"Brief Devotions For Busy Lives" by Rev. Dr. Mary Johnson: 1 Timothy 1:12

 January 29

"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who gives me strength, that he has considered me faithful and has appointed me to his service." -Paul in 1 Timothy 1:12 (ISV)

Is there something you are still struggling with or ever feel guilty about? Even if we have changed our behavior and asked God for forgiveness, many of us can still feel so guilt-ridden by our past we may feel God can't totally forgive and accept us. Or even if we intellectually accept the fact of God's forgiving nature, we may be unable to forgive ourselves. The apostle Paul understood this reality only too well. He had once despised the teachings of Jesus and even hunted down, persecuted, and murdered God's people. (Acts 9:1-9) Before Christ found him, Paul was a violent unforgiving man. Although brilliant, he was filled with legalistic religiosity and rigid beliefs about guilt and punishment. He saw the Law as more important than any other factor. However, when the resurrected Christ appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus, Paul repented, was eventually totally transformed, and became a deeply committed Christen.

God not only forgave Paul but remolded him and then used him mightily for the furtherance of God's Kingdom. Without Paul and his deep understanding of the forgiveness, grace, mercy, power, and love of God through Christ Jesus, Europe would probably not be Christian today. After his conversion, Paul wrote almost half of our New Testament in his letters of love to the people he converted and the many churches he founded as a missionary to pagan countries. In his letter to the Romans, Paul explains the miracle of God's forgiveness when he says, "...at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!" (6:9) No matter how shameful or troubled your past or present, God can forgive and use you in ways you can't imagine!

Prayer: God, Thank you for forgiving me for wrongs. Amen.

Meditation For The Day: God's forgiveness is greater than any sin.

Brief Devotions For Busy Lives: Daily Winter Renewal Paperback – November 25, 2017, by Rev. Dr. Mary Johnson (Author)