God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. – Romans 5:20 (NLT)

Do you wish that you could automatically get good grades in school? Like you didn’t have to study at all, simply show up and boom, you had all A’s. Wouldn’t that be nice?

When it comes to grades, what you do matters. The more you study, the better your grades are. In school, your work matters. The harder you work, the better you’ll do.

However, with God, that wasn’t the case. There was nothing that you could do to ever make yourself right with God. No amount of good works, following God’s rules, or doing the right thing would ever mean heaven for you.

Instead, what you needed was God’s grace found through His son Jesus. Jesus bridged the gap between God’s righteousness and our sin. He made it possible for us to know the true God. That’s great news for us. We can live our lives free and full knowing that God’s grace is enough!

Pray: God, thank you for your wonderful grace. Thank you for making us right with you. I choose to walk today in the freedom you provided for me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” – John 13:35 (NLT)

Relationships with other people can be really complicated sometimes. How often have you had a friend not do what you wanted them to do? Or maybe a teacher isn’t treating you fairly and you feel really mad and upset.

Dealing with other people can be really hard. Especially when you’d just love to yell and give that person a piece of your mind.

Relationships with others aren’t easy, but today’s verse gives us some help. In the verse, we are encouraged to respond to others with love. That doesn’t always mean that we’re not going to tell others how we feel, but we can do it with a heart of love.

When we still are loving to those around us, we show the world that we are disciples.

So today, if you’ve struggled with your relationships with others, ask God for help. He can show you creative ways to deal with difficult relationships in love. God’s there to walk with you, so let Him. He wants to lead and guide you in every situation you face!

He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.” – 1 Samuel 15:29 (NIV)

Getting to know God can be really exciting. As you read the Bible, you learn more about who He is and how good it is to know Him. There are so many amazing attributes of God, but one of the most exciting ones is God’s faithfulness.

I’m sure you’ve experienced a parent promising you something and then later realized they forgot all about that promise. When that happened, you probably felt misunderstood and disappointed. Parents aren’t perfect and sometimes when they mean well, they still forget their promises.

The good news is that God is not like that. He can’t even lie. When He says something, He will bring it to pass. God is faithful all the time.

When we begin to believe that God is faithful it changes our relationship with Him. It helps us to trust Him because when we understand who God is and that He is faithful it makes it easier to trust Him more.

So today if trusting God has been an issue for you, begin to study and search the Bible for verses about the faithfulness of God. As you read about God’s faithfulness, it will help you begin to believe that He is trustworthy and faithful!

Today’s Truth: When God says something He will bring it to pass. God is faithful all the time!

Here is a FREE download for further study on God’s Faithfulness.

Do you ever struggle with trying to make people happy? Maybe you even make decisions based on how others feel rather than what you really want to do. The pull to please people can be very real.

And it’s true that as Christians, we shouldn’t be going out of our way to make people mad. However, if we live our whole lives only pleasing others, then we’ve missed the point. We should be living for God. His desires should be our desires, and we should be living to please Him.

But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. – Ruth 1:16 (NLT)

Ruth was determined to live for God and for God’s desires. She didn’t go back to her family and her country. Instead, she chose to make pleasing God her priority.

Like Ruth, we should be determined to live for God. Even if it means that we’re not making everyone happy. God should be the one we’re living to please, and it’s His approval we should seek each day.

Today’s Truth: Live to Please God

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. – James 1:2 (NLT)

Does this verse strike you as being a little crazy? It’s telling us when troubles come our way to consider it an opportunity for joy. That seems crazy. Who gets joy out of troubles?

Today’s verse is telling us that when troubles come we have an opportunity to grow. We can learn from them and become more like Jesus.

Maybe this year has been a tough one for you. Life sometimes can be really difficult and full of storms sometimes.

The thing is in the middle of troubles we can rely on God’s Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us that one of the Holy Spirit’s jobs is to comfort us. So even when we’re pressed and faced with difficulty, we can look to the Holy Spirit for comfort.

We can get through the troubles we’re going through right now and come out stronger and more reliant on God. So today, if you’ve allowed the troubles around you to cause you to doubt God’s faithfulness, know this: God will not leave you in trouble without help.

He will walk with you, lead you and guide you through this all. You will come out of this stronger than before.

Daily Devotional and Bible Verse – John 10:4 (NLT)

After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.

When a baby is born, it already knows the voice of it’s mother. In a similar way when you believe on Jesus as your Savior the Bible says you’re born into the kingdom of God. As a child of God, you know the voice of the Father God.

Your Father God loves you, and wants to speak to you, and for you to love hearing His voice.

The truth is, you belong to God’s flock and you know the voice of your Savior. So begin to listen for His instructions. He’s going ahead of you and showing you on which way to go. Learn to trust His voice and step out when He tells you to do something. When you do, you’ll see that He’s gone ahead of you and is making a way for you. So begin today by expecting to hear God’s voice in your life.

Today’s Truth: Begin listening to God’s instructions. He wants to show you which way to go.

So today encourage yourself. You can know the voice of God. You can follow what He is leading you to do and you can trust that He will lead you into good things for your life.