Glorious Grace Day 3: The Freedom Jesus Brings

Today’s Scripture

Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their chains in pieces.

Psalm 107:13–14

Because grace is the person Who was nailed to the cross for our redemption, grace imparts hope to those who are hopeless and help to those who are helpless. When you are worn out, torn down, crushed, depleted, and on the brink of giving up, grace is the hand that pulls you out of the miry pit of defeat. Grace is the supply that floods every crevice of need.

Dean from Maryland wrote to me to share how his life was transformed by this truth. In a twelve-page letter, he described his lifelong battle with feelings of rejection, abandonment, inadequacy, fear, and thoughts of suicide that led to drinking and drug addictions. In the clutches of meth (methamphetamine) for nine years, he spiraled out of control while heading in and out of prison.

Dean’s turnaround happened only when he began to hear about God’s grace.

He said, “Dear Pastor Prince, it brings me so much excitement to share with you the radical change in my life in the last year. I have been watching your television program for a solid year now, and have read Destined To Reign, Unmerited Favor, and The Power of Right Believing. It’s a thousand pages of one message—grace. I don’t know how I ever missed it all these years. Your teaching on grace and truth has been so revolutionary to me and I want to thank you personally.”

Simply put, the revolution in his life began with a revelation of God’s glorious grace. Dean said:

I began seeing in the Scriptures the simplicity of the gospel of Christ and the revelation of God’s grace began to transform me from the inside out. I repented by changing my thinking and that began to change what I had been believing. My emotions and behavior began to change effortlessly. 

I didn’t have to try to feel right, or act right; I just did, and still do. And while I still have my moments, they are getting fewer and further apart.

I realized that all I had to do was to focus on Jesus’ finished work on the cross and keep my eyes and ears open to His gospel, the good news of grace.

I was seeing things I’d never seen before in the Word and understanding what grace means and how this truth sets one free. I began to realize that grace is undeserved favor and there was nothing I could ever do to earn or re-earn this unmerited favor in my life, regardless of my sins or efforts to make things right. I began to realize that I am highly favored and accepted in the beloved family of my Lord.

As a young boy, I believed in Jesus as my Savior. I knew many of the stories in the Bible. I went to church. But I lived a life with a slave and orphan mentality for over thirty years because I could not simply understand or believe the whole truth of God’s grace—this grace, which is the power of God unto salvation, this grace, which is the light that shines into the darkness.

I could accept that I was His child forever and would go to heaven, but because of my repeated failures, I believed that I would never have love, favor, and acceptance in this life. I believed that I had to suffer for my mistakes. Finally, I believed that I had to carry my failures all the way to heaven, resulting in much pain and damage that almost crushed me to death.

As I write this, I have been freed of alcohol and drug abuse for over two years and freed of dependence on medication for well over a year.

Most of my life, I hated going to bed because I would toss and turn in torment thinking about all my failures and weaknesses. I hated waking up because I knew it would start all over again. In the last year, all that has changed. I go to bed without thoughts of my past. I can’t wait to wake up each morning to expect more of His grace. The guilt, shame, bone- crushing weight of condemnation, and ever-looming depression because of fear, failure, and punishment have all disappeared like the darkness in the light of the rising sun.

My dear reader, I want to encourage you to believe that you too can experience the freedom that Jesus brings.

Dean experienced victory over defeat in his life and so can you. Whatever is keeping you down, be it frequent bouts of depression, self-doubt, fear, or a destructive habit, there is a person Who has the power to turn everything around for your good and break every bondage. His name is Jesus.

Today’s Thought

There is a person Who has the power to turn everything around for my good. His name is Jesus.

 

Today’s Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank You that You were nailed to the cross for my sins, redemption, and freedom. Thank You that when I am worn out, torn down, crushed, depleted, and on the brink of giving up, Your grace is the hand that pulls me out of the miry pit of defeat and the light that dispels every darkness. I believe that Your grace is more than enough for my every need, and that You have the power to turn everything around for my good. Amen.

This reading is taken from Joseph Prince’s new devotional, Glorious Grace. Get your copy today! 

GG_launch_blog_2

7 Comments

  • park seung in says:

    I WOUNT THE MASSAGE

  • Elisa Chitra says:

    Pastor joseph prince, i want to help them too, But i can do alone must someone to help me.

  • alyce yake says:

    Hallelujah! I believe God’s grace, love and power will bring me to a complete freedom of addictive medication…Jesus’ work in me is so patient because i have had a hard time BELIEVING i truly can be free! But in spite of my imperfect faith He is still faithful and is working beautiful works in my life in His way…and helping me me to speak out in faith even the things i cannot imagine beibg a reality. I praise Him forthe many many miracles and great goodness He has shown to me and look forward to seeing the seemingly impossible be possible for even me.

  • Bertha Buberwa says:

    Thank you Pastor Joseph Prince for the daily e-mails which are very inspirational and motivational to me. I can’t wait to buy your daily devotional book Glorious Grace which will be available from the 5 April.

  • Mary Zgambo says:

    Amen……I needed to hear a testimony and word explained like this……am under serious stress. I feel a whole lot better

  • Miriam says:

    Dear Pastor Prince,
    I thank my Daddy (Abba) for your life,your anointing and your Ministry. Your teachings are like Manna from the heavens helping me every single day to be built up on the solid rock Jesus Christ. Can’t wait to share my praise report one day and thank you for the daily messages. God bless you Pastor Prince.

  • God bless you pastor and your dear family.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *