The Conviction (#jammed daily devo, day 259)

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September #jammed: Free Grace.

Day 259: Put it to work.

“ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,.” 1 Peter 1:8

“Where’s my Jesus emoji when I need it?” my fingers sent via text…day 259

That’s truly how I feel most days. He’s the reason for all of my smiley-faced messages and sunshiny stature. The reason I get up in the dark and seek Him in quiet with my warm cup of coffee. Belief blossoms into a beautiful friendship of saving faith.

“Though you have not seen him, you love him…”

God’s love requires faith, and faith is so much deeper than what we can see or understand. Faith gives feet to trust in what God has planned for our lives. Not being able to see God …not being able to witness Jesus’ miracles …doesn’t make Him any less real. Whether we believe or not, He is still in control of the universe, still sitting at the right hand of God, and loving us with a perfect love that we are incapable of understanding.

What causes us to love God though we’ve never met? He is in us. The moment we accept Jesus He seals us as His and the Spirit dwells in us from that day forward. It’s a love that we don’t have to see, feel, or hear. It’s a love we know. A love we believe. A Cross we point to.

“…and though you do not see him now, you believe in him…”

We don’t see Him now, but there is something in us from the very beginning that seeks Him. That seeks God’s presence. That seeks to abide with our Father, our Creator, and His Son. And once the Spirit begins to move in our hearts …our lives are never the same. We can’t go back. We know too much.

“…and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.”

Inexpressible. That accurately describes the feeling of being saved from ourselves and this world. Inexpressible. How do we thank Jesus for dying on the cross for us when He didn’t have to? For coming down from heaven to show us the way …and to make a way for us to be with Him? Kind of makes us feel …convicted.

#jammed click to tweet jun:jul:aug

Father, Praise You for the glorious joy that You plant in our hearts! Thank You for the innate desire to be in Your presence, and forgive us for avoiding Your love at the cost of our stubborn solutions and band aid solutions to problems and trials. Bless our lives with belief in Your love. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace! 

#greatgrace17

Happy Believing,

Megs

Get the #jammed Daily Devo sent straight to your inbox each morning, by subscribing to Sunny&80. 

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The Assurance (#jammed daily devo, day 258)

Published on by MegsLeave a comment

September #jammed: Free Grace.

Day 258: Assured.

“ Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 3:13

“Three 100%’s!” My daughter slammed her folder on the counter triumphantly.  “That’s day 258three prizes!”

Though the reward system set in place seems to help encourage their best work in school …it sure has shoved us into the conversation of entitlement right alongside it.

We are all programmed to seek what we feel we deserve for our efforts. This is counter-productive to Christianity, and today’s verse provides a great platform to discuss it.

Though it might appear like Paul is giving “works” the claim to victory, “excellent standing and great assurance” goes far beyond what we do on this earth. Humanity will fail us through our individual struggles. Even Paul struggled with “doing what he hated…” Assurance comes from our heart’s ambition on His behalf. The fire that burns in us to follow Him …to “Go!” wherever He needs us to go.

assurance-a positive declaration intended to give confidence. (dictionary.com)

In Christ, we are assured victory! We know we will end our lives in His arms in heaven. But on our way home, we unlock glory on this earth when we are executing His will for our lives. Our positive declaration of faith is in the cross.

The word “confidence” is used in the New American Standard Bible in place of assurance, and the original Greek translation of that word directs us to be clear in what we believe and who we follow. Not just clear, but unabashedly confident. Not in an arrogant way, but in solid, unswerving, faith.

Our assurance is having so much confidence that we can freely say straightforwardly that Jesus is our Savior, and that He is the reason we are saved by grace and can be in the presence of God. He is the reason, by His death on the cross, that the very Spirit of God resides in our hearts to help us through this life. And not just to help us skate by …to help us soar on the wings of God’s will for our lives.

#jammed click to tweet jun:jul:aug

Father, Praise You for the way you weigh the works of our lives. Thank You for the will that powers our lives’ direction. We confess taking hold and becoming shaky in times of crisis and quiet. But God …You are good to us through it all, and there for us always. Bless us to be more like Jesus each day we walk this earth. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace! 

#greatgrace17

Happy Healing,

Megs

Get the #jammed Daily Devo sent straight to your inbox each morning, by subscribing to Sunny&80. 

 

The Here and Now (#jammed daily devo, day 257)

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September #jammed: Free Grace.

Day 257: Here and now.

“I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true.” John 7:28day 257

The hallway light flicked on at 5am, and the pitter patter of sweet little feet followed by a flush and a brush and a spit gave way to a sweet face up and ready to start the day.

“Mommy,” she whispered, “you weren’t downstairs reading your Bible yet, can I read with you today?”  (God sometimes give us an easy, ‘yes,’ doesn’t He?) 

We sat there side by side in the dark early hours, reading our Bibles and writing prayers in our journals. All I kept thinking was,

‘If anything ever happens to me, I’ve done such an important part of my job as her mom. She knows how to find You, God …’

Today’s verse reminds us that if Jesus was not here on His own authority, neither are we. Our days are compassionately numbered and passionately purposed by our God. It’s easy to think of our children as our own, but most important to remember that they are here on His authority, too.

In the New American Standard Bible, the word ‘come’ is used in place of ‘here,’

“I have not come…” 

The translation of this word, erchomai, metaphorically means:

  1. to come into being, arise, come forth, show itself, find place or influence
  2. be established, become known, to come (fall) into or unto (Strong’s)

Not only do we come to being under His hand, but we come alive. When we accept Christ as our Savior, we begin to establish our faith and discover those compassionately numbered and passionately purposed days of our lives. Being here takes on new meaning, and He is evident everywhere.

“ Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.” John 5:25

The time was “now” then, and the time is “now” …now. Jesus is, was, and ever shall be. Here and now, we can walk into our destiny. Here and now, we can be free through Grace. Here and now, we can seek Him and find Him when we seek Him with all of our hearts. (Jeremiah 29:13) Like in the dark hours of morning, quietly seeking …

We may not always say the right thing to our children. May not always set the right example. It’s impossible to say and do everything right on their behalf. But we can speak life into them here and now. And we can seek God in His Word, here and now. When we seek Him, they will notice. Here they will see Him. Now they will follow.

#jammed click to tweet jun:jul:augFather, Praise You for the way You take our efforts to seek You and lead our children to Your feet, as well. Thank You for the authority and love You proclaim over our lives and theirs. We confess that sometimes we think we’ve blown it for them on account of our mistakes, and pray blessing over our steps …the ones they see and hear …and the ones they don’t …yet. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace! 

#greatgrace17

Happy Here ….and Happy Now,

Megs

Get the #jammed Daily Devo sent straight to your inbox each morning, by subscribing to Sunny&80. 

 

 

The Times (#jammed daily devo, day 256)

Published on by MegsLeave a comment

September #jammed: Free Grace.

Day 256: Grace in time.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Ecclesiastes 3:11

“I can’t tell time,” my nine-year-old stated. day 256

She typically doesn’t have study much at all to maintain straight A’s. So, when she runs into something that doesn’t come naturally, she’s not sure how to swim through the effort it takes most everyone else to learn things. Telling time doesn’t come naturally to her, so she’s alluded by it a little. But time isn’t going away.

“There’s no out-running time,” I explained, “eventually you have to be able to show up for work on time, plan how long it takes you to get to dance, and to know when things open and close …how long it takes to complete things …it’s not going away.” (eye roll.)

Today’s verse seconds that motion, doesn’t it? The entity of time isn’t going away, and our ability to tell it is pretty crucial. Though God doesn’t reveal the mysterious exact time that Christ will come again …we know He will. We anticipate it and recognize the passing of days.

 His timing is our very existence.

“There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
4     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

There was a time for Christ to walk this earth. A time to witness His miracles. A time for His death on the cross. A time for our grace. Each life walks the earth in His time.

Each of us have something that seems a little too hard to conquer in our lives. The key to sailing over our hurdles is to allow Christ to lift us over them. The magic of understanding why comes in letting Him have control.

#jammed click to tweet jun:jul:aug

Father, Praise You for time. Thank You for the way You organize each day and stretch the minutes of our lives. We confess that we don’t always take the time to thank You for the day we are living in, and pray that You allow us to cherish life in Your time. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace! 

#greatgrace17

Happy Timing,

Megs

Get the #jammed Daily Devo sent straight to your inbox each morning, by subscribing to Sunny&80. 

The Planner (#jammed daily devo, day 255)

Published on by MegsLeave a comment

September #jammed: Free Grace.

Day 255: Wait on grace.

“When these events were completed, Jesus led His followers to Jerusalem where they would celebrate a Jewish feast together.” John 5:1

This verse in John 5 sparks a string of miracles and hallmark statements in Jesus’ time on255 earth. Every step he took was purposeful. Each conversation rich with godly wisdom. All miracles with a lesson of God’s compassionate love.

“When these events were completed…” What seems unnoteworthy reminds us of God’s omnipotent hand on our hearts. The earth moves in tune with God’s timing, and no event we undertake is removed from His love.

“Jesus led…” Those that followed Him didn’t always realize what they were about to witness. Scenes like the feeding of five thousand with fish and loaves and the woman who was healed by a touch of Jesus’ robe. Unpredictable events to passers by and followers were anticipated touches of love from above.

“where they would celebrate…” To follow Jesus in God’s timing always yields celebration. We may not always understand it. It’s guaranteed to sting at times along the way. And the harder we follow the more the enemy will come after us. But the celebration… the hugs in heaven when we’re finally home.

Jesus’ died on the cross anticipating the celebration of all who follow Him. All who believe. He prayed for us and prays for us. He’s our friend and teacher …our accessible Savior, cheering us down the home stretch.  There’s no greater love that the cross. No greater love that God’s for each of us.

#jammed click to tweet jun:jul:aug

Father, Praise You for celebration. Thank You for giving us hope and life. We confess, that our focus is not often on the celebration, but more focused on the struggle and hard walk of life. Help us to breathe in the life of Your Word each day, and bless us to show the same compassion to others as You show to us each day. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace! 

#greatgrace17

Happy Celebrating,

Megs

Get the #jammed Daily Devo sent straight to your inbox each morning, by subscribing to Sunny&80.