Today’s Scripture Reading

¹Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. ⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ROM.5.1-8

Today’s Devotional Reading

Are There Any Practical Benefits to Following Christ?

Paul lists three in these verses: peace with God, hope in affliction, a love that’s unconditional.

When Jesus said, “Whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25), he didn’t mean that our lives would become empty when we made the trade. Paul helps us see some of the wonderful blessings that fill our lives when we make that exchange.

Life is full of peaks and valleys. Christ-followers make it through both the good times and the tough times by clinging to promises such as these that God has made.

Today’s devotional reading is from NIV Journey Bible