Topic: God Wants You to Be Strong in His Grace — Saturday September 9, 2017.
Text: 2 Timothy 2:1 (KJV, New Living Trans. & Amplified Bible)
Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. *Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. *SO YOU, my son, be strong (strengthened inwardly) in the grace (spiritual blessing) that is [to be found only] in Christ Jesus.
We will never become all that God intends for us to become if we believe that our own effort (works mindset) is what affords us the privilege to be right with God or to attain anything in life and in God. Like Apostle Paul said in 1Corinthians 15:10, we must be engaged and do what is right, but we must acknowledge that everything we are is absolutely by God’s grace. We must allow our faith in the grace of God to empower us in everything that we do.
If we are not strongly rooted in the grace of God, we will easily fall out of that knowledge. God does not want us to become like the Galatian believers who foolishly fell back into believing that it was their works made them acceptable before God, Gal.3:1-3. In the Good News Bible, Galatians 5:4 says, “those of you who try to be put right with God by obeying the Law have cut yourselves off from Christ. You are outside God’s grace.” In Philippians 3:9 (NLT), Apostle Paul made it clear that “…I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.”
God wants our faith to be in His grace and our hearts to be established in that same grace. Hebrews 13:9 (NKJV) says, “do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.” In the New Living Translation, this same verse says, So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I receive Your grace to focus more on You and to keep my faith firmly rooted in Your grace.
Bible In A Year Reading Plan: Proverbs 6-7; 2 Corinthians 2
Empowered to do exploits…
CGMI Above Only Daily Devotional, was written by Most Rev. M.E. Benson-Idahosa, Archbishop of Church of God Mission International, CGMI.
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