Time of Grace With Pastor Mike Novotny

Abram trusted God’s promises and was willing to move his entire household because God told him to, and he was blessed just as God said. We too believe what we can’t see and trust God’s plan and will for us. Through his Word our Savior is revealed to us, and it is because of our sure hope of heaven that we live our lives for him now.

Already in the Garden of Eden, God had a plan for our salvation—to send Jesus to crush death’s head for us. As We must fight against the devil’s attempts to create doubt, to talk us out of believing what Christ has done for us. Through Jesus’ death, we are immortal and on our way to a grand reunion with our heavenly Father.

God provided food for the Israelites in the desert out of his grace and mercy. He promised to provide what they needed, and every day, without fail, he did just that. He wanted them to trust him and to know exactly where their food came from. God also provides for us each day. We too can trust that he will take care of us. We too can know that the cause of all the good things in our live is God. Out of his grace, he cares for us without fail.

This section of Revelation reveals to us why Jesus, the Lamb of God, is worthy of our unending worship and praise. He lived, died, and rose for us. He has the power, glory, and holiness that we cannot attain on our own. It is only through him that we are saved.

There are no second chances when Jesus comes again on judgment day. In the meantime we strive to build and strengthen our faith so that we are ready for his return. God means business when he says he loves us and has sent his Son for us. But he also means business in regards to what will happen to those who reject him.

Each of us can look back and see the tremendous number of people who have passed down the Christian faith to us. It is spread most effectively within families, and we should have great respect for those who have given us the wonderful news of our Savior. Let us thank God for the heroes and champions in the faith who handed down the faith to us and now have commissioned us to keep it moving and pass it on to the generations to come.

Satan loves to offer substitutes for the way to heaven to tempt us away from the true faith. But we accept only the real gospel of Jesus Christ by grace alone, ours by faith alone, made clear by Scripture alone.

Our heavenly Father wants us to be like the wise man in Jesus’ story and build our lives around him. We realize and believe that we live by God’s grace, and we live our lives with God’s Word as our guide. Instead of looking to the quick fixes of this world, we look ahead and build our faith for the long term by basing our foundation on our Lord and the promises he has fulfilled and made to us.

God invites us—wants us—to pray to him anytime, anywhere, and about anything. He wants us to ask him because he wants us engaged, looking to him at all times. There are times that we don’t take advantage of prayer because we are too proud, afraid, ashamed, or just too busy. But in Matthew 7:7-11, Jesus explains why prayer is important. If we ask, God will respond—every time. It may not be according to our timetable, but he will make things happen according to his will.

We will go through difficult times in our lives, but we are God’s children and he will always provide for us. Though the devil uses those hard times to pull us away from our Savior, we can lean on Jesus and know that God is always with us. God’s Word feeds us, encourages us, and guides us so that we know his truths and promises and have no need for worry.