God's Grace at Work in You

1 Corinthians 15:9-10, 58 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. … Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

            There is so much packed into the few verses of today’s text. We begin with Paul’s expression of authentic humility. Never does he elevate his position and always does he give all credit to his Heavenly Father. His greatness as leader always brought people together and never divided them. And all that he was or declared to be was a direct result of God’s grace working within him. What a lesson for us today!

            Next we see something about the message, the intent, the goal of Paul. It was to preach the gospel—the same gospel preached by the other apostles—to reach the world. We spoke of this message yesterday, namely: Christ has died. Christ is risen! Christ will come again! In today’s text, verses 12-57 lay out in detail the message of resurrection: But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead (v. 20). It spells out the hope of eternal life we have in Christ. This was the message Paul proclaimed, and this is the same message we are still to proclaim today.

            Finally, stand firm! Be just who you are and do whatever you can do in any capacity to serve the Lord fully. Stay focused on using your talents, gifts, and abilities in service to the Lord. No service is too small to be of use to the Lord. And dear friends, that sort of wipes out all our excuses. You may not be an evangelist, but you can certainly show the love of Christ through your attitude, through kindness, through words of encouragement. Paul’s ability was a direct result of God’s grace working within him. Your ability is also a result of God’s grace working within you!

Gracious Heavenly Father,

            Thank you for your work of grace in our lives. We ask forgiveness for the times we make excuses instead of putting forth effort in service to you. Take whatever abilities we might have and guide us in using those abilities in ways that lead others to you.

            In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Amen.

 

The devotional God’s Grace at Work in You appeared first on Write From My Heart at writefrommyheartblog.blogspot.com

email: Dotty Willmon, writefrommyheartblog@gmail.com