NIV, Women's Devotional Bible

Verse to Remember: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” (

It is a high privilege to be saved by grace. While we can never earn our salvation, it does come with responsibilities. We have a calling to live up to. What we do or don’t do is a reflection on Jesus, either good or bad.

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received (

theme of Christian joy. Paul is joyful as he thinks of the Christians in Philippi. He rejoices that even his imprisonment advances the gospel.

Corinth was a wealthy and prosperous center of commerce and trade when Paul wrote this letter. Morally, however, it was bankrupt. The term Corinthian came to be synonymous with immorality. And there, in the center of this immoral society, was a young Christian church struggling to survive.

Paul covers a broad spectrum of conduct and relationships, for every part of our life is a part of our calling. He tells us to be imitators of God, a task that would be impossible except for one thing: We are not alone. We have the Spirit in our inner being, and we have the protection of the full armor of God. It’s up to us, however, to use what we

Starting with the sinfulness of humans and the wrath of God against sin, he moves on to tell of God’s grace in salvation, which comes to us through God-given faith and not our works.

Paul wrote this letter to a young church set in the heart of a pagan society. Ephesus was a thriving commercial center, but in order for the church to thrive, its members needed to know how to live, how to stand apart as different and yet still be able to influence their society.