Mary E. DeMuth - Outrageous Grace Every Day: Daily Reflections on the Gospels Hope

Table of Contents

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Verses marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Verses marked ESV are taken from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cover design by Emily Weigel Design

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Mary E. DeMuth is represented by David Van Diest from the Van Diest Literary Agency, 34947 SE Brooks Road, Boring, OR 97009.

Outrageous Grace Every Day

Copyright 2019 by Mary DeMuth

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97408

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

ISBN 978-0-7369-7649-7 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-7650-3 (eBook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: DeMuth, Mary E., author.

Title: Outrageous grace every day / Mary E. DeMuth.

Description: Eugene: Harvest House Publishers, 2019.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019015143 (print) | ISBN 9780736976497 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: Bible. RomansDevotional literature.

Classification: LCC BS2665.54 .D46 2019 (print) | LCC BS2665.54 (ebook) | DDC 242/.5dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019015143

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019981441

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To my steady, encouraging, grace-infused

mastermind group.

You have girded my resolve ,

lifted me from publishing despair ,

and encouraged me to live well the message of this book.

Thank you, Thomas Umstattd Jr., Susan May Warren ,

Tracy Higley, Lacy Williams, Jim Rubart, Randy

Ingermanson, and Tricia Goyer.

I love you all.

Im indebted to you.

And I pray for you often.

Contents

I must admit: I have been scared to start this book. Though Ive done plenty of preparation and praying, I am one of those souls quite intimidated by the book of Romans. Its thick and rich and long and multilayered. Who am I to shepherd you through it?

What I can say is this: I am a worshipper of the God who tenaciously pursued mea sin-scarred child rescued by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and a grateful recipient of the hope the Holy Spirit has given me.

While I consulted scholars and commentaries aplenty to better understand the nuances and intent of Pauls letter to the Romans, I first did something different. While praying about the writing, I sensed God asking me to read the entire book of Romans, all sixteen chapters, every day for three months. One day of reading for every day of this devotional. In that repetitive immersion, themes began to appear. I started feeling the rhythm of Pauls words and immersed myself in the grand story he recounted.

Romans is a long summary of the entire story of Godhow he began the world, chose and delivered a people, then sent his Son so the entire world could be likewise chosen and delivered. Its a narrative of good versus evil. So much of the language within its pages is that of the law courta judicial pardoning of sinners. Its a beautiful apologetic on the existence of God, and its a cautionary tale for all of us who would rather live on our own terms rather than surrendering to the One who made us. There is an agonizing longing in Pauls heartbeathis sincere desire to see the entire world come to terms with Jesus, the One who transformed him from church persecutor to planter.

This is a love story, of the Savior who leaves the ninety-nine and pursues the reckless one, of the design all along of Gods redemptive plan for humanity. All this sounds ethereal, but its actually down-to-earth. This theology has feet. And if you linger in these pages every day for three months, your walk will be changed. Not by my words, but by Scriptures.

Immersing myself in Romans for 90 days has settled my heart. I know Jesus made me right (justified) before God the Father. Theres nothing I can do to alter the reality of what he accomplished on the cross. For someone who has perennially felt insecure, this is yet another aspect of the Good Newsour security cannot be based on our feelings, our failures, or our family of origin. No, our security is based on the faithfulness of our Father. And we show our gratitude not by working tirelessly in our own strength with fear as our faulty motivation. No, we respond by having simple belief, in trusting that Jesus accomplished everything on the cross. His It is finished is the truth, and theres nothing we can do to earn anything more.

That grace, dear one, is settled. It is bedrock. We cannot shake it. It cannot dissipate.

In my three-month journey, I also had to remind myself that Paul didnt write this book to me or any other person. No, his was a letter to a group of people who gathered together to worship Jesus. So ingrained am I in American individualism that Im prone to forget the powerful truth that we are the Body of Christall of us. Its not me; its us. And we grow best alongside one another. We experience Jesus together through the varied gifts he has given us. So heres a challenge for you. Dont just pick up this devotional and read it by yourself. Grab a few friends and read it concurrently, then discuss what youve learned every week or so. Youll double your interaction with the text and cement the beautiful truths to your soul in a way that isolated reading cant.

Youre about to embark on an adventure through this wide-reaching book of the Bibleone whose tendrils weave through the Old Testament and into the New Covenant. You will encounter Pauls bedrock theology, a robust view of the otherness of God, and a settled peace for your place in his ever-expanding kingdom. As an adopted child of God, you have an important part to play in the story of God that is both now and not yet.

Because of all that Good News, this will also be a worship journey. Even before I started writing this book, I sensed God calling me back to worship, to poetry set to words. So before we begin studying every chapter of Romans, youll see a worship song I pennedan ode to the One who set me free and set my feet to dancing. I pray each song blesses you.