A Daily Devotional with Pastor Doug Crouse June 19, 2018 From Me to You Scripture Reading – 1 Peter 1:19 - 20 (NLT) "It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days."

You remember the words of John the Baptist that day as Jesus was approaching him calling out, ‘Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’ Forgiveness was not something that caught God off guard, and at the last moment He had to scramble together a plan of how He might remedy the situation when our first parents Adam and Eve freely chose to disobey God.

Today's text reminds us of the far reaching love of God in Christ Jesus, yes, even before the foundation of the world. Before we were created not only did God know that we would willfully walk away from His love and sin, but He already planned for Christ Jesus His one and only Son, to come and redeem us, to buy us back again not with silver or gold, but with His own precious blood.

And so how will you and I respond, when we are offended, sinned against, willfully disobey God, or are the subjects of someone else's disobedience? It would do us good to remember that God does not treat us as our sins deserve, but rather He has cleansed us from all sin because of the sacrifice of His Son our Savior Jesus Christ.

So when you are faced with the opportunity to forgive another, even/especially when it hurts. In Jesus name pray and say, 'From Me to You', brother/sister/friend, in His grace right now I forgive you. When you do, you will discover that in that very process you will find a newness of life, love and freedom. 

Prayer Father I rejoice in the fact that You loved me first, long before I was capable of ever doing so. Help me in Jesus name, and in the Person, presence and power of the Holy Spirit to be one who gives freely to others what You daily give to me in forgiveness. 

Memory Verse:  Ephesians 4:32 NLT“Instead, be _____ to each other, _______________, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you."