The last few devotional blogs have mentioned the hardships and heartbreaks of working with children in the foster care system.  The blogs talked about some heavy topics, but always reminded us that even when we feel small, the Lord is great, and our smallness is nothing compared with His greatness.

This morning’s devotional was much more positive as we focused on God’s grace—a gift that is encouraging and captivating for every believer.

As we sat around the conference room table, we read a particularly sweet passage of scripture: Ephesians 2:4-5,

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved…”

In these verses Paul talks about God’s great mercy and His plan to save all who believe in Him.  How thankful we are for God’s great mercy and love!

Through Christ we are saved by grace.  We don’t have to work for salvation or for God’s love—theses are gifts from our Heavenly Father. 

Each day that we go about our jobs, we can rejoice knowing that we are alive through Christ.  Yes, the situations we are immersed in through work are hard.  Yes, the world is often discouraging, but God does not want us to lose heart because He has overcome the world!

How encouraging to know the strength and love of the Lord.  One team member rewrote the verses in her own words to express the encouragement the Lord was speaking to her:

God’s love for us is so vast that no amount of our sin, no fight put up by death can withstand the power of God’s love for me.  I am now alive with Christ, by His grace.

There is nothing that can withstand the power of God’s love for me. 

What powerful and uplifting words to take away from our time with the Lord.  We know about the sheer power and might of the Lord, but to think that His love (something not tangible, not able to be touched or physically manifested) is a shield around us—how truly encouraging.