Pastor Stephen Dedman

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Happy Thanksgiving

Encouragement, Trust

Happy Thanksgiving

Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5:20‬

Thankful

Thanksgiving means a variety of things to many people. For some it is a day of cooking and eating. For some it means a day of fun and fellowship. For some it involves traveling and visiting. But for most people, it means an expression of gratitude, especially towards God.  What does Thanksgiving mean to you?

We can express an attitude of thankfulness for many things.  Of course it is easy to do when things are going reasonably well. When the bills are paid, the family is healthy, and you have a roof over your head it is easy to praise God and give thanks. But when times are hard we tend to lose our attitude of thankfulness. In today’s verse, Paul clearly states to give thanks always and for everything, good and bad. The Apostle Paul set forth a great example of how to be thankful even when in bad times.

Regardless of your circumstances the Lord deserves honor and praise. Far too often we fail to give God what is due to Him. This is a great time to express our love and devotion towards God for His endless love and mercy. Once you begin to praise Him your attitude will change for the better and you will be a blessing to others who need to witness God’s great grace. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you have much to be thankful for.

Prayer

Lord, I thank you for your love and grace that You have shown towards me.  I pray that I will be a blessing to others so they see You in me.

Daily Devotional

Under Grace

Faith, Trust

Under Grace

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
‭‭Romans‬ ‭6:14‬ ‭

Dead To Sin

Have you ever considered why we all continue to sin even after we have been saved?  Just because we accept the free gift of salvation doesn’t mean we will never sin again. It just means that the work of Jesus Christ has paid the penalty of our sins. He has justified us before God and we are forgiven.

For an unbelieving person, sin dominates their life. They do not even realize they are sinning. They are a slave to sin and sin is their master.  But as a Believer you are a slave to righteousness. You have been set free from sin. That does not give us the right to go sin even more, it just gives us the attitude to sin less. Once we consider what Jesus did for us on the cross it will make us not want to sin. We will be more aware of our sins and we will make special effort not to sin. The Holy Spirit gives us power to overcome the sins that once dominated our life. Perhaps you noticed in your personal life that after you were saved you quit doing some of the sins you use to commit.

Christ makes us a new person from the inside out. He changes our heart first and then places a desire in our hearts to not want to sin. Sin is anything that does not glorify God. As Christ followers we live a life that is pleasing and accepting to Christ. We need to pay close attention to any sins that we commit on a regular basis.

Prayer

Lord, I confess my sins to you one by one. Thank you for forgiving me and giving me new life.

A Good Conscience

Encouragement, Faith

A Good Conscience

Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.”
Acts 23:1

A Clean Slate

If you remember the life of Saul before the Lord changed his name to Paul, you will remember how he was persecuting the church and killing Christians.  He was not considered a good person in our perspective.  But here in this verse Paul says to the Sanhedrin council, “I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.”  How could he say such a profound statement?

Paul knew his past was not good.  But he also knew that he had received God’s forgiveness and grace.   Even though he had previously acted out violent persecutions against Christians, he was a new person in Christ.  He always used his testimony to show people how Jesus changed his life.  So Paul could honestly stand before the council and declare that he had a good and clear conscience before God.  His slate was clean and he was cleared from all unrighteousness.

That is a great way to live.  We should all seek to live before God with a good conscience.  The only way you can effectively do so is to confess your sins and turn from all evil.  A problem occurs when we confess our sin but keep doing the same sinful things.  We are to confess, repent, and turn away from repeating the same sins.  The only way to receive a good conscience before God is to be clean and free from sin.  Paul was able to let the past stay in the past and live in the present for the Lord.  Is there any sin in your life that is troubling your soul and keeping you from having peace with God? Confess and repent today.

Prayer

Pray and ask God to reveal any unconfessed sin and repent from it today.