Daily Devotionals: Failure And Faithfulness

0:00September 4th, failure and faithfulness. Have you ever let someone down? Sure, we've all made mistakes and fallen short of what others had hoped for us. But we've also let others down through our self-centered decisions. So if we find ourselves here, yes, even as Christians, how do we move forward? Today, we'll meet Samuel Blake, a man who lived life for the bottle. But just as things seemed about to change, he fell again. He's here to share with us his true story, as well as what carried him through it all. On this unshackled daily devotional. As I've been World War II and married Lena right after coming home, my drinking increased over the years. Our little daughter invited some college students to hold Sunday school in our home. I'd sit in the back of the living room, trying to get over my hangover, and listen to them.

1:00One day they challenged me to memorize a Bible verse each week. I accepted their challenge and memorized a few verses, like Romans 6.23. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. But my life didn't change. Several years later in Stiller Drunk, I was arrested for public drunkiness and sentenced to 30 days in the slammer. I saw wine was having fizzle withdrawal, and it scared me plenty. I had a lot of time to think about all the times in the past when I came close to death, and in that stanky old cell, verses I had memorized, came back to me. I cried out to God and told him I had made a mess of my life, and then I asked Jesus Christ to take over for me. The first thing I did when I was released was to hit the corner bar and get drunk. Even so, I knew there was something different about me. I got definitely sick for six days from that drunk, and my life began to change after that. God wouldn't let go even though I was a poor example of what a Christian should be.

2:00In the spring, I enrolled in Bible school, took me nine years to graduate, but I've been serving the Lord ever since. Micah prophesied during a time when Israel had fallen away from God and was captured by the Assyrians. Yet Micah chapter 7 verse 19 says of the Lord, He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us. He will subdue our iniquities, and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Friend, like Samuel, the nation of Israel lived as a poor example of God's calling, and this had heavy consequences. But it was not the end. When we let others down, we too will almost certainly face consequences. But if we repent, God will forgive. And we can trust Him to help us begin again, walking in newness of life.

3:01For though we fail, He will never let us go. Will you receive this truth today? Unshackled, the longest running audio drama in history, airs on over 3,000 radio stations worldwide. Real people, real life stories, stirring dramatic accounts of hopelessness, and the hope that changes everything. This award-winning program grips the heart with compelling and relevant stories of transformed lives. Without Jesus Christ, we are all shackled by sin, by our wrong choices, disobedience, and selfish motives. But God is at work, and the power of Christ sets us free of our bondage. Unshackled, daily devotionals are a daily reminder of God's presence in your life. Listen to a new devotional every day, and don't forget to tell your friends about unshackled, daily devotionals.