NorMel House Devotions

Titus 2:13 “While we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” One of the things that marks a Christian lifestyle is that the Christian knows this life is temporary. Christian living, Paul says, is one of “waiting for the blessed hope”. We know that this mortal life is momentary in God’s eternal plan. We await eagerly, with patient hope, the return of Christ Jesus our Savior. Paul has been teaching Titus, and us, about Christian living and so we know that, while we wait, we are to live a certain way. We live looking forward to an eternity with our God and Savior. We await eternal redemption from our sinful and worldly passions, when death will no longer hold sway over us, and we await the restoration of creation; when we, and this earth, will be restored to its perfect order as God designed. Without Christ, man is enslaved to his passions and desires. We were dead in our sins, but Christ came to give us life, to free us from the power...

Titus 2:11-13  “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” We’ve learned that the grace of God came to us through Jesus Christ and appeared to all men, therefore, no one can give excuse or deny this truth. But our text has more to say. Grace should have a profound effect on us and “It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives”. God’s grace stirs in our hearts a longing for good which will lead to the very thing Paul has been trying to teach us about: Christian living. The grace that saves us also disciplines us. Our lives must and will be marked by devotion and thankfulness to God. Mankind is enslaved to their own sinful desires and worldly passions, but...

Titus 2:11 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.” The are many people in the world who push the idea of tolerance a lot farther than it ought to go. It’s gone so far that something can be true for one person but not another. It’ s a contradiction of reality. Many believe there is no real truth, but everyone has their own “Truths”. Without God people can do whatever they want because “who are you to say that what I’m doing is wrong?” But truth is NOT relative. Many think they don’t need God or His grace because they think they are good people and doing fine on their own. But the idea that we’re all ok doesn’t match experience or address the matter of our hearts. We are all guilty in God’s sight and must learn, through the law and the working of the Holy Spirit, that we’re not ok. Through the law we become conscious of our sins and therefore of our need for God’s grace. God’s justice requires payment for our sins, but His grace sent His Son to be born, beco...