OUR ACTIONS WILL SPEAK
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.
1 John 3:19-22 NLT
TODAY’S THOUGHT
Having “bold confidence” when we come to God is the desire—yet we often fall very short in this area. I grew up in an environment where I was conditioned to think of God as the Big Bad Judge. God was in a black robe with a big club waiting to smack me the moment I did something wrong. I was afraid I didn’t measure up to Holy God. It was hard to envision Holy God wanting to talk to Darius. As I matured in my spiritual understanding, I grew to understand grace and mercy. Grace is where God gave me what I don’t deserve, and mercy is where God doesn’t give me what I do deserve. I deserve death but God gave me life through Jesus. Once we understand grace and mercy, we can live different. We live a love relationship with Holy God. God is all-knowing. He knows my sins and failures—yet He has chosen to love me anyway. This does not free me to live with known sin in my life. This confidence in the grace and mercy of God frees me to live in a way that pleases God. When I am living in a way that pleases God then I can come with bold confidence to God and ask for His help and provision in my life. If I am not living my life with a desire to please God I don’t have confidence to ask for His help. My actions show my heart. If my heart is to please God, then my actions will show that I am working to do the same.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Holy Spirit please show me any area of my life that is not in alignment with You. Forgive me and empower me to live my life in a way that pleases You. I choose to walk away from known sin and get my life in alignment with You. Help me to demonstrate my love for You by the way I treat others.
“Scroll down to share what you feel God is saying based on today’s reading.”
I am so blessed by the mercy and grace of Almighty God.
Grace is where God gave me what I don’t deserve, and mercy is where God doesn’t give me what I do deserve.