NorMel House Devotions

Nehemiah 9:16-31 16  “But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments.  17  They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. [ c ]  But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.  18  Even when they had made for themselves a golden [ d ]  calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies,  19  you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go.  20  You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and...

  Grace. What is it? Do we need it? Google AI says, “In Christianity, grace is commonly understood as a divine gift, an unearned favor or blessing from a higher power…Essentially, it is something good that is given to someone without them having to earn it.” While this is true, it doesn’t even remotely come close to the full explanation of what grace truly means for us. Ecclesiastes 7:20 says, “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” So, we know that we are all sinners, unable to do good. So, yes, we all need God’s grace. Romans 6:23 tells us why this is important to know: “For the wages of sin is death.” However, it goes on to tell us why we can have hope, continuing with “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 3:23-25a says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation...