Daily Devotional

Before He can rejoice over you (or me), He must be satisfied that He could take away all of our temporal possessions and so-called wealth without us failing to cite Him as the Source of all blessings, tangible and intangible.

Jesus is expressing His zeal for His beloved bride. She has been lied to by the archenemy, almost since the beginning of earth’s history. Our risen Savior serves as High Priest, the Mediator of the new covenant — the covenant whereby He writes His law upon the hearts of His people.

The key is to fully rely on the only Eternal Authority, the Author of salvation as presented in the pages of His word. Such reliance makes messengers of His followers, with glorious and illuminating, indeed life-saving, messages.

Though each individual is responsible only for his or her own sins and cannot control the decisions of others, the opening phrase here is meant to spark intercessory prayer. Most believers will admit that their own decision to accept the Lord’s offer of salvation came on the heels of the prayers of others who faithfully prayed for them.

The mission of Jesus also includes the process of being saved: willingly submitting to the transformation of walking with the Holy Spirit. Being redeemed means confidently casting out — day-by-day — the defective character traits which do not belong in your life as a follower of Christ.

Paul (formerly Saul) joined the earthly mission of Jesus. He had been “imprisoned” by a wrong understanding of God’s character before his encounter with Christ. But after accepting divine correction, he was faithful to point out that misguided, sinful people have all been recipients of God’s mercy . . .