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Scripture Reading:
Romans 5:1-2 (New King James Version – NKJV)
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1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
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Thought for the day:
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A couple of years ago, in one of our devotions, I mentioned the film from the 90s called ‘Groundhog Day’. The premise of the film was that a man had to keep reliving the same day over and over until his attitude to life and other people changed. It is a very good film but of course, it is based on a completely incorrect premise: None of us get a chance to keep re-living our lives – we get only one shot at it!
I’m sure that when you looked at our scripture this morning, you would have thought the same as the guy in Groundhog Day – ‘Oh no, not again!’. I’m aware that we spent most of last week looking at just a couple of verses but there really is so much in there that I would be remiss if I didn’t continue to bring some things to our attention. I’ll try to keep things fresh with different versions as I highlight some wonderful themes that are found in these verses.
Very briefly for today, I just want to stress the importance of the phrase ‘gained access by faith into this grace’. Recently in work, we have relocated our stock room to another part of the building. The new room was previously occupied by a different team and they also have relocated all of their stock. In our new room, we have many thousands of pounds worth of IT equipment including iPhones, iPads, PCs, monitors etc. It is an “Alladin’s Cave” for anyone interested in technology. This room is controlled by an ID pass and unless you’re on the list of approved people, you can’t get in there. A few days ago, someone came to see me who said he needed access to the room. He’d been trying to get in but couldn’t. I made a phone call to the person who manages the security and within minutes, access had been granted. Through faith in Jesus, we have been granted access to grace! I’ve tried so many times to describe what grace means but every time I feel I’ve only scratched the surface. In a similar way to our stock room, Grace contains so many things! When we’ve been given access we can experience everything that it has to offer: salvation, forgiveness, compassion, power for living to name just a few.
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Prayer and Application:
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As I write this, my heart is full of gratitude to the Lord for giving me access. It is all because of Him, it is through Him and it is for Him. I hope that today, we continue to give Him glory for all He’s done.
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