Devotion: O C T O B E R 2 1

Growth Must Follow Regeneration

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For those who truly believe in Jesus, God promises a heart transplant. This is what being born again is all about—the old has passed away and in Christ all things are made new.

When we come to understand the glorious Gospel of His grace—that totally undeserved, unmerited, unworked for grace—that Christ came and did it all: He paid the penalty for our sins upon the Cross; He endured the punishment of Hell; He purchased for us a mansion in paradise; and He offers all of it to us freely if we will but place our trust in Him and receive him into our hearts as Lord and Savior. Only then, in that day you will find a new you looking at you in the mirror and you will have reached the starting gate.

Some people seem to think that this is the final goal. No, it is just the beginning. I’m sure that many a twenty-two year old or so, after having worked arduously for four years in college and more years before that, finally is handed a diploma and told, “This is the commencement.” They would like to think that this is the end and that now they can retire and rest. So too, the Christian life begins with a new birth. Growth is absolutely essential in any kind of life—how much more so the Christian life. Reading the Bible, praying, fellowship with other believers, corporate worship, and sharing the Gospel are some of the means of that growth.

Father, thank You for taking my heart of stone and giving me a heart of flesh. Thank You for the gift of regeneration and of justification. Now I ask that You may help me in the process of sanctification, of growing in You. Don’t let anything hold me back…

"BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN DAILY ACCESS THE MEANS OF GROWTH."