2021 Daily Devotion - Day 383

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It has been my joy to write these daily devotionals for you for a little over a year. When I began, I thought it would be for only 2-3 months. Who could have ever dreamed we would have to deal with the pandemic for this long? It has been a long and difficult year.

My prayer is that these devotionals have been helpful to you. I have been striving for them to be words of encouragement and hope along with some instruction from God’s Word along the way. I have appreciated so very much the many emails and cards I’ve received with comments concerning the devotionals. Your encouraging comments have kept me going.

With that said, I will be taking a break from writing the daily devotionals. As we begin to have more people coming to live worship and life starting to return a semblance of normalcy, it seems like the right time to bring my writing of the daily devotionals to a close.

The good news is we have arranged for the devotionals to continue to come to you daily for a while longer. I have assembled a group of our church staff and members of our congregation to continue to write devotionals. Plus I will still write from time to time.

We send out devotionals to about 2,000 emails each day. Many of you have voiced that you share them with others, and so these devotionals could be reaching nearly 3,000 people every day.

In addition, I am aware there is a wide cross section of people reading these devotionals: from those exploring the Christian faith to those who are well-seasoned believers. As the writer of these devotionals, this is very humbling. In these devotionals, we have had moments to laugh a little, as well as times to be challenged to consider new ideas. From time to time, I have even told a little about my own life, and perhaps you have gotten to know me better.

But, as I have written these devotionals, there is one constant and foundational message I wanted to get across. I wanted to cut through the fog. I wanted to be abundantly clear on one basic idea I stated many times:

God became a man in Jesus, died on a cross and was raised again. We can have heaven, not because of the good things we have done (for we could never be good enough), but only because Jesus died for you and me. Faith in Him as Savior and Lord is what saves us, and nothing else.

If you have learned nothing else from these devotionals, my prayer is you have come to understand this vital point.

Thank you for the privilege of allowing me into your life on a daily basis. Many of you have told me that reading the daily devotionals is one of the first things you do each day; for which I am glad. I look forward to seeing you in church at Mount of Olives Church, and/or I invite you to still follow us online each weekend for worship at www.moochurch.org from wherever you live in this country or beyond. May God bless and keep you.

John 3:16-17 RSV
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Pray with me:
Heavenly Father, the Bible teaches us faith comes through hearing the Word of God. Please use these devotionals to create faith in Christ as Savior for who all who have read and will continue reading these daily devotionals – based on Your Holy Word. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Yours because of Him,
Pastor John R. Steward
Senior Pastor
Mount of Olives Church
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