Today We Pray

Dear Lord, let all who take refuge in You rejoice. Let us ever sing for joy. Let those who confess Your name raise up their voice, filling the air with glorious noise.

Spread Your protection over us, mighty God, that we who love Your name may exalt You before all the people of the earth. Let the quiet and the shy find their courage so that they may sing and shout to the sky, “There is one great God who rules over us all, and Jesus Christ of Nazareth is His only Son”. May I be blessed to help the blind see Your glory and the deaf hear Your praise, lest they surely die.

For they must be told: Every heart will find righteousness and eternal life in the holy name of Christ, and nowhere else. Make me Your trumpet and make me Your lighthouse. Let me proclaim to the very end of the earth, that Christ is King!

Amen

Today's Godly Reminder - Galatians 3:28

In Christ’s family, there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us, you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. There is now no distinction in regard to salvation. For you, who believe are all one in Christ Jesus, no one can claim a spiritual superiority. We are all the same—we are Christians. We are one in Christ Jesus. Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other.

The Daily Grace - Graceland

The Graceland Mansion in Memphis, Tennessee, is one of the most visited homes in the US. It was built in the 1930s and named after the original owner's great aunt, Grace. It later became famous as the home of Elvis Presley.

I love the name Graceland because it describes the amazing territory into which God placed me when He forgave me of my sin and made me His own. He took me out of the darkness and brought me into His own "graceland". The apostle Paul says that "the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many" (Rom. 5:15). I'll be forever thankful that the "many" includes me and that God's love has transferred me into the territory of His marvelous, infinite, and matchless grace!

Think of the blessing of being in God's graceland. It is a realm where He has given us entrance into His presence and where that same grace continues to overflow into our lives on a daily basis. Paul tells us that even in times of despair God showers us with sufficient grace to see us through (2 Cor. 12:9). No matter what life may bring, nothing can remove us from the realm of God's grace. Remember where you live and rejoice in His grace.

Today We Pray

Dear Lord, for the blessings of Your grace, I am forever grateful! Teach me to accept Your grace and to live in its power. Help me to share Your story with others.

Renew and strengthen my faith in Your incomprehensible love and mercy for the penitent sinner. Free me from the burden of guilt and anxiety that the judgments of the human mind trying to inflict upon me. Let me live as a forgiven soul, filled with the joy of salvation that only faith can bring.

Let me live this day as the gift it is, for You have truly blessed me to live it. And if I may suffer, I will carry with me the certainty that one day I will see You face to face, a day when all things will become clear and my pain will be made whole through the grace of Christ, my God. Blessed be You, oh Lord my God, and blessed be the day you have given me.

Amen

The Daily Grace - Breaking Free

The elephant is the largest land animal on earth - and one of the most powerful. Yet it takes only a strong rope to restrain one. Here's how it works. When the elephant is young, he is tied to a large tree. For weeks, he will strain and pull, but the rope holds him fast. So eventually, he gives up.

Then, when the elephant reaches his full size and strength, he won't struggle to get free, for once he feels resistance, he stops. He still believes he's held captive and can't break free. Satan can play a similar trick on us to hold us captive. The Bible assures us that there is "no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit" (Rom. 8:1). We have been set "free from the law of sin and death" (v. 2). But the enemy of our soul tries to make us believe we are still dominated by sin.

What shall we do then? Reflect on what Christ has done. He died for our sins and declared an end to sin's control over us (v. 3). He rose from the dead and gave us the Holy Spirit. Now we are empowered to live victoriously in Him because "the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in [us]" (v. 11). In Christ, we are set free. Experience true freedom - take every thought captive in obedience to Christ.

Today We Pray

Dear Lord, I can open up my heart to You. I can tell You everything that troubles me. I know You care about all the concerns in my life.

Teach me to live in the knowledge that You who care for me today, will care for me tomorrow and all the days of my life. I try to let go of any prejudices and narrow-mindedness that may be clouding my vision at this present moment. I hand them over to Your merciful care so I can pray in freedom at this time.

If you are with me, O God, who can be against me? For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus my Lord. Glory be to Your name!

Amen

Today's Godly Reminder - Romans 5:15

The free gift of God is not like the trespass. It is not at all to be compared to the trespass. It is because the gift of grace is out of all proportion to the fall of man. Yet the rescuing gift is not exactly parallel to the death-dealing sin. If one man’s sin put crowds of people at the dead-end abyss of separation from God, just think what God’s gift poured through one man, Jesus Christ, will do!

What a difference between man’s sin and God’s forgiveness! For this one man, Adam, brought death to many through his sin. But this one man, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness to many through God’s mercy. The gift that God was kind enough to give was very different from Adam’s sin. That one sin brought death to many others. Yet in an even greater way, Jesus Christ alone brought God’s gift of kindness to many people.