OCTOBER 27, 2025 ~ FROM A PASTOR'S HEART

OCTOBER 27 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: 2 Corinthians 5:16-19

It is God who performs the miracle of the new birth to all who believe in His Son, Jesus. How incredible is the truth that the Lord takes we who are dead in our sins and literally brings us into new life. Mankind was created by God, for God. At one time mankind walk with God in perfect fellowship...there was nothing that separated us from Him. Then mankind chose to enter into disobedience, sin entered his heart and he was separated from God because of that sin...mankind died spiritually. God never changed His mind about why He created us and in the fullness of time, He sent His Son to reconcile us to Himself. This would take Jesus suffering and dying for our sin...He would literally pay the price for what we were guilty of...and when it was paid by the shedding of His blood, He proclaimed, "It is finished" and died. In His death our sins are completely paid in full. We are forgiven eternally and our relationship with God is established. The Father affirmed His acceptance of Jesus' sacrifice by raising Him from the dead!

We, as Christians, are in one sense a completed work and in another, a work in progress. We have been made perfect in Christ Jesus...meaning that in Jesus we are fully acceptable to God. Our position in Christ as being children of God, whose sins are forgiven, who now have eternal life, can never change. He holds us in His hand and there is no one who can take us out of His hand. But we are also a work in progress...the Holy Spirit is working in us to transform us into the very image of Christ. We are being sanctified by His work in us. He is continually pushing away the old and replacing with the new. His work is a transforming work that changes our practice to match our position. This is a lifelong process and it take a willingness to submit and surrender to the Holy Spirit every day. We are a blessed people that God would consider us...and in His love He died to save us from our sin...and by His power He is transforming us into what He has created us to be. What a great and gracious God!

Please share your thoughts.