A Gift from God

A Gift from God TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." (Ephesians 2:8, NKJV). TODAY'S WORD: We serve such a generous and loving God. He loves you so much that there isn’t anything He wouldn’t do in order to have a relationship with you. The Bible tells us that sin separates man from God, but God doesn’t want to be separated from any of us. That’s why He sent Jesus into the world—to pay the penalty for sin so that we could live in eternity with Him. So many people today think they have to earn their way to heaven. They think they have to be “good enough” or “do the right thing” in order to be accepted by God. They want to “clean up” before they come to Him. But notice what today’s verse says—salvation is a gift from God. You can’t earn a gift. You don’t pay for it. You can only receive it by faith and say thank You. If you’ve never received Jesus as the Lord of your life, there’s no better time to receive this free gift. Let Him fill you with His peace and joy both now and throughout eternity. PRAYER FOR TODAY: Father, I come to You today giving You all that I am. Thank You for the gift of salvation through Your Son. Jesus, I believe You died and rose for me, and I invite You now to be the Lord of every area of my life in Jesus’ name. Amen. PS... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEST_teMTjU

Aug 22, 2014 Need God’s Help? Give Him Total Surrender by Rick Warren “We ... saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us, for he can even raise the dead.” (2 Corinthians 1:9 LB) Once you admit that you need help, you can ask God for it! This is moving from confession to petition. At one point in his life, the apostle Paul was so discouraged that he was ready to give up on life. In fact he said, “We felt we were doomed to die” (2 Corinthians 1:9 LB). Then he went on to say in the same verse, “We ... saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us, for he can even raise the dead.” If God can raise a dead person, he can raise a dead marriage. If God can raise a dead person, he can raise a dead career. If God can raise a dead person, he can raise a dead dream. Anybody can bring good out of good. God can bring good out of bad. He can do miracles! He specializes in turning crucifixions into resurrections. But you’ve got to ask God for his help. Notice that the verse says, “We put everything into the hands of God.” Paul is talking about total surrender. It’s not partial surrender where you say, “My finances are in a mess, so I’m going to give God my finances.” You’ve got to give him all of your life! You’ve got to put everything in his hands. Have you done this? Have you ever come to a point in your life where you’ve said, “Everything in my life — the good, the bad, the ugly, the rotten, the happy, the sad, the ups, the downs — I put it all in your hands.” Don’t wait until you hit bottom. Sometimes we’re so obstinate God has to lay us flat on our back to make us look up to him. There’s an easy way and a hard way to do this. The easy way to change is to see the light. The hard way is to feel the heat. The problem is most of us rarely change until our fear of change is exceeded by the pain. Then when the pain gets so great we go, “Oh, I’ve got to get help!” Don’t get to that place where everything has to drop out in your life for you to admit you need help. Just go to God and ask him for help. “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule” (Matthew 5:3 MSG). Talk It Over In what areas have you given God partial surrender of your life? Why do you think God wants you to ask him for help when he already knows what you need? How can you make less of yourself so that there is more room for God (Matthew 5:3)?