Theme For Daily Hope by Pastor Rick Warren January 7 2023 – You Can Relax in God’s Amazing Grace
“[God] knows what we are made of; he remembers that we are dust.”
Psalm 103:14 (GNT)
The Bible says, “[God] knows what we are made of; he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14 GNT). He knows what you’re made of because he created you. God won’t stop loving you when you mess up. He doesn’t love you because of who you are or what you’ve done but because of who he is and what he has done.
God made you. He loves you. It’s settled. You can’t make God love you more. You can’t make God love you less. He loves you just as much on your bad days as he does on your good days. His love is not performance-based.
The Bible has a word for this kind of love: grace. And it’s absolutely amazing! Even when you do ridiculously bad things, God won’t stop loving you. It truly is amazing grace. When you accept his grace, you can relax about your failures and have the confidence to take more risks in life.
You may have gone to God multiple times for forgiveness on the same issue. Maybe you’re not sure you deserve his love and grace. (You can settle that now: You don’t.) And you’re convinced that God has grown tired of your constant efforts at change. (He hasn’t.)
God never tires of a conversation with you. He’s never too busy. No matter how many times you go to him for forgiveness, he’ll always be waiting with open arms.
You may have grown up in a home where conditional love was the norm. Your parents’ affections may have been based on your academic, athletic, or social successes. When you failed in one of those areas, you felt the loss of your family’s love.
You can relax. That is not how God deals with you.
The Bible says God “canceled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. He took away that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14 NCV).
The Christian life isn’t a mistake-free life, but it can be a guilt-free life. God understands your failures—and he loves you anyway.
That’s God’s amazing grace! It is his goodness to you, and you can rest in it today.
- In what ways does living guilt-free affect every area of your life?
- God responds to your mistakes and failures with grace, love, and forgiveness. How does that affect how you respond to other people’s mistakes and failures?
- With whom can you share the Good News of God’s amazing grace this week?
You are saved by the grace of God
We all sin—but God offers his grace and forgiveness. The Bible says you can only get to heaven by trusting in God through his Son, Jesus Christ. You cannot earn your way into heaven: “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV).
If you’re ready to confess your sins and to trust Jesus with your life, start with this prayer:
“Dear God, you have promised that if I believe in Jesus, everything I’ve ever done wrong will be forgiven, I will learn the purpose of my life, and you will accept me into your eternal home in heaven one day.
“Jesus, I confess my sin, and I submit to you as my Savior and Lord. I want to follow you and serve you; I want to live in your grace and forgiveness, not my own guilt. I humbly commit my life to you and ask you to save me and accept me into your family. In your name I pray. Amen.”
If you just prayed to accept Jesus, please email me at [email protected] and let me know about it. I’d like to send you some free materials to help you start your journey with Jesus.
Credit For Daily Hope by Pastor Rick Warren January 9 2023 – Rick Warren Ministries