What’s It Gonna Take?: Day One
Day 1: Good New for Those Who Are Stuck
Devotional
Have you ever felt like you should be further along in your faith by now? You are showing up, reading your Bible, doing the right things, and yet the same old patterns keep surfacing. Anger. Fear. Selfishness. It is discouraging, and it can leave you wondering if real change is even possible. Here is the good news: When you're feeling stuck, you don't need something new - you need something you already have. You've simply been trying to run on the wrong fuel. Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia and asked them a pointed question. How did you receive the Holy Spirit? Was it by keeping all the rules, or was it by hearing the gospel and believing it? The answer, of course, was faith. They did not earn the Spirit. They received Him. That same principle applies to your growth as a Christian today. You did not work your way into God's family, and you cannot work your way into becoming more like Jesus. Grace brought you in, and grace is what moves you forward. If you feel stuck right now, take a breath. God has not given up on you. He is not standing over you with a checklist, waiting for you to try harder. He is inviting you to come back to the same place you started: the gospel. The good news of Jesus is not just your starting point. It is your daily fuel.
Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?
- Galatians 3:2
Reflection Question
In what areas of your life have you been relying on willpower and effort rather than returning to the grace that saved you in the first place?
"He doesn't say, try harder. He doesn't say, add something new or take this class
or here's another program or plan. He says, you grow in Christ the same way you came to Christ,
by hearing the good news and believing it." - Pastor Mike Mura
Prayer
Lord, thank You for saving me by grace and not by my own effort. Remind me today that the same gospel that brought me into Your family is the power that changes me. Help me to stop striving and start trusting You again.