Daily Devotional

KNOWING GOD AND ENTERING INTO HIS FULL GRACE

September 18

hild of God, when you are born again into the Kingdom of God and into His family of heaven, some very wonderful and amazing things begin to happen! First, you are given the privilege of praying for the first time and you can expect your Father in Heaven to both hear and answer your heart-felt prayers. If you sin after your salvation experience, the Devil will pounce on you and make you think that because of that sin you were never "saved" in the first place. Don't believe him, he is a liar! Your Father knows that you are still "fleshly" in your thinking. He knows that you will fail. However, your Father in Heaven offers you full and free forgiveness for all sin that you may commit. Your love for God will prompt you to seriously plan to walk out of sin and to desire above all else to love and please the Father with a lifestyle of holy obedience to Him. In fact, you will quickly discover that God's mercy (looking past your failures to see the good in you and to develop the best in you that is possible) comes freely and abundantly. You will say, "It is amazing how God shows me such free forgiveness even when I know that I have failed and deserve to be punished severely." Instead of strong punishment, God proves His mercy and love by offering more forgiveness. This helps you to get a true glimpse of the fact that God is not waiting to strike you down, but He gently and tenderly lets you see a picture of your own sin and the massive destruction that it worked in your life before you found the Lord Jesus. As you see how far He has brought you, and the sick, evil that He has saved you from, you begin to understand the broadness of His mercy and love for you! It is from this thought and knowledge that you are greatly encouraged to repent of all sin that comes your way, knowing and planning in your own mind to see the day when you learn to hate sin and love His righteousness. What do you think about that, Child of God? It is the best news on earth! It is news that your Father should love you so dearly that He would send to you the Holy Spirit to guide you and encourage you day by day until you reach the last day of your journey here on the earth, and cross over the River into the Eternal Kingdom of God. There you will receive the Everlasting Reward of eternal life with Him and your loved ones. It is worth the effort and surrender to reach the Great Reward of Heaven!

Prayer

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Father, I give you praise for your unbounded love and mercy toward me. I bow my head to you and will serve you forever. I bless you for loving me and forgiving me when I fail. I thank you that I am safe in the care of the Holy Spirit. I can walk and grow, and praise and be happy right here on the earth, knowing that my sins are all forgiven and my name is written by Christ Jesus in the Lamb's Book of Life. For that I bless you Father in Jesus' name, amen!