It’s a Good Day for Grace: 365 Devotionals to Boost Your Faith as Grace Leads the Way to a Victorious Life

IT’S A GOOD DAY

FOR GRACE

365 Devotionals to Boost Your Faith as

Grace Leads the Way to a Victorious Life

BJ FUNK

Copyright © 2020 BJ Funk.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

The information, ideas, and suggestions in this book are not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. Before following any suggestions contained in this book, you should consult your personal physician. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be liable or responsible for any loss or damage allegedly arising as a consequence of your use or application of any information or suggestions in this book.

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Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

ISBN: 978-1-9736-8353-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-8352-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020900643

WestBow Press rev. date: 03/05/2020

In memory of my dear mother,

                Nelle Newton Greene,

                        who lived a life of grace

        with such compelling beauty

                that all who came around her

                        saw grace,

                                heard grace,

                                        and caught grace,

        just by sitting in her presence.

With special thanks to my dear friend,

        Rosemary Barfield,

                who read each chapter after

                        I finished writing,

blessing each page with her fine editorial skills

        her attention to detail

                and with her encouragement,

                        her love,

                                and her grace.

CONTENTS

JanuaryGracious Grace

FebruaryGlowing With Grace

MarchThe Fountain Of Grace

AprilJesus: The Epitome Of Grace

MayGrace: Up Close And Personal

JuneGrace: The Heart Of Christianity

JulyGrace In, Grace Out

AugustGrace Brings Hope

SeptemberGrace Talk

OctoberTaming The Tongue

NovemberNever Waste Grace

DecemberThe Smile Of Grace In A Baby’s Face

IT’S A GOOD DAY FOR GRACE

B. J. Funk

I knew God chose me as His before I uttered a sinner’s prayer or made a confession of my faith. I believed that God not only loved me but would always stand by me in good times and in bad. Grace opened an ink pad and stamped a message that said Redeemed all over my organs.

God’s love has often told me that no matter what, I am His. He claimed my heart years before I knew my heart was something He wanted. He put up with me when I needed a reprimand from Him. His love made a journey through my spirit, shouting, She’s mine! She’s mine! Eventually, I heard his glorious claim and jumped on with Him, shouting, I’m His! I’m His!

Grace whispered, Amazing, into my spirit long before I knew the song. She sang a symphony of God’s love into my heart before I could even hear the music. God’s love calmed me when I had no idea I was anxious. Grace’s peace invaded those places in me that were upset and fearful of tomorrow, and wrote Peace That Passes All Understanding in bold letters all over my fears.

Having grown up in the United Methodist Church, I was not aware that the beauty of grace-filled teachings sank deeply into my soul until I was way into adulthood. Somewhere in between growing up in the Methodist Youth Fellowship and Sunday Schools and becoming a Sunday School teacher myself, I became aware that many of my friends had very little understanding of grace. I wondered why?

I also began to recognize that many did not understand God’s great and personal love for them. Why? The satisfying teaching of God’s love moved deeply and effortlessly into my soul as Methodism continued to impact my life. God’s love nourished me when I was not even aware I needed nourishing. His love swam in my body to the rhythm of such hymns as I Come to the Garden Alone, and I began to feel that He cherished having me in that garden with Him.

Later in life, the United Methodist Church sang lullabies to me when my heart was hurting, when I was broken and bruised, and when all hope seemed too far away. The church danced a waltz of forgiveness when I missed the mark of the high calling of Jesus Christ, and at its altar, I found acceptance and strength.

God’s love and His grace sat securely in the reflection of a two-sided mirror. Somehow, both sides—grace and God’s love—permeated my soul, as both facets of His nature moved deeper into me. What was so natural for me to understand seemed to be so difficult for others. I first became aware of this about thirty years ago, when a good friend asked me to write a book telling how you know God loves you.

I was puzzled. You mean everybody doesn’t understand that? In the years since then, I have met so many who have not yet grasped the concept of God’s love and grace, and I am saddened when I realize they have missed so much of the solid message, the freedom and the life-changing beauty of the gospel as presented by these two vital components, grace and love.

Grace eventually pointed out that I was a wretch who was lost but had always been found. Prevenient grace wrote notes of love, dropping them into my spirit until I was ready to read them. And then there they were. Love notes from God Himself, spelling out His gigantic love for me. Grace prepared my blind eyes to see the unbelievable plan of a gracious God Who would go to any lengths to show me His great love.

When my heart put up a roadblock that said to Him, Do not enter, He went around it. There He waited off to the side until I was ready. When I could not understand what His grace is sufficient meant, He took out a big canvas and a red paintbrush, drew a huge heart, and wrote the words To my beloved on it. When pride overtook my foolish ways, and I dared to think I didn’t need Him, He loved me still.

As I became older in physical years, I sensed that He was behind every scene in my life. Not only behind it, but that He ordained those circumstances and events. It became clear to me that His love for me was unimaginable, unfathomable, and individual. Grace’s intent was not to make me perfect, only perfectly forgiven.

This devotional book will take you through 365 days of grace, and my prayer is that you will come to understand the unimaginable, unfathomable, and individual love He has for you. I want you to sense the spotlight of God’s love and grace as He shines into the hidden areas of your life. In those places, He will dig out the debris and hurts you have known and show you that you are His beloved, created in His own image. He has all the time in the world for you.

I hope you will begin to see your relationship with God in a new way, a way of grace and love.

B. J. Funk

Chula, Georgia

GRACIOUS GRACE

JANUARY 1

Grace is the undeserved, unmerited, unconditional love of God. It reaches through our desperate attempts at happiness and lays a bouquet of hope at our feet.

Today begins your forward look to new possibilities and deepened joy. Last year brought challenges and hurts, but you are now on the horizon of a new outlook. Never look for those new possibilities to come from another person. Focusing on one man or woman or one set of circumstances can bring sadness instead of peace.

God’s grace will lead you into beautiful meadows of bright possibilities. Grace will steady you as you move into this new year. Everything will be drenched in grace, causing you to see your circumstances with grace-filled eyes.

Allow your difficulties to marinate in grace today, making your outlook tender and sweet. Look past the pain of yesterday, ignore the disappointments of last year, and look forward to new heights of deeper peace as grace becomes the hand you hold. Be thankful for lessons learned in the last year, and invite grace to teach you deeper truths in this New Year.

My beloved, it will be a joyous journey.

Never let go of the hand of grace.

JANUARY 2

January might bring winter’s cold outside, but you get to choose how you feel on the inside. Complaining and grumbling about those things you cannot control will have a negative effect on your inner self. You need to get off of the merry-go-round of unpleasant attitudes and distasteful discussions.

Days of downward thinking will have a devastating effect on your emotions. Instead of thinking about how bad things seem to be in your life, find something positive, something that will not only bring a better outlook to you but will also help those around you.

Grace wants to help. Grace gives to you today. It gives favor you never earned, kindness you never deserved, and rest you never thought you could find. Grace has all of this and more to spread on a table before you, just because grace loves you, no matter where you’ve been, what you’ve done, or what you have planned in the future.

Grace surrounds your needs with a bouquet of roses while pulling out all of the weeds of your life and making your path smooth. Grace wants to be the first sound you hear in the morning and the last thing you hear at night.

Grace will never give up on you. You might turn your back on grace, but she will never turn her back on you.

Never let go of the hand of grace.

JANUARY 3

Grace falls upon you with extra strength when you are holding the bitter cup of someone’s unkind rejection. As your tears fall, grace is moving throughout your soul to show you that you’re not alone. While rejection rubs off the protective covering of your heart, grace replaces that covering with an even sturdier material: a fresh mixture of peace that will not be easily overthrown.

As rejection is one of the most difficult heartaches you will ever face, peacefulness is one of the most beautiful attributes you will ever have. Grace has a storehouse of peace just waiting for you. There will always be enough peace for you, but you must ask for it. Peace does not become a citizen of a fractious, angry heart. Peace comes, as grace distributes it, only to those ready to receive.

What do you do with that one who has caused you pain? The only answer that fits a Christian is that in exchange for pain, you will give back peace. This is not a manufactured, let’s pretend peace. It is a genuine, deep peace that cannot be understood on this earth. It’s heaven’s peace, and it will be given to you as grace beautifully opens your heart to receive it.

What is given to you in grace, you give back to others. That’s the only way to get through someone else’s rejection.

Never let go of the hand of grace.

JANUARY 4

Some people you love have gotten caught up in a season of sin. They heard the pull, they succumbed, and now they are left with heart-wrenching pain and disappointment in themselves. No one else wants to stand in their corner and hear their hurt, comfort their pain, and listen to their deep wounds over their descent into sin. So you must. You have to. You don’t have a choice. You must love them through their difficulty in this journey, which will include criticism and disappointment. You must be their advocate.

Grace tells you that to be an advocate does not mean you agree with their choices. It tells them that you agree with God’s choices. And God’s choice is to love them back into health and joy and freedom and wholeness. Those you love cannot go through this alone. The voices of society will slaughter them with insults and judgment. The voice of God, coming through you, will love them abundantly with acceptance and hope.

You don’t agree with their choice. Tell them that. But you agree with God’s love. Tell them that.

Listen. Grace is looking for ways today to tell others that they are loved, validated, and accepted. Grace looks beyond the sin of today and into the possibilities of tomorrow. Sin always loses and brings bitter consequences. Grace always wins and brings marvelous hope. Sin demolishes our present. Grace validates our future.

Never let go of the hand of grace.

JANUARY 5

A critical spirit and grace cannot dwell inside the same heart. Criticism will push grace out and infect all of the body. Criticism always includes judgment, and the two are a deadly combination. Muscles harden, bones stiffen, and a deadly disease could infect other areas when this combo takes over. Get rid of all criticism.

As soon as you have a negative, critical, or judgmental thought about another person, ask the spirit of God to take a giant eraser and remove those thoughts. We all have had them. We will have them again. That’s part of what Satan did to us at the Fall.

But the key is to recognize them and allow the grace of God to win them over. Repeat the Lord’s Prayer often. Never believe that God is not listening. He is always listening. You might not feel any relief after you pray, but it will come. Use your faith eyes to hold onto the promise of victory.

This walk with grace is a beautiful romance of love. Allow grace to abide today in your heart. Ask for grace to abide in the heart of someone you don’t like—even detest. Even hate.

Never let go of the hand of grace.

JANUARY 6

You are unique. You may not feel unique, but you are. Grace wants you to hear today that you were divinely implanted in your mother’s womb and drenched in grace before you were ever born. Let this thought sink deep down into your spirit: I am born with grace already at work in my soul.

There is such great release when you realize that God had a plan for you, even before you were born. The flavor of grace comes out of the womb and stays with you every day of your life. God’s best plan—His plan for you—is sprinkled, dripped, enfolded, and drenched with His absolutely marvelous grace.

If you see people who are hurting today, pray for them. Pray that the grace who came out of the womb with them will sustain them through whatever has brought their downcast look and broken spirit. Through your prayers, activate the gift of grace that now lies dormant in their soul. Revive it through your love.

Move past whatever holds you to earth’s fleeting pleasures, and allow grace to spring from your prayers to the problems of that one who is hurting. Embrace Do to others as you would have them do to you (Luke 6:31).

Never let go of the hand of grace.

JANUARY 7

What are you holding onto so tightly that your hands are hurting because you can’t let go? Has pain wrapped itself around your heart so strongly that your chest feels tight, as if it’s going to explode?

When will you let go? When will you learn that your will has to look beyond what has happened to you and into what God has planned for you?

If handed to Him, God will not waste any of your pain. He will use it to deepen you and grow you into a closer walk with Him. When will you allow Him to take the pain and do what only He can do?

Grace shows you a better way. As long as you hold on to that pain, you will suffer. Other people are going about their business and enjoying life. They dumped hurt into you, and then they walked away, whistling a happy tune of victory. While they seem to be free, you are devastated. They probably won’t give it another thought.

The pain they inflicted has fallen on you like hot lava spewing from a volcano. It affects everything. Let it go. Let it go for your health’s sake and for your family’s sake. Let it go for the sake of your Christian life and witness.

Let it go.

But never let go of the hand of grace.

JANUARY 8

When others around you are using your circumstances or your life to inflict guilt, get away from them. Run, if you must. There are those who feel that their superiority has the right to make you feel inferior. It makes them feel big. It makes them think they are better than you. Don’t listen to them.

You and that person are on equal ground as far as God is concerned. No one is superior. No one is inferior. We are all standing side by side at the foot of the cross, where the ground is level. Grace has no favorites at the foot of the cross.

There are those who get their feelings of superiority by using sarcasm, embarrassment, and pain. It gives them the status they think they deserve.

Don’t give them the chance to use you for their own feelings of greatness. Their thinking is twisted. Remember the saying, Hurting people hurt people. It is true.

You are wonderfully and fearfully made. God wants you to have a full, productive, and happy life. He created you to live a life of abundant joy. Get away from anyone who is determined to pull you down into their misery. You can’t see what is going on inside of them, but God can. And it’s not good. Look to Jesus daily for answers.

Never let go of the hand of grace.

JANUARY 9

You may have found yourself with questions concerning the faithfulness of friends, coworkers, or family members. It’s been much too easy to criticize the way they conducted a certain matter. The depth of your judgment has reached deeply inside, and your spirit has been soiled.

You must immediately forgive them. Don’t stop to analyze, discuss, consult a counselor, or call a friend. Your place is on your knees at the foot of the cross. That is the only place where you will receive the ability to forgive and move forward.

This is the work of the cross and of grace. Gracious grace bends over to meet you at the cross, and together, the two of you can find mercy for your soul. If you delay, you will harbor this pain too long, and your spirit will suffer. Don’t let the night fall without saying aloud to God that you forgive them, even if your heart cannot feel the truth of that statement.

The Spirit of God hears you, and while you sleep or after you wake, you will not be aware that God’s Spirit is at work on this matter. But He is. Tell your divine Friend that your will is to forgive, even if you can’t mean it at this moment. Watch a beautiful miracle take place as forgiveness moves into your spirit.

Judgment’s soiled spirit becomes clean only as we forgive someone else’s offense.

Never let go of the hand of grace.

JANUARY 10

Bottled-up emotions cause our hearts to swell with pain. We were not made for this. We were made for a heart that carries our body into life each hour, a heart that beats regularly with life, love, and grace. When emotions impact our hearts, we move ourselves into the realm of discord, disobedience, and dissent. None of these are good for the Spirit-led person. Emotional pain has a cure. It’s called the grace of God.

Carry that pain to Jesus today. In prayer, place it on the shoulders of Jesus. Allow Him to hold your pain. You have much more to do in this life, and you have no time for the delays caused by emotional hurts. Those who caused the hurt must be forgiven. As you see it, they don’t deserve forgiveness. As God sees it, you don’t either.

But into the emotional pain of your life comes God’s only reason to forgive you, which is the sunshine of Jesus—God’s sweet antidote for that deep-down pain. Because of Jesus, you do deserve forgiveness and so do those who caused your pain. Go ahead and say it out loud to Jesus. Say that your will is to forgive those who hurt you so. Then leave it with Jesus. Say it again tomorrow and the next day and the next.

You will be amazed at what will happen. Avenues and streets of defeat will become highways of wholeness. Wait. Watch. It will happen.

Never let go of the hand of grace.

JANUARY 11

When your body is weary, you soak in a hot tub or stand under a soothing shower. Your inner self needs someplace to soak and that would be under a shower of grace. Imagine you are standing out in a beautiful meadow and grace is showering all around you, falling softly on your body and touching all places inside you that need grace.

You are tired. Physical limitations seem heightened. Your energy needs a booster shot. You can’t seem to get to all you need to do. Your needs list and the needs list of others have hit a head-on collision. There is not enough time to fill your basket of needs and the basket of someone else.

Don’t allow another’s need to trample on the beauty of your relationship with Jesus Christ. You need a grace-shot to reboot your energy and to help you differentiate between the good and the not so good.

You don’t have to fill every basket of need that comes along. Ask the grace of God to show you that thing of less importance, and then mark it off your list. Don’t go back and get it.

Never let go of the hand of grace.

JANUARY 12

Grace is the favor of God that none of us deserve. It is poured out daily for you, lavished on you in unlimited portions. Whatever you have done or not done is placed daily beneath the umbrella of grace. Grace is on your side. Grace does not count your mistakes or sins. Grace runs to your side to love you through the fumbles you made last week and the hurts you faced today and the problems you caused just yesterday.

God’s grace comes to you through Jesus Christ. Through Him, you receive all that you did nothing to earn or deserve: forgiveness, second chances, starting over, new relationships, old friendships restored, families made whole, lost friendships found and made new.

There is no limit to what grace can do for you. It’s even sweeter because you don’t deserve it, yet grace just keeps on coming your way. You have no power to snuff her out or throw her away. Grace will never be owned by you. You cannot dictate where or when she will do her work. Grace decides, and grace dictates. Grace is steady, ongoing, and forever.

Grace will always do its work for you. It will pull you through whatever burdens you have today. Give gracious grace permission to carry you over the storms that attempt to steal your joy.

Never let go of the hand of grace.

JANUARY 13

As you move through this day, grace sits on a diving board over your life, ready to spring into action on your behalf. Most of the time, you are too busy to notice gracious grace. You are caught up in the here-and-now, while grace is caught up in the eternal call on your life. Give her a chance to move with abundant joy into any situation you face today. She will help you focus on the essential instead of the world’s pull toward the nonessential.

Sit down. Turn off outside distractions. Close your eyes. Breathe in the power of God through grace. Envision a rainbow of colors surrounding your life. Allow the beauty of that to heighten your awareness of what is truly important today.

In the quietness of this moment, let yourself allow grace to throw sunshine all over your problems. Don’t expect instant relief. Allow