Morning Devotional 011726 God's Amazing Grace

Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room

January 17, 2026

Ephesians 2:1-10

1 At one time you were like a dead person because of the things you did wrong and your offenses against God. 2 You used to live like people of this world. You followed the rule of a destructive spiritual power. This is the spirit of disobedience to God’s will that is now at work in persons whose lives are characterized by disobedience. 3 At one time you were like those persons. All of you used to do whatever felt good and whatever you thought you wanted so that you were children headed for punishment just like everyone else. 4 - 5 However, God is rich in mercy. He brought us to life with Christ while we were dead as a result of those things that we did wrong. He did this because of the great love that he has for us. You are saved by God’s grace! 6 And God raised us up and seated us in the heavens with Christ Jesus. 7 God did this to show future generations the greatness of his grace by the goodness that God has shown us in Christ Jesus. 8 You are saved by God’s grace because of your faith. This salvation is God’s gift. It’s not something you possessed. 9 It’s not something you did that you can be proud of. 10 Instead, we are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.

Good Morning! We are saved by God’s grace through our faith!

Faith vs. good works has been the basis of many discussions from the beginning of Christianity. Some theologians call James’ letter into question because of his emphasis on good works. I think that James gets a bad rap. The main message of the Book of James is that genuine faith must produce practical, obedient actions; it's about living out your Christian beliefs through good works, perseverance in trials, controlling your speech, showing partiality to none, and demonstrating true wisdom and humility in daily life, proving that "faith without works is dead."

Wesley, Augustine, and many others struggled with this as they developed their theological ideas. The heart-strangely-warmed occurrence on Aldersgate Street marked the moment when John Wesley realized that God’s grace was sufficient for our salvation, and that all who professed faith in Christ as Lord and Savior were freely given this grace. 

This is not one of those which came first, the chicken or the egg, scenarios. God first loved us and by his mercy extended grace to us unconditionally. Our response to this gift of grace is to obediently serve and love one another through good works. We cannot buy our way to heaven because the bill has already been paid. 

I remember, as a kid, sitting in a restaurant when the grownups would “argue” over who was going to pay the bill. All the while, Granny sat smiling because she had already paid before the bill arrived. 

Through Jesus death and resurrection, our bill for salvation has been paid. We serve and guide others so that they come to the table and accept their gift. Remember when Jesus told Peter, “Feed my sheep!” We, God’s sheep, are to find and feed the lost sheep.

Redeeming Lord, you bless us abundantly! You love us and bless us with your grace. Help us extend your love and grace to all we meet. Thank you. We love you. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.

Thought for the day: Serve one another joyfully!

God grants all who ask, amazing grace! Pastor Liz