In Christ

(Formerly under the Devotions tab, originally published 2/15/23)

Romans 1:1-6, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.”

We know that mankind is born with free will – freedom of choice. The most advantageous choice that a man can make is to participate in the plan of God for his life! Jesus Christ said to us that he had come so that all men could have a “more than abundant” life. So, what can make this life “more than abundant?” Let’s consider some of the ways that God laid out from the book of Romans. Here is a synopsis of mankind outside of the will of God in Romans: ungodly, unthankful, vain, foolish, dishonorable, fornicator, wicked, envious, whisperer, backbiter, proud, boaster! That sounds pretty lousy! To keep it simple let’s, look at what God plan is for the man that chooses to live according to the gift of life in Christ Jesus: Saint, brethren, justified, redeemed, righteous, blessed, forgiven, at peace with God, having hope, not ashamed!

John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave up His only son so that all men that choose to live their life in Him will live in heaven forever and ever!”

Here’s the deal:
God – Good, No God – No Good
Even the kindest, most generous person to walk the earth without salvation in Jesus Christ will not gain Heaven. Jesus was beaten beyond recognition, nailed to a cross of wood beams for 5.8 hours, died, descended into hell to take the keys of death from Satan, and rose out of the grave after three days to pay for our sin! Let us make the choice to accept that gift and to stop punishing Jesus over and over by sinning more and more without trying to change our actions!

Thank you, dear God, for sacrificing Jesus for me! I decide today to take your gift and do everything that I can to stop sinning and to live like Jesus. Thank you for forgiving me every day. Thank you for loving me like nobody else! Thank you for not being ashamed of me but for giving me to have all of the power that I need to serve mankind like Jesus! Amen!

Joe Fabean

*Scripture from ESV translation, Crossway Publishers, 2001

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