Devotion for January 28, 2023

“[God] knows what we are made of; he remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:14, GNT)

Your failures don’t surprise God. In fact, he expects them! 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, loves you and shows you new ways.

Prayer

Lord, thank You for loving a miserable sinner like me. Thank You for always loving me, and willing to give me Your grace and mercy when I need it (which is all the time). In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Stay encouraged!

Pastor Mike

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