Daily Devotional For Thursday, June 12, 2025
Can you believe that “Thoughtful Thursday" is here? (Maybe you can do something thoughtful for someone today.)
We are looking at what it means to follow Jesus from a biblical perspective. We left off yesterday learning it is not that we have made just a few bad mistakes. At the center of our heart is rebellion, not submission. This is the point of Romans 5:8, “But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (NLT). It’s not that we cleaned ourselves up first, Jesus did from the beginning of giving of His life. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; (9) not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (NASB). Notice we cannot take any credit for the grace we have received nor the more like Christ we are.
Some like to see God as “bad cop” in the Old Testament and “good cop” in the New Testament. Our problem is not simply that we have made some bad decisions. Oh, I had mine. Our problem is not just that we’ve messed up. Oh, I have done that also. Our problem is that we are — at the deepest part of our hearts—rebels against God, and we are utterly unable to turn to Him on our own. Since the Garden of Eden, humanity has been rebelling against a perfect God who loves with all His Being.
Ever since, God has showered humanity with His grace. We see this early on in the Old Testament. When God decided to destroy the earth with a global flood, He called Noah and his family through His grace to build an Ark so that humanity was not totally wiped out. Even though God knew in the future, the descendants of Abraham would rebel, God in His grace still called Abraham at 75-years old to be the father of a great nation that would eventually be called Israel. Did God know that Abraham had been an idol worshipper living in the land of Ur? Yes. So, why did God call an aging idol worshipper and not a God fearing man? Grace!
God in His grace, would give the 100 year old Abraham his promised biological descendant, a son named Isaac. Isaac would eventually have a son named Jacob, who would have 12 sons that would form the 12 tribes of Israel. Why? Grace! When the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt under Pharaoh, God called an 80-year-old murderer named Moses to be His liberator. Why? Grace! When called and anointed a very young shepherd boy named David to be king over Israel, did God know that David would commit adultery and murder to cover it up? Yes! Why? Grace! It is not that God gets some kind of divine Alzheimers and forgets our sins. No. It is us who gets spiritual Alzheimers’ and forgets the grace of God in our lives.
Ephesians 2:1-2 says, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, (2) in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience” (NASB). Notice our condition before Christ. We were dead. What can a dead person do? Nothing. So, as spiritually dead people prior to Christ we could do nothing to give ourselves life. Did you ask to be born? NO. Your parents got together and 9 months later you came into this world kicking and screaming.
If your heart stops and you die, do you ask the hospital staff to hit you with the paddles? NO. Why? You’re dead. This is why salvation from beginning to end is all the work of God. It is not that we ask Christ into our heart. He gives us His life and spiritually resuscitates us back from spiritual death. This is why you and I need someone else who can do that for us. His name is Jesus Christ.
The Bible is full of stories that all through history with all its evil, God calls someone to be different in it. We see this through the lives of David, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Esther, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. We see it through the lives of Joshua, Caleb and Josiah. This is why we cannot take any credit. All of this is by God’s grace. That is God’s point in Deuteronomy 7:7-8:
“The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, (8) but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (NASB).
God did not call the Hebrews to be His people because of who they were, but because of His grace. God through His grace calls the most unlikely people to be His servants. We see this over and over in Scripture with people like Gideon, Ruth, Rahab, Mary, and Saul/Paul. In Matthew 4:18-22, Jesus did not call them for who they were, but because of His grace. He did not call these disciples because of who they were, but in spite of who they were. That is called grace. Did Jesus know that Peter would have a mouth, hot temper and eventually deny Him? Yes! Did Jesus know that Judas would betray Him? Yes. Did Jesus know that Thomas would demand physical proof of the Resurrection? Yes!
None of these original 12 disciples have anything going for them. They were all lower-class uneducated men when Jesus called them to be His disciples due to His grace. They were set in their ways, highly opinionated, quarrelsome, bickering for places and positions, judgmental, impatient etc. There was nothing in those original disciples that qualified them to be His disciples. But that is where grace steps in. Jesus didn’t see them for who they were, but for who they could and would become. And what is true of them, is true of you too. Why? Grace! No one has ever been saved from their sins because they pursued Jesus. It is because He pursued them. Spiritually dead people can’t pursue Jesus.
Someone said that grace is God giving us what we need, not what we deserve – death and hell. Notice this all by God, not us. Someone came up with an acrostic on the word GRACE – God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Someone had to meet God’s requirement for the debt we owed God and the sin we had committed. Who was that? — our gracious Jesus Christ. If you have noticed, grace never makes sense because it is not meant to make sense. We will never fully understand unconditional love. All we can do is receive and thank God for it.
Assignment: When you think about how gracious God has been to you through Christ, what does that do for you in terms of your relationship to Him? Do you ever take advantage of God’s grace? Jesus didn’t save and call you because of who you are, but because of Who He is and who you could become? Are you becoming who He wants you to be or are you going back to old spiritually dead sinful nature and rebelling? How is your life more like Christ today than 1 year ago? Share that with someone, not to brag on yourself, but to brag about the grace of God.
Scripture To Meditate On: Ephesians 2:4-5, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, (5) even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved” ( NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, I am so sorry when I take for granted Your grace to me. Please forgive me when I act as if I have done something to bring about my spiritual growth and maturity. It is all due to Your grace. Lord, there are areas in my life where I am rebelling. Please help me to be obedient through the power of Your Holy Spirit. I love You Lord! In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly