Wednesday Devotion 7-29-20 6 Minutes

Good evening everyone,,, it's time for our Wednesday evening devotion.

A lot of these devotions will be from my daily readings of Billy Graham that I read every morning along with my Bible reading.

And I want to begin this evening with prayer,,, then we will have our scripture reading.

Let's pray: Dear Heavenly Father,,, we thank you for all the blessings that you have given us. We pray that this time together will be a blessing to you and will help us in our daily walk with you,,, we ask all of this in Jesus' name,,, Amen.

Our scripture will be from Romans 5:1 and I'll be reading from the King James version.

Romans 5:1 - Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is only one way to heaven,,, and that's God's way.

God has shown us the way to heaven.

He has made the rules simple and plain.

He has given us the road map and made the way easy.

The directions,,, shown to us in the Bible,,, were written so that we could receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior!

Jesus also warned us that we would need to watch and be careful.

He told us that,,, "he that climbs up some other way is a thief and a robber".

You see,,, it’s the way of the cross that leads home.

It’s the grace of God,,, and only the grace of God,,, that brings salvation.

Grace means,,, that we cannot work for salvation.

We cannot make our own way to heaven.

We can only come God’s way,,, and that is by receiving His unmerited favor in Jesus Christ.

The verse that I just read begins by saying: "Therefore being justified by faith".

So what does it mean to be justified by faith?

When we are justified,,, we are made right with God.

Our sins are forgiven and God begins the process of lining our lives up to God's original design for us.

We are created in God's image,,, but that image is distorted by sin.

By God’s grace,,, through faith,,, we receive forgiveness.

All of this is God’s gift to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And it's through Jesus Christ that our peace is found,,, as those of us that are Christians know,,, but many are still searching for.

On that unforgettable night,,, over two thousand years ago in Bethlehem,,, the angels hovered over the Judean hills and sang in unison,,, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).

Now the centuries have rolled by,,, and still the world longs for and looks for,,, the peace that the angels sang about on that first Christmas morning.

“Where is His peace?” they ask.

I’ll tell you where it is.

It abides in the hearts of all who have trusted in His grace.

Those of us in the world that have trusted in Jesus Christ,,, we are the ones that have the peace,,, that everyone else is searching for!

I could say to the leaders of all the governments today,,, and everyone everywhere in the world,,, that there can be no lasting peace,,, until Christ has come to the hearts of men,,, and brought His peace.

There can be no disagreements,,, there can be no anger,,, in heaven,,, for Christ reigns supreme there.

There is no conflict in the heart where Christ abides,,, for His words,,, “Peace I leave with you” (John 14:27),,, have been proven in the test tubes of human experience over and over again,,, in the lives of those who have trusted in His grace.

And that will continue,,, forever and ever,,,

Let us pray:

Our Father and our God, You are the God of grace and peace, and I praise Your magnificent name!

I long for the ultimate peace of heaven.

Still, I thank You for the peace I have already in my heart because of Jesus.

Please help me and everyone listening to share that peace with others. In Jesus’ precious name I pray. Amen.

As I always say,,, we are praying for all of you and if you have anything that you need to contact me about,,, I'm only a phone call or text away if needed. You can also send me an email,,, whatever you need to do to get in touch. God bless you,,, and good by

Graham, Billy. Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (p. 242). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.