Bryan Chapell - Daily Grace: 365 Daily Devotions Reflecting Gods Unlimited Grace

Daily Grace

365 Daily Devotions Reflecting Gods Unlimited Grace

Bryan Chapell

Copyright 2021 by Bryan Chapell

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Unless otherwise marked, Scriptures are taken from 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.

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible. Copyright 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible and CSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version, public domain.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scriptures marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. Copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-68451-296-6

eISBN: 978-1-68451-314-7

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021947535

Published in the United States by Salem Books

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Cover design by Jason Sunde

is the author of Each for the Other, Unlimited Grace, Praying Backward, and Holiness by Grace

DAILY GRACE INTRODUCTION

I n my early years in ministry, I often sought to compel obedience by haranguing people into guilty or fearful submission to Gods standards. Then, the Lord crushed my pride and healed my heart with the compelling power of the grace of the Gospel. Since that time, everything that I have preached, taught, or written has sought to shine the beautiful grace of the Lord Jesus Christ upon all of life to ignite the joy that is the true strength of Christian obedience and witness.

Daily Grace continues the project of shining the sweetness and power of grace into every aspect of life by providing a years worth of daily devotions. Each reveals how the grace of God in Jesus Christ provides strength for today and hope for tomorrow. The devotional thought is preceded by a related Bible verse and followed by a brief prayer. Each thought has been carefully chosen from one of my previous books or messages that has been particularly meaningful to readers, listeners, friends, and family.

A key reason to meditate on Scripture with a focus on how we live in response to Gods grace is to keep straight the order of Scriptures imperatives and indicatives. The imperatives (what we should do) are always a consequence of the indicatives (who we are by Gods grace). What we do is never the cause of Gods love for us. We obey in response to Gods love. We were beloved long before we obeyed or knew to do so. His grace toward us precedes, enables, and motivates our efforts toward holiness. Grace not only precedes Gods imperatives, it is also the ultimate power that enables us to obey His standards as we are transformed from the inside out.

Relishing the grace God has provided for us through Jesus Christs sacrifice for our sin stimulates humility, gratitude, sacrifice, obedience, and praise. We delight to revere God for the love He has shown us. Our obedience is not so much to gain earthly benefits as to express gratitude for Gods eternal blessings. We pursue holiness to bless the Heavenly Father who has been gracious to us, rather than to bribe a divine tyrant to be favorable toward us. We obey not merely to experience the blessings of obedience but to honor the God who provides them. Heavens priorities become our own because expressing love for the One who first loved us provides our greatest joy and deepest satisfaction.

Since Gods love for us is the soil in which our love for God grows, we do not identify His grace simply for spiritual sentiment. Grace is supremely practical and powerful. Regular focus on the good news that Jesus died for our sin despite our undeserving status ignites love for God in the hearts of believers that makes them willing and able to honor Him. We turn to Him for help when we realize we are helpless apart from Him. We pray for the aid we need, when we know He promises never to turn away from those who seek Him.

By identifying such grace throughout Scripture, we fan into flame zeal for our Savior. Our goal is stimulation of a profound love for God that bears holy fruit. When Gods people see how resolute and rife His love for them is, then they rejoice to live for Him. Grace compels this holiness as our hearts respond to His mercy with a compelling love for whatever pleases Him.

Grace motivates lives of praise, and also empowers them. This may surprise many believers because it is common to think of grace as an excuse not to obey God rather than as the fuel of godliness. In order to discern how grace empowers godliness, we need to consider the sources of power for living in ways that please our Savior.

One obvious source of spiritual power is knowledge. We need to know what to believe and to do in order to apply Gods Word to our lives. If we do not know what to believe, then we cannot honor the truths about God; and, if we do not know what to do, then we cannot truly please God.

Yet, as important as it is to know what to believe and what to do, such knowledge is still insufficient for living the Christian life. If we have no will or ability to act on the knowledge we have, then we cannot please God. Thats why excavating the message of grace from all of Scripture is so important. The love for God that the Gospel of grace stimulates in us provides power for Christian living that knowledge alone cannot.

We all have acquaintances who know a lot about the Bible, but whose lives or attitudes seem remote from the heart that gave it. Something must accompany knowledge of God for godliness to thrive in our livesand that something is love for God.