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Hear devo: https://bit.ly/4udYk8g
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5: 1-11 NIV)
A fantastic Friday be yours, dear Friend! May the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus be with you now and always! Make this be a day of prayer, strong, fervent prayer to the Lord sharing with Him all that may be weighing us down knowing that only He can provide that release that we need. As we pray, pray for the family of Mr. Lynn Wilburn, of Gonzales who passed away on Tuesday and today is his funeral. Lynn was a faithful member of First Methodist Gonzales and a retired law enforcement officer. May God's peace be with Pat, his wife and all who loved him and who will miss him. Also, please join me in lifting up a prayer of gratitude for being released by my orthopedic surgeon from further x-rays and office visits related to my torn tendon surgery! X-rays taken early this morning (Thursday) showed healing progressing as needed; all honor and glory to the Lord! I thank Him for Dr. Gloria Box who did the surgery and has been my surgeon during this ordeal! Also, a prayer to the Lord for allowing Nellie and I to escape what would have been a terrible accident at a very busy intersection on Hwy 46 just outside of Seguin. As the light changed I proceeded slowly and Nellie said for me to stop, which I did, and a pickup truck did not even bother to slow down for his red light! He swerved to miss us but kept going at a very high rate of speed! Gulp! God is good! Yet, another angel story from the Lord and His loving watchful eye on us!
When did you come to know real love? Yes, most of us learned about love from our moms and dads; some from their grandmothers and grandfathers; some from school teachers and some from school friends. But when did REAL love come into your life? My real love came from Jesus when I invited Him into my heart and He gave me such a peace and a joy that I have endured much and experienced more than I ever dreamed possible. At the tender age of eight, I was justified through faith; being made welcome in a world that seeks to exclude and keep out many. God opened a door that only He could and I walked in. John Wesley would have said it was Prevenient Grace that led me there and when I said YES, Justification occurred; a validation of life and faith because of my belief in making the invitation to Jesus; which is what Paul wrote about in verse 1. "Hope in the glory of God" became mine. I knew I could trust Jesus and walk with Him and onward still we go! Now, I wish I could say not a single bad thing ever happened to me; nope. I'm human and I was raised by and around other humans. And when sufferings came, I found glory in God in spite of the pain or anguish that accompanied the sufferings; but Paul takes it to another level, for he believes that the glory in suffering comes with perseverance; that keep on keeping on feeing that says don't quit, don't stop believing. And perseverance leads us to character, a shaping of the inside of us into more of the image of Jesus; a yet imperfect soul, but more loving and tolerant of others; the ability to look above the pain and sorrow to the place where smiles are possible; and Paul further believes that character leads us to hope that place of optimism and joy that faith allows us to see the bigger picture of what may be coming next and the certainty that we journey not now or ever, alone.
Paul says that hope cannot put us to shame, because we are God's vessels into which God pours His amazing love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, Who is now ours, and Paul shouts, "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ dies for the ungodly." At this point friends, you are free to holler loudly, Hallelujah! This death of Jesus excites Paul and should excite us as believers for Paul writes correctly, that rarely will somebody die for a righteous person, except, he notes, possibly a "good person" might die for us or someone else. But here we can hear that were Paul standing, he was moving excitedly with the words that are coming out of his heart and onto the page where it was being recorded: But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." I don't believe you heard that; let me say it again: WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US!" The paper stuck to our shoes that the mud and dust almost covered up that read: Imperfect. Sinner. Debtor. has flown up and ends up pristine and clean with the words, PAID IN FULL having taken the place of the condemning words. Beside the Paid note it now reads: RECONCILED. And just above that we read the word: SAVED!
I chuckled a bit sadly when I heard my children sing an old song that I learned in a Baptist kindergarten there in Kingsville. Miss Moreno taught all the little brown kids in that Primera Iglesia Bautista to sing, in English, "If you're save and you know it, clap your hands!" And loudly we clapped mainly out of classroom competition, but deep down the Holy Spirit was moving among us, getting us ready for the day we could sing and truly clap, shout, turn around, stand up, and whatever else the song asked, for we were indeed saved. Saved or salvation scares a lot of people and some check their IDs to make sure they're not really Baptist for having said that; but the Baptists do own the copyrights to salvation. But my kids sang, "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands." Okay, I can see that because, you know, salvation is something very personal and we don't want to hurt the feelings of others; and you don't have to sing it about being saved. But salvation is important to the believer; it is the mark of Jesus on our lives and it's part of the voice of our Shepherd that identifies us as His, so that when it comes time, you and I will recognize that voice and He will recognize us!
Friends, let me meddle a bit in your private life. If you have not yet come to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, please do not put it off any longer. God loves you right now, imagine that love once you've entered the realm of truly being His? All it takes is a simple, heart-felt prayer inviting Jesus into your heart. You can say that you're tired of being a sinful person and want those sins taken away, and say, "Lord Jesus, take the place of sin and all the negative it brought with it, with You, Your love and the positive, freeing things that will give me victory in this life and the joy that will come now and accompany me into the gates of Heaven; in Thy name, I pray, amen!"
PRAYER: Loving Lord, for all You have already done, I am blessed and thankful. For those who pray the above prayer, I rejoice and celebrate. I pray for those hurting and healing; for the lost and confused, and for those who are quite content in their ignorance, praying you open their eyes and minds to the realities of what could be; in Your name, Lord Jesus, I pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! OUR CALL TO ACTION: Today, identify one area of suffering or struggle in your life. Instead of asking God to remove it immediately, ask him what perseverance, character, or hope he might be building through it. Journal one sentence about what you sense him saying.
I love you and I thank God for you! You matter to God and you matter to me! Ours is the Victory in Jesus!
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
