Page 110 - Grace150 Devotional

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17

I spent all of my childhood going to church. It seemed as if we were always
there, and the message was also clear: follow our rules and you can be saved. The
pressure to comply was intense. When I went off to college, I broke my mother’s
heart by sharing I would be exploring the world’s religions. But God never
stopped pursuing me.
I met my future wife, Dawn, and she invited me to start attending Grace
Presbyterian Church with her family. For the first time, I was hearing the gospel
straight up. Nothing we do (or don’t do) merits God’s favor—His Son did it all
on the cross.

I was also “hearing” it from the people I was meeting. The college group at Grace
were living a freedom in Christ that I was totally unfamiliar with. They didn’t
need rules because they strove to serve Christ out of love and gratitude for His
love and sacrifice for their sins. Between the power of the Word and the power
of their “word,” one night as I traveled back to Champaign-Urbana, things finally
clicked. I stopped my car, cried out to God, and He saved me.
Mile marker 155 on I-74 near Farmer City—where faith came from hearing.

Father, thank You that our faith comes from the power of Your Word. Thank
You for Your relentless pursuit and that our salvation is built on Your grace
relying only on Your faithfulness. Grant us the grace to make no provisions
to serve our own desires, but to serve Christ out of love and gratitude for our
salvation. We pray for the courage to daily put on Jesus Christ so that Your
love spills out of our hearts into the lives of others.
– Joel Feucht

DAY 103 grace 150