Lent 2018 Devotional: Day Twenty-One

"In [Christ] you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory." --Ephesians 1:13-14

You also. The gospel of Jesus Christ is for all people. No individual or group is excluded from a loving relationship with Christ, made alive for us through the Holy Spirit. Some pastors and churches feel a need to protect the gospel, as if they can wrap their arms around it and divvy it out to those they deem worthy. But when we open ourselves to him, the Holy Spirit connects us with God in a way that no human being, regardless of their authority, can stand against.

If you have been excluded from a church because of who you are, know that that exclusion stems from flawed and broken human beings (as we all are), and not from God. Pray for God to open a way to find a community of believers who will welcome you for who you are, so we may all praise God's glory together.

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