Johnny Hunt - Grace, Hope, and Love: MyDaily Devotional

Grace, Hope, and Love

2017 by Thomas Nelson

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version. 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified Bible. Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org). Scripture quotations marked NCV are taken from the New Century Version. 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scriptures marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible. Copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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C ONTENTS

WEEK CONTRIBUTOR

G race, Hope, and Love has been crafted by fifty-two devoted men of God to guide readers in the way God wants Christians to livethrough the grace, hope, and love of Jesus Christ.

God has provided an anchor of His grace, hope, and love for believers to live in the center of His will. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians that love never fails. You can count on God in whatever circumstance life presents.

It is our prayer that this devotional will open your heart to Gods love as you spend time in His Word and meditate on His truths every day.

Dr. Johnny M. Hunt

Senior Pastor

First Baptist Church Woodstock

Woodstock, Georgia

W EEK 1M ONDAY
Gaining Christ

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.

P HILIPPIANS 3:89

I have often heard it said that many people will miss heaven by approximately fourteen inches. They know about Jesus intellectually, but they have never repented of their sins and surrendered their lives to Him. Paul wanted to know Christ, and he certainly wished to make Him known. He knew personally what it meant to have a relationship that was experientially with Jesus.

Once he came to know Jesus as he did, it was as though nothing else really mattered. Paul compared what he had gained on earth to garbage. It really is amazing how dead religion (our approach to reach God) looks once we embrace a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ. The Amplified Bible translates Pauls newfound relationship as the possession of a priceless privilege and supreme advantage.

The question may be asked, What makes this relationship with Christ so real and rich? Lots of answers could fill this space, but suffice it to say, we have been brought into a union with God through Christ, which allows us to die with Him and be raised with Him. Through this relationship, God has granted to us His righteousness. He has fitted us for eternity.

Dear Lord, please help me to gain my righteousness in You. Amen.

W EEK 1T UESDAY
The Wonderful Cross

God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

G ALATIANS 6:14

I t is little wonder that so many great hymns were written about the cross. I love The Old Rugged Cross, At Calvary, and my wifes favorite, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.

In Galatians 6:14, the apostle Paul made a tremendous statement concerning the cross. Someone once said of Charles Spurgeon, All of your sermons sound exactly the same. Why is that? Spurgeon responded, Because I just take a text anywhere in the Bible, and then make a beeline straight to the cross.

As a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I find it challenging, yet at the same time glorious, that God has given me a gospel to preach that is foolishness. It is absolute nonsense and absurdity. One thing is for sure: this message of the cross allows no place for mans merit or works in experiencing its power.

Now for the paradox: its foolishness to one person but the power of God to another. John Newton, who wrote Amazing Grace, would contrast it as I once... was blind, but now I see.

Have you ever thought of how the cross stands between you and heaven and also between you and hell? One cannot enter heaven except by way of the crossdead to sin and self but made alive by its power.

Once we embrace the cross, it keeps us out of hell. We are saved as a result of the crosss power and the acknowledgement of our inability and lack of strength to save ourselves. Its still the cross.

Dear Lord, help me never to take the cross for granted. Amen.

W EEK 1W EDNESDAY
Giving Thanks to God

We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.

C OLOSSIANS 1:35

I often hear that a Spirit-filled person is a grateful, thankful person. Paul was a man with a great attitude that displayed itself in gratitude.

Vance Havner said, We grow up taking things for granted and saving our flowers for the dead. All along the way, countless hands minister to our good, but rarely do we acknowledge them. May I leave my time with the Lord this morning full of gratitude.

Remember, this letter to the Colossians was written from prison by the hand of a man with a tender spirit and a consuming graciousness. It really is amazing grace that can keep you grateful regardless of what life may throw at you.

Listen to the words that jump from the pages of your Bible from this verse: thanks, praying, faith, love, hope, and gospel. It is apparent to me from verses 68 that Paul had lots to be grateful for, and not because of where he was or what he had but because of what God had done in the lives of others. The news by Epaphras caused overwhelming gratitude in his heart and words.

Do you reflect often on those for whom you are grateful? How about your Bible teachers or friends who helped you through a difficult time in your life? How about your parents or pastor for all they have taught you? When did you last tell a close friend thank you for always being there? Why not tell them today?