Devotionals

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. (Eph 1:4 NLT) 

Can you imagine? Before He made the world, He loved you. Before He initiated creation, He saw you, and He chose you! Yes, you. And He saw you and me as holy and without fault in His eyes, because . . . Jesus.

What reckless love. What amazing grace. What undeserved favor. What an astounding inheritance! 

I’m appalled at my coldness to His movement towards me. I sit, unaware, in my “comfort and security,” forgetting the cost to the Father, and even more to His Son, to purchase my holiness and my faultlessness. None of my own doing. None of my own deserving. And yet, because of Jesus, because of my union with Him — I’m now adopted into the family of the Father, one with His Son. 

Dear friend, look up! Look into those eyes that saw you from before time even began (see Jeremiah 1:5). Those arms outstretched, wanting to hold and protect you like a mother hen guarding her chicks, “… but you wouldn’t let me.” (Matthew 23:37 NLT)

Oh, Father, please open my eyes to the majesty of the work you did in my life. Allow me to see Your hand throughout my life’s circumstances. To comprehend that from the beginning of time, You’ve loved me. You chose me. Even today, You still see me. You long to guard me under the fold of Your arms, and I have so often rejected Your protection. May I be confident in You. May I be as reckless in my love for You as You have been with Your love and care for me. Again, today, I relinquish my claim to myself, acknowledging I can only do this “by fixing my eyes on Jesus, the Author and perfecter of my Faith.” (Heb 12:2 NASB) 

Rick is the well-loved husband of Sherry for over 53 years, dad to 3 remarkable children and their spouses, and Poppy to 8 beautiful grandchildren.