Pastor Gary's OYB Devotion Archive for September 16

“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20 NLT)

From: September 16, 2014

Christianity is not a self-improvement course. We are not called to come and do, but to come and die. For the new life follows not self-improvement, but self-denial. We consider our old self “crucified with Christ” and our new self risen with Him to new life. We die to sin and we also die to self-effort, no longer trying to please God by following some set of religious rules and regulations that we are unable to keep. Dying to self, we live by Christ, “trusting” in Him to live His life in us.

“You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?” (Galatians 3:2-3)

From: September 16, 2012

If we are saved through faith, we must live and walk by faith. Self-effort neither saves nor sanctifies. We must learn to lean, being filled with the Spirit, we lean on Him for power and progress. More prayer, less planning. More leaning, less effort.

“My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad; my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right” (Proverbs 23:15-16)

From: September 16, 2011

How godly parents feel when their children act wisely. Every parent wants healthy and well-educated kids, but wise parents aim past the outward to the heart. They shepherd their child’s heart to know and follow God.