Video Devotionals
Friday, July 27, 2018
Grace That Shows
| 1:16 min read |
God gives us his grace and expects us to share it with others. We are called to be agents of God’s grace in our world. Today we are looking at the practical implications of being a gracious person.
In Matthew 10:7, 8 Jesus gave His disciples a set of instructions to follow as He sent them out on a mission, “As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.”
With this statement, Jesus was saying: “You have already received wonderful blessings and benefits by my grace. Grace has been imparted to you. Make sure you go out and be a distributor of My grace to others. Let the grace I have given to you show and flow through you to others.”
This is the challenge and responsibility we all have as recipients of the grace of God. Grace-full people show grace in every aspect of their life.
How do we show God’s grace? Here’s an acrostic:
G = Give generously.
R = Release forgiveness freely.
A = Act benevolently. Show grace by the good things you do.
C = Communicate carefully.
E = Expand consistently. God’s grace makes us big people!
Show grace to others, just as you have received it from the Lord!
Pastor Dale
Thursday, July 26, 2018
Sustaining Grace
| 1:19 min read |
It’s been said that two things are inevitable in life—death and taxes. We can add to the list—problems! Problems come in all shapes and sizes. They come in a variety of styles—financial, relational, emotional, etc.
In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NIV) we find the Apostle Paul describing a particular problem he faced in his life, “…I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.”
What was Paul’s problem? He was being battered, spiritually. He struggled with a spiritual assault that regularly plagued him. He had a major problem. He was hurting. The Lord didn’t immediately take Paul’s problem away, but He did promise him sustaining grace. In 2 Corinthians 12:9 we read, “My grace is sufficient for you…”
The same promise has been given to us also. God’s promise, when facing a problem, is that He will solve it or He will give sustaining grace to help you work and walk through it.
We all need the sustaining grace of God, just as the Apostle Paul did. We need God’s grace to sustain us along times of temptation or spiritual attack; times of sickness, transitions, losses or loneliness; seasons of disappointment and delays; rough relationships, or the failure and frustrations we face in life.
No matter what problem has come your way, trust His sustaining grace!
Pastor Dale
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Gifting Grace
| 1:28 min read |
Nothing tells us more about a person than their giving habits. People are often described as stingy or generous, based on their approach to giving. When someone gives largely and consistently it reflects their heart—their character—their nature. Today we’re looking at another expression of God’s grace—His gifting grace.
In the Bible, giving is always associated with grace. Because God is gracious, He gives. What are some of the gifts God has given to us through Jesus Christ?
- Forgiveness of our sins.
- Eternal life.
- The Holy Spirit.
- Peace of mind and heart.
- His Word.
- Spiritual gifts.
- A spiritual family.
- His favor.
To grow in grace we must acknowledge and appreciate God’s gifts. One of the ways we appreciate a gift is by using it. Notice what the Bible says about this in 2 Corinthians 6:1 (NIV), “As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.” Most of God’s giftings come in raw form. God places us in situations and puts us around people He wants to use to help us develop our gifts.
Whatever gifts God gives to us are ultimately not meant for us only. They are meant to be shared. The greatest fulfillment we can have in life is to become someone who passes on the blessings God has given to us to others.
Becoming a giver is one of the ways God builds His gracious nature in us. When we learn to give, we are learning one of the most valuable lessons in life, and in God’s Kingdom. We are learning the lessons of grace!
Pastor Dale
Tuesday, July 24, 2018
Empowering Grace
| 1:13 min read |
God’s plan for our lives involves much more than getting us to heaven. He wants to teach us how to live a strong and successful life here on earth. He wants us to have the power to accomplish His purposes.
The Bible tells us that God’s grace is a source of strength and power. Look at 2 Timothy 2:1 (TEV), “As for you, my son, be strong through the grace that is ours in union with Christ Jesus.” In Jesus we discover and experience empowering grace. The same grace that saves, heals, restores and protects us also gives us the power to be whole and holy.
God’s grace changes us from sinners to saints—from people who, by nature, do what is wrong, to people who do what is right! How does this happen?
When we come to know Jesus Christ, His power comes into our lives. He begins to change the affections of our heart. By His grace, we begin to love things we never loved before, and we begin to hate the bad things we used to love.
His power is greater than the power of sin, and it gives us the strength we need to resist temptation. In our own strength we are powerless, but because of the grace of God, we have supernatural strength to handle our weaknesses, overcome them and become mature followers of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Dale
Monday, July 23, 2018
Protective Grace
| 58 sec read |
The world we live in is an unpredictable, dangerous place. Because of this, we can feel very vulnerable, anxious, afraid and unprotected. The good news is, Jesus invites us to come under the covering of His protective grace.
God’s protective grace comes to those who have made a decision to trust in Him. The Psalmist says in Psalm 91:14 (NLT), “The LORD says, ‘I will rescue those who love Me. I will protect those who trust in My name.’” God’s protective grace provides us with a sense of security, peace, courage, and confidence.
The key to God’s peace is trust. We must believe that God is involved in our lives guiding our steps, managing our circumstances, influencing decisions and directing events that affect us.
God wants you to live confidently under the covering of His protective grace. Pray for it, plea the protection of Jesus’ shed blood and proclaim the promises of His protection over your life and over the lives of your loved ones!
Pastor Dale
Friday, July 20, 2018
Grace that Restores
| 55 sec read |
There are times when the problems and pressures of life bring us to a point of brokenness. Because we live in a broken world, and we’re broken ourselves, we need God’s restorative grace.
Here are some things that break us:
1. Bad decisions—Bad decisions can set our life on a painful path.
2. Disobedience to God’s Word and will.
3. Damage—Our lives can be shattered by trauma, loss or injustice.
When these things happen, our hope needs to be restored. We need to know that our mistakes can be redeemed by God. We need restoration.
The Psalmist David went through some difficult things in his life. But David knew something about God. He knew that God is merciful and gracious. He came to know the Lord as his restorer. Look at these words in Psalm 23:3 (NKJV), “… He restores my soul.”
Are you experiencing brokenness? God loves to put broken lives back together. Ask Him to restore you by His grace!
Pastor Dale
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Healing Grace Part 2
| 1:18 min read |
How do we experience God’s healing grace? It’s one thing to theoretically believe in healing, and another to believe that healing can happen in your life. We’ll never reach out to receive God’s healing grace unless we truly believe that Jesus made healing possible.
Through the ministry of Jesus, it’s clear that He welcomed all who came to Him for healing. Take a look at Matthew’s description in Matthew 15:30 (NLT), “A vast crowd brought Him the lame, blind, crippled, mute, and many others with physical difficulties, and they laid them before Jesus. And He healed them all.”
How does God heal us? God heals people:
- Sovereignly — He just shows up and heals!
- Through His Word — We are healed as we take in God’s Word. His Word is life and health to us.
- In response to prayer — Many of Jesus’ healing works during His ministry was His response to someone’s request.
- Instantly — Sometimes God’s healing comes miraculously; in a moment.
- Progressively — Jesus heals people progressively over time.
- Ultimately in eternity — Because we live in a broken world, not all ailments are fully healed in this life. For the believer in Jesus Christ, there is total healing in eternity!
When you come to God in need of healing He responds with compassion and touches you with His healing grace!
Pastor Dale
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Healing Grace Part 1
| 1:08 min read |
Just as salvation is by grace through faith, all God’s blessings and gifts are also ours by His grace. They cannot be earned or deserved. This is true when it comes to healing. We all battle with sickness, disease, broken and damaged places in our lives––spirit, soul and body. What does God’s grace offer us for our sick, diseased, broken, damaged spirit, soul and body?
The Bible teaches us that God, by nature and character, is a healer. Healing is an expression of God’s grace to us—an undeserved, unearned gift from God. God heals, not because people deserve it or because He owes it to us. God extends healing to us because of and through His grace.
Healing is one of the benefits that come to us also as a result of Jesus’ work of salvation on the Cross and in His resurrection. At Calvary, Jesus purchased not only our forgiveness, He purchased our healing as well. The prophet Isaiah pointed us to this in Isaiah 53:5 (NIV) “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed”.
In Jesus, God’s healing grace is available to you!
Pastor Dale
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Saving Grace
| 1:15 min read |
The grace of God is an incredible truth that we need to understand. To understand God’s grace, we must do some thinking about eternity. What do you really believe happens to people after they die? What do you really believe about where you will spend eternity?
The Bible teaches us that heaven and hell are real places. Everyone will spend eternity in one of these two places. When it comes to salvation—when it comes to securing our eternal destiny in heaven—we need to understand God’s saving grace. There is nothing we can do to earn or secure our eternal salvation. The way we receive eternal life in heaven is by putting our faith in Jesus Christ, God’s Son. When we do, we are saved by grace.
Saving grace gives us access to heaven now and eternally. We’re reminded of this in Ephesians 2:8 (NIV), “God saved you by His special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.”
John Newton, a former slave trader and wretched sinner understood the beauty of saving grace in his life when he wrote, “Amazing Grace, how sweet sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, blind but now I see.”
You don’t earn God’s saving grace. You receive it by faith.
Pastor Dale
Monday, July 16, 2018
God’s Grace
| 1:17 min read |
One of the most important concepts in the Bible is the unfolding story of God’s grace. This week we are looking at several things about the grace of God. To live a successful Christian life, we need to both understand and experience God’s grace.
What is God’s grace? Grace is the gift of God’s undeserved, unearned blessing, acceptance, kindness, and love. Grace makes us strong and able to live for God and fulfill His will.
Grace is counter-intuitive to our natural, sinful nature. Actually, our prideful nature wants to achieve status, recognition, even salvation by our own merits rather than through the gift of God’s grace.
There is no way to achieve, qualify for, or earn the many benefits and blessings of God. The only way to access them is through the grace of God His grace comes to us when we put our faith in Jesus Christ. John 1:14-16 (NIV), “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth… From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another.”
When we receive God’s grace marriages, families, businesses, finances, health, and all things change! God’s grace transforms us.
Open your heart to God’s grace today!
Pastor Dale