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Listen while you read: "Under His Wings"1 (Lyrics) |
Some days, I feel so imperfect, inefficient, and inadequate that I question whether or not God will both accept and forgive me. I've made many mistakes throughout my life, and sometimes, I shudder when I think about the scrapes that I got into during my teenage and drunken years. How I managed to survive them is incredible to me. If it weren't for God's grace, I wouldn't be here now, writing a devotional, trying to connect with other folks who have gone through similar things.
When I start the day with a such a downer, at some point, God interrupts my self-pity and usually highlights a Bible verse which I can both ponder and rely upon. This morning was no different: God provided the verse and made me realize that His mercy and grace still abound. Here's the verse that I was given:
Acts 20:32 – Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. (NIV)
It was just what I needed to read, embrace, and apply. God's grace is not just for forgiving me; it is meant to help me grow in faith, with hope, and always through His love. It's perfect for me today, so I hope that it will be very good for you, too.
Question: What do I need God to forgive me for today, and how can I grow in His grace?
Prayer: Lord God, You love us completely, and Your gracious heart beats throughout our lives. Thank You for Your mercy and grace, as well as Your patience and care. In Christ's name, we thankfully pray. Amen.
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Saturday, September 7, 2024 – In Angola — In June, Sahel Academy had its closing assemblies to celebrate the year and say our farewells. Pray as we said goodbye well even though it was hard: for those who are leaving to look ahead with excitement and those staying to have a renewed sense of purpose amid a changing community. Pray for the graduates to remember their calling and to take their faith back to their families
terminal illness: "Update September 5, 2024: Gisele had the biopsy done yesterday but will not get the results for..." 
Thanks for the encouragement, John.
Thanks, John, for your inspiring, encouraging words.
It is good to read you here, and I miss your daily devotional.
Hi John,
You always hit the spot with your devotional writing.
Thank you.
Helpful and well-said, John. Just what I needed today. Ah, those lost years which God restores to me as I rest in Him today. Thank Heavens.
Hi John
Your second sentence resonated with someone who grew up in Edinburgh! By God’s Grace, I too have come a long way.
Blessings and thanks, I always enjoy your writing.
Dear John!
As I was praying for forgiveness, I received a “bing” on my iPad from someone asking if they could pray for me. That’s a pretty nice sign if you ask me. God is so good.
Thank you, John.
Thank you, John, for sharing this encouraging and relatable devotional with us. Can I ever identify with the sentiment expressed! As the hymn states, “Chief of sinners though I be, yet He shed His blood for me!”
Blessings.
Good morning John,
I enjoyed your devotional this morning. A very good reminder of the grace and mercy our Lord consistently has available to us when we seek Him. He certainly is the bright “light” in our daily life.
Blessings for the devotionals you write.
Dear John – I don’t read the reflection every day, but it seems that the LORD guides my finger to help me out!! I’m sure He let you go astray so that you would be so full of insight and understanding and compassion. I always thank Him for your reflections. Thank you too for being so open and ready to share such common experiences with others. It’s as if you give words to things that I just hold in my heart. Blessings on you!!
It’s so comforting to know there are other Christians who’ve walked with the Lord a long time but still do battle with me accuser of the saints. Thank you for sharing with such humility and vulnerability.
When the accuser comes to me at any time of year, a line from ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ often pops into my head: ‘Cast out my sin and enter in, be (re)born in me today.’ I didn’t even know where I had learned the line when I first started to pray it. God is so good.
Dear John,
I admire your honesty and thank you for sharing. We all need to remember that God is willing to forgive us and help us to grow and reach out if we only reach out to him humbly and with awe. “A wish that every day for you will be happy from the start and may you always have good luck and a song within your heart.” “May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow. And may trouble avoid you wherever you go.” Happy St. Patrick’s Day, even though you are probably originally from Scotland.
Thank you, John, for today’s devotional.
I try to be thankful every day I wake up that it’s a new day that God has made.
And I search my life where God has given me the gift of his Grace, that keeps me going.
And every day I ask, where can I serve his kingdom today?
Today, it’s as easy as calling someone whom I haven’t seen in over a year and see how he or she is doing.
And is there any way I can help them.
So it’s not too easy to shake our wings when we are in a lock-down mode.
But we must strengthen our selves with prayer and keep up our faith.
Blessing for your devotion,
(Quebec)
Dear John,
Thank you for your honest, open, and encouraging devotional.
When I am having bouts of self-pity, sometimes with a mini meltdown, the Lord sends my cat to assure me all is well.
And I soon realize, indeed it is!
The Bible passage I was taught at a Bible club once a week after school in our ‘Rec Room’ was: John 3:16-17
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
This 6-year-old, many years ago, and it abides in my heart and mind and comforts me, also “an imperfect, inefficient, and inadequate” person who also seeks God’s mercy and grace.
Thank you for sharing your verse of God’s grace with us today.