DAILY VIDEO DEVOTIONAL
We live in a world filled with broken relationships. Nations war against nations. Ethnic groups hate other ethnic groups. Gangs protect their turf. Husbands and wives divorce one another. Broken relationships are simply a sign of a generation that has rejected Christ.
I’m often asked why there are so many bad things that happen in the world if God is so good. There’s a simple answer to that question. God gives us a choice. He didn’t create us as robots. He made each of us “a living soul.” When we choose to disobey Him and go our own way, then we reap the fruit of our independence and rebellion. Most often that fruit includes broken relationships, whether they be in families, communities, nations, or regions of the world.
The reverse is also true. When we choose to obey God and follow Christ, we begin to mend those broken relationships. We can’t love God and at the same time hate our fellow man. It’s impossible. A heart and life rooted and planted in the love of God will not bear the fruit of bitterness. Where there’s hatred we can know that there’s an absence of God’s grace.
At some point in our lives, others will wrong us all. The great challenge facing the follower of Christ is how we will respond to the wrong that was thrust upon us. The secret to victory in our lives lies at the cross of Christ. There’s no greater example in all of human history of a man being wronged. All of us have sinned and done wrong things. But He never sinned. He was perfect in every way. He obeyed God completely. He loved as no other man has ever loved. He lived life the way life is to be lived. Yet, He was nailed to an old rugged cross. He was spat upon, laughed at, beaten and crucified. Yet, He cried out, “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:24). (added period)
What Jesus did on the cross is the epitome of grace. He graced all of humanity when we didn’t deserve His grace. He loved when He was wronged. It was truly “amazing grace” that flowed from the cross. When we come to the cross, we also experience that same grace. We have the supernatural ability to love those who have wronged us. We can reach up to Christ and down into our hearts when we stand at the foot of the cross. Then we can pull up the grace of God to love and forgive the people who have wronged us.
If we have wronged someone else, we find forgiveness at the cross. Jesus will forgive us and lead us into complete repentance. At the cross, Christ deals with the root of our sin – “self”. There we cry out with the Apostle Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ.” We die to self, the old nature. Humility becomes the chief characteristic of our lives when we bow at the cross. Because humility permeates our lives, we are enabled by God’s grace to go to those we have wronged and ask forgiveness.
The cross not only reaches upward, but also outward. We can restore broken relationships. But that process begins at the cross. It’s not our will power, or cunning schemes of diplomacy that rights wrongs. It’s the supernatural grace of God applied to our hearts at the cross. Victory in interpersonal relationships begins at the cross. Why don’t you bow before the cross today and find His grace and victory?
Luke : Chapter 23
32) Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33) When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34) Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”[c] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 35) The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” 36) The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37) and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” 38) There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews. 39) One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40) But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41) We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42) Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[d]” 43) Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” The Death of Jesus
Book of the Month
Sammy Tippit told his fiancée, “I can’t promise we’ll be rich, but life won’t be boring.”
Sammy had no idea what an understatement that would become. Beginning in the bars of Baton Rouge and the nightclubs of Chicago, Tippit has shared the news of life-changing faith in Christ all over the world – including in the middle of a revolution in Romania, the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda, and war in Burundi and the Congo.
Sammy’s lifelong adventure has come at a great price. He’s been cursed, threatened, arrested, deported, and blacklisted. He’s also been personally broken, ravaged with illness, and devastated by grief.
Yet he continues to preach to in stadiums, in open fields, and via satellite technology to hundreds of thousands around the globe. For all other books…
About Sammy Tippit Ministries
STM has been providing inspiration and help around the world for nearly 50 years. Sammy Tippit, founder and president, is a world renowned counselor, teacher and evangelist with experience serving and helping people in over 80 countries. Sammy provides materials that help people tackle a broad array of social, societal, psychological and spiritual issues. He is particularly passionate about making materials accessible to other countries around the world. Sammy is married to Debara “Tex” Tippit, and they have two children and five grandchildren.
Sammy Tippit Ministries is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization.
Contact: info@sammytippit.org
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