TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

--Ephesians 4:31
One of God’s clear commands is to put away any bitterness from our lives. Why is this so important?

Bitterness and resentment chain us to the past. Bitterness produces an emotional and spiritual bondage that will keep you from moving forward in your life. It’s like carrying around excess baggage!

The emotional baggage of bitterness will slow you down and keep you from becoming the person that God intends for you to be.

And yet so many people are chained to the past…they’re slaves to something that happened many years ago. And as a result, they can’t get past it and they can’t get on with their lives.

Now, I’m not saying that we all don’t have things in our past that still hurt…wounds that take a long time to heal. But what I am saying is that we don’t have to let those dark spaces in the past determine how we act, think, and feel now and in the future!

As a believer, you can tap into God’s power to leave what happened in your past…in the past. And through His power, you can cut those chains of bitterness that keep you in bondage.

If bitterness has a hold on your heart today, ask God to help you put it away…for good.

Bitterness is emotional baggage that will keep you from becoming the person God intends you to be.

TADAY'S DEVOTIONAL

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
--Ephesians 2:8-9

One of the great truths of Scripture is the unmerited favor of God. What the Bible calls “grace.”

Today’s verse reminds us that grace cannot be earned or deserved. It is an unmerited gift of God to those on whom He showers His love and mercy.

If you have ever shopped for a diamond, you know that the jeweler places it on a dark cloth so that the beauty and clarity of the diamond might be seen more easily. That’s what God wants us to be, His diamonds shining and showing His grace in a dark and evil world.

As Christians, you and I aren’t better than everyone else. We simply have accepted a gift that was given freely to us from God.

So my friend, as a person who has experienced the magnificent grace of God, take time today to thank God for showering you with that grace…His unmerited favor. And determine to let your life shine like the jewel on a dark cloth!

GRACE IS GOD’S UNMERITED GIFT THAT CANNOT BE EARNED OR DESERVED.

TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

--Philippians 1:6

When God put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, He had a master plan for the earth and everything within it. And while sin distorted God’s perfect creation, in His mercy and grace He is still working His glorious plan…not only for all of the universe, but for you and for me.

Noah and his family are a great example of this truth. Even though the world was corrupt in sin and God decided to judge it, He spared Noah and his family. In fact, God had a specific plan for them as they floated in safety on the ark while God judged the earth.

Noah’s salvation reminds us that even where sin abounds, God’s plans remain intact because His grace abounds even more.

There were probably a few times that Noah wanted to jump ship and give up, but he remembered God’s promise and trusted God to finish the work that He had started on the earth. We should do the same and not become impatient or lose hope when it seems that God’s plan is being frustrated in our lives.

God has a perfect plan for you. Don’t be anxious or jump ship and try something else. Stay the course and allow God to fulfill His purpose in your life!

GOD HAS A PERFECT PURPOSE AND PLAN FOR YOU, SO BE PATIENT AS HE COMPLETES THAT PLAN.