Devotions for
New Temple Baptist Church
Lay Renewal Weekend
Week 1
Please
consider reading the devotions each and every day. There is a different
devotion labeled for each day for this week. Every devotion has an important
point for you to read, consider and pray over in order to help you grow in your
relationship with God. We will be providing devotions for the first three
weeks. After that, we encourage you to find a devotion source of your own and
continue in your growth and daily walk with God. This could be a book, an
online devotion web site, or an app you can download on your phone or ipad.
Today’s devotion talks about God’s amazing grace that we do not deserve and the
journey that John Newton took in order to write this song. Today is a time to
praise Him for His amazing grace.
February 16
1. Amazing Grace
But now the righteousness of God
apart from the law is revealed … for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that
is in Christ Jesus. (Romans
3:21, 23–24)
Few hymns are as popular or as treasured as “Amazing Grace.”
Believers understand that we are all sinful and that only by God’s grace can
any of us be saved. Perhaps those who were saved out of an exceedingly wicked
and destructive lifestyle understand this reality better than those who have
been raised in Christian homes. The author of this tremendous song certainly
recognized his great debt of sin that had been forgiven by the Lord.
John Newton worked in the British slave trade, capturing
natives from West Africa and selling them to be transported around the world.
He knew full well the miserable conditions on the slave ships would cause
approximately half of the captives to die before they ever arrived at their
destination. Those who did survive would be subjected to a lifetime of slavery.
God’s grace broke through the darkness of Newton’s heart,
and he was converted to Christianity. Although he knew his sins were forgiven,
Newton could never shake the memories of thousands of lives destroyed by his
actions. His agony was powerfully displayed in the recent film about the ending
of the slave trade in the British Empire, which is aptly titled Amazing
Grace.
In 1779, as a minister in an Anglican church, he released a
hymnal with assistance from his friend William Cowper. It contained the lyrics
to the first four verses of the hymn. The fifth verse was added by John P. Rees
in the following century.
The words explain Newton’s journey from wretch to redeemed
believer. Christians recognize that God has worked the same transformation in
all of our lives, and we can wholeheartedly sing along.
1.
Amazing grace—how sweet the
sound—that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.
I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.
2.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to
fear, and grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed!
How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed!
3.
Thru many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.
4.
The Lord has promised good to me;
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures.
He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures.
5.
When we’ve been there ten thousand
years, bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’d first begun.
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’d first begun.
Chris Tomlin added the newer chorus to the song,
and had this to say about his contribution:
I started doing some
research on “Amazing Grace,” and I was blown away that the last verse (“When
we’ve been there 10,000 years bright shining as the sun“) was written about 100
years later. The original verse by John Newton was “The earth shall soon dissolve
like snow,” this incredible verse is one I’d never seen in a hymn book. I
started thinking about where John Newton came from, the slave ships, and what
God had done in his life. We’re all made slaves to sin in our life, but God has
set us free. He has ransomed us from our slavery. I just wanted to add this
idea that I hope brings freshness to the heart of the song.
Chorus: My chains are
gone; I’ve been set free; My God my Savior has ransomed me;
And like a flood, His mercy reigns; unending
love; Amazing Grace!Today’s big idea: never through our own efforts, but only by God’s grace can we be saved.
What to pray: praise God for His amazing grace “that saved a
wretch like me.”
