God Has the Nerve

Scripture:  Daniel 9:5 – We have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgements.    Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

To think that I am no better than the murderer or the robber is healthy.  My tongue can be a pistol, the way I murder another caught in their snare of sin; and my giving can be likened to thievery when I fail to simply tithe my first fruits.  Without being reminded of scriptures such as John 3:16…I know myself well.  I can almost forget, that, I was once in need of a Savior just as bad as that one who was arrested for criminal activity.  God forbid, I forget of how much I continue to need God’s grace every moment of my life.  I was listening to Ravi Zechariah and he was talking about his visit to one of the worst prisons located in Louisiana; and it was so bad that the guards upon placing inmates in their cells, would give them a knife so that they could have a chance at protecting themselves.  Ravi mentioned how the Warden tackled the many barriers of having any type of peace at this prison with placing a bible in every prisoner’s cell.  After such a faith move, there was change.  There were numerous prisoners who accepted the Lord and even went on to become ministers of the faith.  When Ravi Zachariah visited the prison, he was invited by the Warden to have an intimate meal (prepared by prisoners) with himself, the Warden and those prisoners who were now ministers.  The fellowship was deemed phenomenal by Ravi; He even stated how one of the ministers who led praise/worship prayed for him with much zeal.  Before, Ravi left, he stopped and asked that praying minister who was also sentenced to life, how he felt about his situation.  The prisoner stated how he considered himself free on the outside but was imprisoned in a state of sin; and how now, though imprisoned physically, he is grateful to have perfect freedom in Jesus.  Initially, in this devotional I wanted to remind us of how much we need God no matter how righteous we can somehow subconsciously convince ourselves to believe; Now, I just want to point out the significance of knowing who we are in Christ (and how He is truly our Savior who makes the difference); He vigilantly and actively rescued us from sin; and He is able to level the ground and allow us to stand confidently in Him and claim to be the object of His love, forgiveness and all-powerful deliverance.  Bless God!

Prayer:  Lord, we thank You that You are able to reach us no matter how far we go from Your presence.  Thank You Lord that You are attentive to where we are and often bring us to some insight of how much we need You.  This allows us to see clearly and extend a hand of love and even prayer for our brother or sister who we may have believed was somehow worse than we are.  Thank You Lord for leveling the ground.  In Jesus’ Name – Amen!  

(by Lisa Williams)