Don Campbell Devotion – THOUGHT FOR TODAY: SAVED BY HIS GRACE; DEVOTED TO GOOD WORKS

After declaring that all believers had once been slaves to sin, Paul then said, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:4-7).

No good deed that we might have done had anything to do with our justification by grace. There are, however, acts of obedience connected with every call to faith, as we see in the statements “By faith Abel offered,” “By faith Noah built,” and “By faith Abraham offered.” Their faith and obedience were not two unjoined acts, as James pointed out when he said, “Show me your faith apart from your works and I will I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18).

Clearly, the Scriptures do not speak of saving faith in God’s promises as one thing and obedience to conditions attached to those promises as something else. There are works by which our faith is manifested and there are works which spring from faith. The two are different. For example, Abraham’s offering of Isaac (Jam 2:21) would have been an abomination to God had Abraham initiated the action. The record says, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son” (Heb 11:17). The only place that Isaac was offered was in the heart of Abraham.

Can we deduce that since Abraham had offered Isaac in his heart there was no need to offer him physically? The answer is clear. He was in the act of offering when God stopped him. God did not say, “Because you have offered him in your heart, there is no need to offer him on the altar.” The angel of the Lord said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided” (Gen 22:11-14).

Had Abraham taken it upon himself to offer a ram instead of Isaac, we would not be reading, “By faith Abraham offered.” Those who believe one is saved the moment one believes that Jesus is their Savior are sincerely mistaken. However, those who believe something in addition to the conditions given in a promise must be done in order for faith in a promise to be valid are just as sincerely mistaken. One is faith apart from works and the other is works apart from faith, and neither can save.

Paul went on: “The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people” (Titus 3:8). These good works to which we are to devote ourselves are not the works of obedience by which we lay hold of the grace of God. They are the fruit of faith, that fruit which can only be produced after union with Christ, who said, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:4-7).

Faith without fruit is a dead faith. Fruit without faith is dead works. Like the plastic fruit in a bowl, they look good but do not have life in them.

Barry Carr Devotion – Your Story As A Believer

The first thing that I want to tell you it this; You and I must tell others what Jesus Christ has done for us. Our stories are the great colorful quilt of love that’s been given to us from Him.
There is power in our stories. Now, everyone may not want to hear or even believe our story, But I encourage you to tell it anyway, because it belongs to you, and it also bears witness of Him.

Mark 16:9-11
 Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.

10 She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept.
11 And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.
How would you like to be reminded everyday; and then remembered for 2,000 years as the person who Jesus cast out seven devils?

This story is forever Mary Magdalene’s story. On the negative side of her story, she was once under the control of seven demons and her past was surely a dirty one. However, then steps in Jesus, and it is Him who makes her story a positive one.
Her story becomes one of Freedom, Deliverance, and Victory from oppression. Jesus made the past crimson of her sins, as white as snow and she became the first that He appeared to in the garden. Her story is a powerful witness to this very day, and its one given to her by a risen Jesus Christ…