📧 In today’s email..

• 🙏 The SOAP Devotional of the day

• ❤️ A message from Mercy Ships

🙏 SOAP DEVOTIONAL
SOAP: scripture, observation, application, prayer.

Today’s SOAP Devotional

Have you ever felt like you needed to “make it up to God”?
Like maybe you’re forgiven—but barely.
Like you’re welcome—but only because Jesus begged the Father to let you stay?

That’s not the gospel. That’s guilt dressed up as faith.

Jesus didn’t save you with a coupon. He paid in full—with blood. And that changes everything.

S - SCRIPTURE:  Ephesians 1:7 (NIV)

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”

O - OBSERVATION:

Paul is writing to the Ephesians—a people surrounded by temples, gods, and systems of religious performance. They understood rituals. They understood guilt. And they definitely understood payment.

But Paul is announcing something radical: Jesus didn’t come to bargain with your sin—He came to bury it.

The word “redemption” here refers to the release of a slave through the payment of a ransom. And that ransom wasn’t paid with silver or obedience or a better attitude. It was paid “through His blood.”

That means forgiveness isn’t a result of your effort. It’s a result of His sacrifice.
You don’t have a fragile forgiveness. You have a blood-bought, cross-sealed, grace-secured redemption.

And this isn’t a forgiveness measured by your faithfulness—it’s “in accordance with the riches of His grace.”
Not a tiny drip. Not a teaspoon.
A flood of undeserved love.

A - APPLICATION:

Let’s be honest—most of us live like grace has fine print.

We believe Jesus loves us, but we still try to earn our way back after every failure. We replay the past. We avoid prayer. We promise to do better. And we call it conviction—but it’s really condemnation.

But if Jesus paid your debt in blood, then what are you still trying to pay off?

When you live like forgiveness is temporary, you stay stuck in cycles of guilt:
Mess up.
Feel shame.
Try harder.
Repeat.

But here’s what the gospel tells you:

• You don’t owe God back for what Jesus already covered.

• You don’t have to prove you’re worth forgiving—He proved it for you.

• You don’t have to live like you’re barely in. You’re fully free.

You don’t confess your sin to earn forgiveness—you confess because it’s already been given. You come boldly, not fearfully. Not as a criminal begging for mercy—but as a child running into their Father’s arms.

💡 Try this today: Write down the sin or shame you still feel like you’re “working off.” Then write over it in bold: PAID IN FULL. Put it somewhere you’ll see it. Let it interrupt your shame.

P - PRAYER:

Jesus, thank You that You didn’t make me earn Your grace. You gave it. You poured it out. You paid in full. Forgive me for living like I owe You something You already covered. Teach me to live free—unshackled by shame, unchained from my past, unafraid to walk in love. Amen.

❤️ YOU can transform the life of a child today

They say if you want to make the biggest impact, you must go where the need is greatest. With that in mind, did you know...

• Around the world, roughly 5 billion people lack access to safe surgical care.

• In sub-Saharan Africa, there are only two physicians for every 10,000 people.

• The majority of Africa's populations live by coastal areas.

This is what inspired Mercy Ships, which has two state-of-the-art hospital ships sailing along the coast of Africa that provide free surgery to the most vulnerable children in underserved communities.

Without surgery, Umu's life would be in danger. She was born with a tumor on her neck that began to encroach upon her airway. Thanks to free surgery, she is healthy and thriving today.

But she isn't alone in her struggle.

You can help lift up a child in need. Right now, any gift, up to $10,000, will be MATCHED. Please share your support.

📕 TODAY’S READING

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