The Thief on the Cross: Grace in the Final Moments

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1508. Today's Devo is called the Thief on the Grace in the Final Moments. Hey there. We're the Alessi's, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast. Good morning everybody and happy Wednesday. Stephanie here I'm going to continue in my Devo series, talking about the main characters all involved in the story in the week of Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection. And today I am talking about the thief on the cross, the penitent thief. So let's read about him in Luke 23:39 43. In the NIV version, it says one of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him. Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us for context. This is the verse where Jesus is hanging on the cross. They are crucifying him, and he has two other men on both sides of him, both thieves. And they were all getting crucified together. But the other criminal rebuked him. Don't you fear God? He said, since you are under the same sentence. We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said, jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus answered him, truly, I tell you today you will be with me in paradise. Holy moly. I love that. What I learned from this man's story, the thief, is that it is never too late for grace. You know, this man, he had nothing to offer God. The one man who believed no good works, no future. He was a thief and he was getting killed for all the things that he stole. But in his final hours, he simply said, God, remember me. Jesus responded with one of the most powerful promises in scripture. Today, you will be with me in paradise. You know, salvation is about grace, not a lifetime of earnings. God's mercy, it reaches even the last moments of our lives. And no one, let me make this clear. No one is beyond redemption. The thief. He reminded us that the door of grace is open even in our final breath. And that's my encouragement to you. If you feel like you have gone too far today, know that God can redeem it all. No matter how old you are, no matter how young you are, no matter how much life you have lived. No matter how little life you have lived, God can redeem everything and everyone. You know, it does cause me to think about that person in church who you've been inviting for years or that person in your life, but they always said no. And they were living a terrible lifestyle. And you invited and you invited and you invited, and they denied it every single time. And after years, they finally start coming and then they get saved. And now they're the biggest Christian in the entire world, and they start preaching at you and they start reading their Bible and they have a love for God and a love for Jesus that is just so passionate. It's all they can talk about. And they start serving and they start giving to people, and they just. They're listening to worship music all the time. I love that person with all of my heart. I just love them because it's so new to them. They're. They're so excited about it. But what's funny is sometimes the Christian that has been in the game for a long time, that has been reading their Bible, that has been listening to the worship music, it's easy for the prodigal son thing to happen where you start to get a little jealous, like, calm down, okay? We all get used in church. You don't have to be used the most. We all love worship music. You don't love worship music more than me. The prodigal son thing really is a true dynamic that happens in church even to this day. But let me just tell you where sin abounds, grace abounds much more. That person shouting in worship, don't judge them. You have no idea where they have been. You have no idea how far they've gone. And God met them in the final hours of their life, in the final hours of their hope, in the darkest points of their life, and redeem them. And he can do the same thing to you. God can redeem anybody. And if there's somebody in your life right now that you have been inviting to church and you've been pushing them to get to know God, just wait. Keep praying. Keep believing. Because when they meet Jesus and his mercy and his grace, watch how God will redeem everything. No one can go too far for God. Sin does not scare God. It doesn't. In fact, when the sinner calls out to God, God races towards them. Sin is afraid of God, okay? And when he steps into our life, watch how instantly he redeems. All of your time, all of your history, all of your days, all of your mistakes, all of your friends mistakes, all of your friends lost time. God can redeem it all if he did it for the thief on the cross who literally cried out to God in his final hours of life, I know that he can do it for you. So let's pray. God, we just thank you. Thank you for your grace and for your mercy and how you will reach out to the furthest, furthest depths to be with us, God. Father, we pray for our friends that have yet to meet you. And God, we've been pushing, we have been praying, but we need you to act. We want them to know your grace. We want them to know your mercy because there's no better life than this. So we pray that even today for our friends that we've been inviting to church, for our friends that are going through it, God, we pray that your voice will pierce through today, that something will happen that will just get them to become interested in church, to become interested in the Bible, to become interested in Jesus, allow their path to line up with ours so that they can finally meet your grace. God, and we give you our friends, we give you our family, we give knowing that at the right time and in the right place, you are gonna meet them and you will redeem everything. And in Jesus name we pray. Amen. So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow. We pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.