5-5-5 Daily Devotions: Unqualified and Called

Reconciliation Begins with Grace

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S.O.A.P. – “Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer”

Can you think of a time when you messed up big time—but then somebody who could have been super angry showed you grace instead?

“They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.” Romans 1:19-23 NLT

“No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one. Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies. Snake venom drips from their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. They rush to commit murder. Destruction and misery always follow them. They don’t know where to find peace. They have no fear of God at all.” Romans 3:11-18 NLT

”For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” Romans 3:13 NLT

Sermon Insights:

God created humans to take good care of the world he created. The problem is, we took the freedom he gave us and used it turn away from God and be our own gods. The result? We’ve made a huge mess of things. And yet, the very one whom we rejected—God—has stepped in to fix the mess we made. That’s a lot of grace, isn’t it?

Why do people say no to God’s authority over their lives?

When we follow our own desires instead of God’s commands, what usually happens?

Grace is God’s unearned favor through which he offers us forgiveness and gives us new life in place of the life we’ve messed up. What’s a time that God showed you grace when you had messed things up?

Since we get grace from God, does that mean we should keep right on sinning and messing up our life?

Lord, thank for your grace. I’ve made a mess of my life in some serious ways. There have been times that I’ve said no to your authority. I’ve tried to be the boss of my life and call my own shots, pretending like I don’t need you. But I do need you. And I really, really need your grace. Thank you so much for the grace you give me each day.

What’s your favorite way to say “thank you” when somebody gives you a great gift? Smiling and saying “thank you”? Writing a heartfelt thank-you note? Giving a hug?

Notice how God’s grace to us is meant to have a massive effect on how we live our lives:

“For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church. But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.” 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 NLT

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT

“So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.” Romans 5:21-6:4

Sermon Insights:

God has given us an amazing gift called grace. As these verses above show us, his grace should change us. It’s by his grace that he invites us into his family; it’s how we get a new identity and live a new life.

It’s easy to look at God’s grace and think, Well, that’s nice. Now I can get back to living my life like normal, right? But what do the Scripture verses above teach about what grace does in our lives?

The Bible teaches us that there’s a right response we should have to God’s grace. It’s called faith. God gives us grace, and we respond by giving him our faith. Can you think of anyone in the Bible who had great faith?

Placing our faith in Jesus means that we trust and follow him whatever the cost. Faith according to the Bible is a faithful faith, not just a matter of believing the right stuff. Since faith in Jesus means that you trust and follow him, how are you showing Jesus that you have faith in him?

Lord, thank you for your grace, the favor you have given me which I don’t deserve. I want to respond to the grace you give me each day by walking each day in faith. I want to be someone who trusts and follows you. Please increase my faith in you!

When it comes to the world of sports, who do you think is the GOAT (the greatest of all time)? Switching over to the world of the Bible, why do you think so many people look at Abraham as one of the greatest men of God who ever lived?

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed. Genesis 12:1-4a NLT

Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith. Genesis 15:4-6 NLT

Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called. “Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.” “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”…“Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son…This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.” Genesis 22:1-2, 12, 16-18 NLT

Abraham wasn’t perfect. There were times he got scared and forgot to follow God’s lead. But did you catch from the above Scripture verses what made him Abraham a true man of God?

Faith isn’t a matter of just believing something that God says. Faith is putting your trust in God and following him. As Hebrews 11:8 puts it, “It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home.” What is an area of your life that you need to start living out your faith—not just believing with your head, but following through with how you live?

Through Abraham’s faithful faith, people from all nations were blessed (Genesis 12:3; 22:18). As you trust and follow Jesus, can you think of some ways that God could use your faith in him to bless others?

Lord, you never called me to just believe you with my head. You called me to trust you with my whole heart and follow through with how I live my life. Please show me today one way that you want me to trust and follow you. I don’t want to be a Christian who has “faith without works.” Like James 2:18 says, “I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

Have you ever tried to force something to happen which you wanted—and it totally fell apart?

“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.”…So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt.” Genesis 16:1-2a, 4-5a NLT

Abraham moved south to the Negev and lived for a while between Kadesh and Shur, and then he moved on to Gerar. While living there as a foreigner, Abraham introduced his wife, Sarah, by saying, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech of Gerar sent for Sarah and had her brought to him at his palace. But that night God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are a dead man, for that woman you have taken is already married!…Now return the woman to her husband, and he will pray for you, for he is a prophet. Then you will live.”…Then Abimelech called for Abraham. “What have you done to us?” he demanded. “What crime have I committed that deserves treatment like this, making me and my kingdom guilty of this great sin? No one should ever do what you have done! Whatever possessed you to do such a thing?” Abraham replied, “I thought, ‘This is a godless place. They will want my wife and will kill me to get her.’” Genesis 20:1-3, 7a, 9-11 NLT

Sermon Insights:

When he got nervous, Abraham became tempted to stop trusting in God and to force things to happen the way he thought they should work. First, Abraham was nervous because, although God had promised him a child, he and his wife kept not getting pregnant. So, he slept with his wife’s servant and she had a child, but that just made home life awkward. Second, Abraham got nervous because he was in a foreign area with a beautiful wife. So he told people she was his sister so they wouldn’t kill him and take his wife. The result was another disaster. Abraham was at his best when he trusted God in faith, and we are too.

Can you think of a time when you got nervous and made a major mistake instead of trusting in God?

God gives us grace when we make mistakes. But the grace he gives should also make us trust in him so that—next time we get tempted to take matters into our own hands—we choose to trust him instead. What do you need to tell yourself next time you get tempted to forget to trust God?

Through God’s grace, he provides everything we need to trust and follow him. How can you open yourself up today to receiving his amazing grace in your life?

Lord, your grace teaches me to trust and follow you. Help me receive your grace and trust that your plans for my life are for my good and for your glory. I trust in you. As you told Paul, “My grace is all you need” (2 Corinthians 12:9). I need your grace so badly, so thank you for pouring out so much into my life.

When your garden yields far more food than you yourself can eat, you probably pass along the extra to others, right? In the same way, can you think of anything in your life God has given you a lot of—which you can pass on to others and help them out? It’s the same way when it comes to God’s grace. We receive it and pass it on.

Jesus said, “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt. But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.

But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.

When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.” Matthew 18:23-35 NLT

Sermon Insights:

Since you’ve received grace from God, you must pass grace onto others. That’s how grace works.

How can you show grace to people who are making wrong decisions without pretending like their wrong choices are okay?

God’s grace is amazing, but it’s not just for you. It’s for everybody. Whom do you need to start showing grace to because of the grace God has given you?

When a church is graceless, what are 2-3 ways it can be destructive?

Lord, I thank you for the amazing grace you have given me. You have forgiven me of all my sins and adopted me into your family. You continue to walk with me in patience, gently correcting me instead of giving up on me. I want to extend this same grace to others. Please show me the people I have not been showing grace to, and give me opportunities to show them the grace that you’ve given me.

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Reconciliation Begins with Grace

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