name of Jesus, my Lord and Savior; for his name is above every name.

We forever pray that our inspirational message will abundantly bless you, greatly inform you, and that you will be the better for having read it.  If blessed by this message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: Follow God Not People

We allow the circumstances of life to direct what we should do; how we should act or react; and the direction that our faith should head.  As long as we look at the circumstances of life, as long as we look at what happens to others, doubt can enter and cause our faith to leave.  Here is the problem with using others to measure the gifts and blessings of God.  Unless you are there with that someone every second of every minute of every hour of every day, it is impossible for you to know what he or she was believing God for or the level of his or her faith.  With so many variables that can come into each individual equation, it can prove to be almost impossible to gauge the amount of faith, the amount of doubt, or even the amount of fear one has.  Could the person have been like Peter (Matthew 14:23-33)?  How strong was their faith when he or she stepped out onto the water (Matthew 14:29)?  Could they have seen the wind boisterous and become afraid (Matthew 14:30)?  Could they have started to sink but did not cry out for help?  Could their doubt have caused their faith to decrease?  Could this have caused their faith to flee?  On the other hand, could the person have been like Job (Job 1-3)?  Did the thing, which they greatly feared, come upon them (Job 3:25)?  Did the thing, which they were afraid of, come unto them?  Could their fear have caused their faith to decrease?  Could this have caused their faith to flee?  We look at the lives of others that we classify as saints and allow the circumstances that happen in and around their lives to dictate things in our lives.  This problem has plagued many Christians and non-Christians alike.

In a rare interview by CBS News, they reported that a certain woman had a calling based on unquestioned faith, which cause her to start her ministry.  She went on to become a world-renowned symbol of religious compassion, strong faith, and a commitment to kingdom work.  She was an icon for many believers just because of the work she appeared to do for God.  She even received the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work.  In letters written to her friends and priests, she confessed her doubt in her own faith.  She questioned her faith, something she felt had been lost because the Spirit had left her shortly after she started her ministry.  She even questioned the existence of God.  Although few knew, she searched to reclaim her faith for many years.  She died with unresolved doubts about God, about Jesus, about her faith, and about her labors.  She even had stopped praying.  With a smile, she was able to mask the internal conflict she carried for many years, where her biggest fear was that of being a hypocrite.  Many considered her the embodiment of a saint and looked to her as the iconic symbol of Christ-like faith.  They perceived through her ministry works, that she was full of faith and had the Spirit working inside of her.  Many put their faith in her, making judgment calls based on their emotions and feelings.  They have based so much of their opinions, so much of their decisions on what they see.  We have to wonder the impact on those who were loyal to her and her ministry when it was revealed that Mother Teresa had doubts about her faith, about her ministry, about God, and about Jesus.  We have to wonder what they thought when it was revealed that she had lost her faith, shortly after she had started her ministry.  We have to wonder how many had lost their faith after hearing about her letters.  We have to wonder how Satan has used her doubt, her lack of faith, and her questions about the existence of God and Jesus to affect others.  We have to wonder about the domino effect surrounding the discovery and release of her letters.

This is why it is so important that we not look at the lives of others as a measure or gauge for our lives.  Had she not written of her thoughts, no one would have known the truth about the internal turmoil she endured during her ministry.  She appeared to be, for all intent and purposes, the perfect example of a worker for God.  One who answered the calling to start a ministry based on her unquestioned faith.  Could she have been like Peter?  Was her faith strong when she stepped out onto the water?  Could she have seen the wind boisterous and become afraid?  Could she have started to sink but did not cry out for help?  Could her doubt have caused her faith to decrease?  Could this have caused her faith to flee?  On the other hand, could she have been like Job?  Did the thing, which she greatly feared, come upon her?  Did the thing, which she was afraid of, come unto her?  Could her fear have caused her faith to decrease?  Could this have caused her faith to flee?  Are you one who allows the circumstances of life to direct what you should do; how you should act or react; and the direction that your faith should head?

We forever pray that this inspirational message will abundantly bless you, greatly inform you, and that you will be the better for having read it.  If blessed by this message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings. - KW

Devotion: You Must Be Born Twice

Continuing our conversation about being born again, enter the story of a Jewish religious leader whose heart, ears, and eyes were opened by what Jesus had said.

“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: the same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles (signs) that thou doest, except God be with him.  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again (from above), he cannot see the kingdom of God.  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old?  can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:1-6).

After dark one night a Jewish religious leader named Nicodemus, who was a member of a particular sect of the Pharisees, came to speak with Jesus.  In case you did not know, the Pharisees were the most influential Jewish sect at the time.  Known for their somewhat arbitrary rules, the Pharisees were charged with knowing, keeping, and enforcing the oral laws of Moses as they interpreted them.  Anyway, Nicodemus told Jesus that they knew he was a teacher, who was sent by God because no man could do the miracles, which they all witnessed, except God be with that man.  Nicodemus told Jesus that his miracles were proof enough of who he was.  Jesus then says to Nicodemus, as earnestly as possible, “Unless you are born again, you can never see the kingdom of God.”  It is interesting to note that the word “see” is define in this context as “having knowledge of, understanding, or perceiving.”  Basically, Jesus is telling Nicodemus that man has no knowledge of the kingdom of God, that he does not have the ability to understand the kingdom of God, and that he cannot even perceive the kingdom of God unless he be born again, that is, unless he is born from above.

Nicodemus, puzzled by this statement asked, “What do you mean?  How is it possible for a man, who is old to go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”  Then Jesus says to Nicodemus as earnestly as possible again, “Unless a man is born of the water and born of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God, for physical birth is not enough, you must be also born spiritually.”  Jesus goes on to say, “Man can only reproduce flesh, for whatever has been born of the flesh is flesh, but whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit, for the Spirit gives new life that is from heaven.”

So, Jesus told Nicodemus that a man who had not been born again had no knowledge of the kingdom of God.  The only understanding that a person who was not born again could get was the kind of understanding that the world offers, which has and continues to lead many into captivity (Isaiah 5:13).  Jesus told Nicodemus that everyone, including him, had to be born again, had to be born of the Spirit, had to be born from above.  But here is the key thing that so many have missed about this story.  This meant that those Jewish leaders, who were charged with knowing, keeping, and enforcing the oral laws of Moses as they interpreted them, were not immune.  They too had to be born again.  Jesus told these leaders that the physical birth was not enough for them to see the kingdom of God.  But what did all of this that Jesus was saying about being born again mean to those Jewish leaders?

The bottom line, Jesus told the Jewish leaders as well as the Jewish people that they were not as special as they thought they were.  Jesus told them that everyone, Jews and Gentiles alike, would have to do the same thing in order to get into the kingdom of God.  Jesus told them that everyone, regardless of who they were or what they thought their status was, had to be born again; they had to be born from above.  Jesus made it sound as if the Jews were not a special people unto God anymore.  He made it sound as if they were not above all the people that were upon the face of the earth as they believed themselves to be.  Jesus put Jews and Gentiles together, having to do the exact same thing to get into the kingdom of God, which did not please the Jewish people, much less the Jewish leaders.  Do you think it might be possible that the Jews may have been chosen as a special people unto God for a different reason than the one that we have been taught all these years?  The possibility does exist.

May today’s inspirational message open your heart, your ears, and your eyes much the same way Nicodemus had his heart, ears, and eyes opened by what Jesus had said.  If you are blessed by this message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: Morally Corrupt And Spiritually Dead

Recently we spoke about being born again.  In that commentary, we mentioned that once we were spiritually dead, meaning we were completely alienated and separated from God.  We were what was referred to as being “sin conscious.”  You see, when man was first created, he was created in a state of innocence and very much dependent on God.  At that time, he was “spiritually and morally innocent and without sin.”  Even though man was created “fully-grown,” he was just a baby in reality.  Man had little to no reason to doubt what God said, although he really did not understand what it all might have meant.  Developmentally, he could not progress beyond what God had instilled in him.  By definition, man had no moral sense of right or wrong—he had no conscience.

When developing their consciousness, children have little to no awareness of their moral compass.  They have a hard time understanding the consequences their actions may bring.  We can actually relate man’s mental state at the time of creation to that of the child that wants to touch the hot stove eye but is told not to.  Because the child lacks understanding, it is not until the child commits the forbidden act that he or she becomes aware of any consequences.  The same can be said about man when he ate of the forbidden fruit; he became aware of the consequences for his action.  We know that man’s eyes were opened and that he became fully aware of things that he was not aware of before (Genesis 3:7).  We also know that he has obtained the knowledge of good and evil, something that he did not have before (Genesis 3:22).  We trust that you can see the similarities between the two.

In addition to his newfound knowledge of and awareness to good and evil, man has now become “a new creature.”  Here is what we mean by “new creature.”  We know initially man was created “spiritually and morally innocent,” without a sense of right and wrong—without a conscience.  Man was then given one commandment, “not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:16-17).  At the same time, he is given one consequence, “in the day that you eat of the tree, you will surely die.”  For whatever reason, man eats of the tree, and in eating of the tree, man disobeys God’s commandment, gains the knowledge of good and evil, and changes his nature.

Let’s just say, man started with a “sinless nature,” but when he ate of the forbidden fruit, his “sinless nature” changed from a state of innocence and dependency on God to an entirely different state and one of being cut off from God.  Man now has “a fixed moral nature in sin” instead of “a nature that is fixed in righteousness.”  He now knows good but is unable to do it and he knows evil but is unable to resist it.  Man was told that he would “surely die” and die he did.  Typically, we associate death with a separation from the physical body.  Death is also associated with a separation from God or what is known as “spiritual death.”  Is it conceivable that man could have known of this type of death, much less understood it when he disobeyed the commandment?  Now that is something to ponder.

Man has now become “a new creation, a new creature, if you will.  He has changed his original nature from a sinless state to a new nature that is fixed in a sinful state.  Man has now become “sin conscious” and can no longer be considered “morally and spiritually innocent.”  Man has become “morally corrupt and spiritually dead.”  He is “morally corrupt” because he knows good but is unable to do it and he knows evil but is unable to resist it.  He is “spiritually dead” because he has alienated and separated himself from God, severing his spiritual connection with God.  He also started to die physically, as in his spirit and soul started separating from his body.

At the moment of disobedience, everything changed for man and the world that God had created.  And while many have placed the blame on both, it was clearly because of what the man did that the change happened.  So, at the moment of disobedience, sin entered into the world because of “the one man” (Romans 5:12).  And when sin came into the world, death hitched a ride.  For through sin came death and it, death, was spread throughout the entire world and was passed to every man.  And because of “the one man,” we have “a fixed moral nature in sin.”  But not to worry, the story does not end there.

May today’s inspirational message bless you, inform you, and open to you, revelation knowledge.  If blessed by this message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: God Is Not Guilty

There are many people who have been taught and led to believe that God is responsible for all the tragedy in the world.  They believe he is responsible for the earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, and all the other natural disasters that take place.  Most often in those situations where such disasters occur, you will quite often hear the phrase, an act of God associated with them.  In legal terms, the phrase, an act of God is defined as any extraordinary interruption caused solely by the effect of nature or natural causes that no one can reasonably foresee or prevent; it is a natural catastrophe caused without any interference by humans whatsoever.

Then there are those who believe God is responsible for the daily struggles that so many go through every day, such as depression, fear, worry, anxiety, confusion, doubt, discouragement, low self-esteem, poverty, sickness, and death.  They have been taught and truly believe that everyone suffers these things because this is the will of God.  That old cliché, God will not put more on you than you can bear, appears to fall in line with the old teachings that God is responsible for the things that happen to us.  They also believe that God uses these things so that he can chasten his children.  They are convinced that there is some type of life lesson that God wants his children to learn through these experiences.

These lessons, resembling some kind of How-to lessons, include things like our dependence on God, our trust in God, our walk with God, and anything else that draws us closer to God.  And while some of these How-to lessons sound a little farfetched even as we write about them, most of us do not put much thought into them because we have been led to believe that they are from God himself.  We tend to accept, without question, these things because we have been trained, from an early age, that God’s ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).  We also have been taught that only disobedient Christians questioned the things of God and somehow God would breathe fire and brimstone down upon them, sending them straight to hell for doing such a blasphemous thing.

It was these types of things that we were taught that functioned as the foundational building blocks for our belief system; a system built entirely on the things that we were taught from our childhood.  Our childhood belief system came entirely from all those things that we just accepted as truth, without question.  Over the years, we have attempted to re-enforce our foundation with solid biblical information and fundamental truths.  We have checked things out for ourselves and have decided which so-called truths fit into our belief system.  We have compared all the relative information and related scriptures, accepting everything, regardless of the source, that we believe to be truth and that which appears to affirm our beliefs.  We have sewn these things into the very fabric of our belief system and have removed everything that does not agree with our current beliefs.  We have even closed our minds to anything that sounds contrary to what we believe.

This will be hard for some to accept, but much of our beliefs are grounded in traditionalism and denominationalism.  These things have been so ingrained into our belief system that we have become imprisoned by misinformation, misinterpretations, and untruths.  Instead of having an open mind so that we may gain a better understanding of the things of God, we have closed our minds and limited our knowledge.  And because we have limited our knowledge, we have limited our understanding.

God says that his people are destroyed because they lack knowledge.  This lack of knowledge is not because the knowledge is hidden or because it is not available, but because his people have rejected it (Hosea 4:6).  Because we lack the knowledge, we lack the understanding that comes from God.  And because we lack the understanding that comes from God, we are left with the understanding that comes from the world.  And it is the understanding that the world offers that has led so many into captivity (Isaiah 5:13).  When was the last time you re-examined your belief system?

We pray that our inspirational message will bless you as well as inform you.  If blessed by this message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: The Difference Between God And Satan

Recently we discussed the wicked one we all call Satan.  It was more of an introduction about this entity that appears to have more speculation about him than actual facts or so it may seem.  However, as we have stated before, things are not always what they appear to be, when it comes to the things of God.  We know that the scriptures do not reveal much detail about this entity, especially in the Old Testament, mainly because there was not much man could do about him.  We were sort of at his mercy.  It was not until Jesus hit the scene that we really start to hear more about this entity.  We know from scripture that Lucifer was originally created as one of God’s highest angels, an anointed cherub.

“Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, thus saith the Lord God; thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold:  the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.  By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned:  therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.  Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.  Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.  All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more” (Ezekiel 28:11-19).

According to the above passage of scripture, we have what appears to be a description of Lucifer, later known as Satan.  It starts out with a message for the king of Tyrus but it becomes obvious that the intent was to apply to Satan, therefore we must carefully discern between the two.  The king of Tyre was the name of the false god Melkart (meaning king of the city).  Melkart was the evil spiritual being that had energized this human ruler, who was a priest.  It is clear that God is addressing the evil spirit, the real power behind the wicked society and government of Tyre and not the human ruler himself.  This is evident from some of the descriptions that they are not directed towards any human being.  Here, Satan is referred to as the anointed cherub, a term used strictly in the Old Testament to describe powerful angelic creatures.  The fact that he is anointed and one who covers or protects implies that he is perhaps one of the highest angelic beings ever created by God.  He was considered to be the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and the perfection of beauty, with his coverings bejeweled with every precious stone, all set in the finest of gold.  He was found to have been in Eden, the garden of God and was appointed as an anointed guardian cherub.  He served near the presence of God and was perfect in all that he did until iniquity was found in him, until internal turmoil caused him to sin.  Internally, his heart was filled with pride, corrupting his wisdom for magnificence and he began to deal in immoral trade.

From this, we have learned several important foundational facts about him, the one known as Satan, which could help to correct many popular misconceptions.  We see that he is a created being who is locked in eternal opposition to God and all that God represents, however he is not equal to or on the same level as God.  Unlike God, he has a beginning and he is finite.  He is a creature that was created perfect in beauty, wisdom and morality, who had unique access to the presence of God and led many angels in their worship of God.  We also know that he is not an all-powerful being that was created evil.  Originally, Satan was created as “Lucifer, son of the morning, or Day Star” (Isaiah 14:12), one of God’s highest angels.  He was created perfect in beauty, wisdom, and morality.  He had unique access to the presence of God and led many angels in their worship of God.  He was and still remains a finite creature who is not all-powerful.  He was not created evil, yet he fell much like man.  So how did he become evil?  We will have to save that discussion for another time.

As always, we pray that today’s inspirational message will bless you, inform you, and that you will be the better for having read it.  If blessed by this message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

Devotion: The Gift of Grace

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts.  Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.  But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:1-10 NIV).

“But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness is given through faith in (through the faithfulness of) Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.  He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:21-26 NIV).

“All these new things are from God who brought us back to himself through what Christ Jesus did.  And God has given us the privilege of urging everyone to come into his favor and be reconciled to him.  For God was in Christ, restoring the world to himself, no longer counting men’s sins against them but blotting them out.  This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others.  We are Christ’s ambassadors.  God is using us to speak to you: we beg you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, receive the love he offers you—be reconciled to God.  For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins.  Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us” (II Corinthians 5:18-21 TLB)!

Scripture clearly states that no one can be declared righteous or made right with God by trying to keep the law.  Those who depend on the law to save them are under God’s curse, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who breaks a single one of the laws written in the book of the law at anytime” (Galatians 3:10 TLB).  The law, which has nothing to do with faith, teaches that those who do or follow these things (the law) will only have life in doing or following them (the law).  But thank God, Christ has redeemed us and brought us out from under the doom of that impossible system of laws by taking on the curse himself.  Yes, Christ purchased our freedom from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us when he hung on that wooden cross.  Because Christ purchased our freedom, we now can share in the blessings belonging to Abraham, who was full of faith and accepted God’s promise.  It is through the blessings of Abraham that we of like faith might receive the Spirit that God had promised to give (Galatians 3:10-14).  The man who finds life will find it through his faith in God (Habakkuk 2:4) and not through a law that is not of faith.  Justified freely by his grace (Romans 3:24), the just shall live by faith.

As always, we pray that today’s devotion will give you a new perspective on this “free gift of God, this gift of grace,” which is given by the righteousness of Jesus Christ and has been made available to all.  If you are blessed by this devotion, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW