Not Finished: Seven Days of Grace for Weary Hearts
You're not too far gone, too worn out, or too broken for God to use. This week, spend seven days discovering what grace really looks like - not just on Sundays, but on ordinary Tuesdays, in kitchens and car parks, at work and at home. Each devotional unpacks how Jesus meets you after failure, calls you after you've quit, and offers fresh mercy every single morning. If you're faithful but weary, this series is for you. Let's walk through a week of grace together.
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Why Jesus Asked the Same Question Three Times
Monday 23 February 2026
Read: John 21:15-19
Ever felt like your biggest failure disqualifies you from serving God?
After Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus didn’t confront him in the moment. He made him breakfast first. That charcoal fire in John 21:9 was the same kind of fire where Peter had denied him. Jesus recreated the scene not to shame Peter, but to replace the memory with love.
Then came three questions. “Do you love me?”
Jesus asked three times because Peter denied three times. But notice - Jesus never mentions the denials. He simply gives Peter three chances to say, “I love you” where he’d previously said, “I don’t know him.”
Your fresh start isn’t about erasing what happened. It’s about writing something new over the top. Jesus counts your “yes” more than your “no.”
After each “Do you love me?”, Jesus says “Feed my sheep.” Your calling doesn’t wait until you’re perfect. It starts while you’re still limping. Peter’s biggest failure became the doorway to his greatest ministry.
That thing you failed at? That place you feel unqualified? That might be exactly where Jesus is sending you next.
If you’ve failed God, you’re in the same boat as Peter. And Jesus is making you breakfast. He’s not reviewing your denials. He’s asking if you still love him. And every time you say yes, he’s giving you something to do.
Your failure isn’t the end. It’s the start of a different story.
Prayer: Jesus, I love you. I’ve failed you, but I still love you. Show me what you’re calling me to do next. Amen.
The Grace You Need on an Ordinary Tuesday
Tuesday 24 February 2026
Read: Lamentations 3:22-23
Most of us don’t fail spectacularly - we just get tired. We think grace is for big sins and dramatic failures. But the Bible says something different: “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”
Jeremiah wrote these words while sitting in the ruins of Jerusalem. Everything had fallen apart. This isn’t a happy-clappy worship song - it’s a man surrounded by rubble saying, “God’s mercies are new this morning.” When everything around him had collapsed and he still had to face another day, grace met him there.
Here’s what that means for you. You don’t need a mountain-top experience to receive grace. You need it while you’re doing the school run, sitting at your desk, or trying to be patient with that difficult person again. Grace is as daily as breakfast.
Every morning is a fresh start - not because you’ve earned it, but because God’s character is faithful. That mistake you made yesterday? That patience you lost? That prayer you didn’t pray? This morning’s grace covers it. You’re starting today clean.
And here’s what we often miss: grace isn’t just for when you mess up. You need grace to keep going when you’re doing the right thing and no one notices. The same grace that forgives you also fuels you.
Today’s step: Ask God for fresh grace right now - not just for your failures, but for your faithfulness too.
When Shame Keeps You Out of The Room
Wednesday 25 February 2026
Read: Luke 18:9-14
Shame tells you not to pray until you’ve sorted yourself out. You think God wants to hear from you when you’re better.
Jesus told a story about two men who went to the Temple to pray (Luke 18:10). The Pharisee wasn’t lying when he listed his spiritual achievements - he really did fast twice a week and give a tenth of his income. But notice: he was talking to God about himself, not talking to God about God. His prayer was a CV, not a conversation.
The tax collector took a different approach. He stood at a distance, wouldn’t even lift his eyes to heaven, and prayed four words: “God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner” (Luke 18:13). He didn’t defend himself, explain himself, or promise to do better. He just admitted where he was and asked for mercy.
Jesus said the tax collector “went home justified before God” (Luke 18:14).
That’s the reversal. The qualified one went home disqualified. The disqualified one went home accepted.
Shame makes you perform instead of connect. You turn prayer into a report card, waiting until you have good news to share. But prayer isn’t a performance review - it’s a conversation with someone who already knows everything and loves you anyway.
The prayer God hears isn’t the one that sounds best. It’s the one that admits the most.
If shame is keeping you from praying, that’s exactly why you need to pray. God doesn’t want your polished performance. He wants your honest mess.
Stop waiting to be ready. Pray now.
The Second Call You Didn’t Expect
Thursday 26 February 2026
Read: Jonah 3:1-3
Ever assumed your no to God meant the end of the conversation? Think again.
After Jonah ran from God’s call, endured the storm, spent three days in a fish, and got rescued - most sermons end there. But that’s not where God stopped.
“Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: ‘Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you’” (Jonah 3:1-2 NLT).
Three words change everything. “A second time.”
God didn’t change the assignment just because Jonah failed. He didn’t offer something easier. Same call. Same city. Same uncomfortable obedience.
That’s actually good news. Your calling doesn’t get downgraded because you messed up. That difficult conversation you’ve been avoiding? Still your assignment. That costly obedience you’ve been running from? Still waiting for you.
I am here to testify that your delay doesn’t mean disqualification. The calling to Salvation Army officership I didn’t answer when I was a teenager was the very same call God issued again in my late thirties.
And look what happened when Jonah finally obeyed. An entire city - 120,000 people - turned to God. His delayed obedience still mattered. His second chance yes changed everything.
Your late obedience is better than your permanent avoidance. God has blessed me in Salvation Army officership despite the delay. Even if you’re years behind where you should be, your yes today can still change lives.
If you’ve been running from something God called you to, he’s still calling. The assignment hasn’t changed. The grace has increased.
Say yes, this time.
Why Your Past Keeps Showing Up
Friday 27 February 2026
“Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
You’ve been forgiven, but your past won’t leave you alone. You keep replaying the same failures, the same shame, the same labels.
Here’s the problem: most of us believe we’re forgiven. We just don’t believe we’re new.
Paul wrote these words - the same Paul who “began to devastate the church” and dragged Christians to prison (Acts 8:3). His past was brutal. He never pretended it didn’t happen. But he also never let it stop him from moving forward.
Notice what Paul says: “The old life is gone.” Not fading. Not gradually going. Gone. Finished. Done.
Your past keeps showing up because you keep inviting it to define you. You say, “I’m someone who always fails” instead of “I was someone who failed.” God has already declared your old life finished. Stop arguing with him.
And the next part changes everything: “A new life has begun.” Not will begin when you feel better. Has begun. Already started.
You didn’t become new when you felt different. You became new the moment you belonged to Christ. So, stop waiting to feel new before you live new.
Satan can’t undo what Jesus did, so he keeps you fixated on who you were instead of who you are. Every time your past shows up uninvited, recognise it - it’s a distraction pulling you backwards.
Your past will keep showing up until you stop giving it a vote in your present. You’re not who you were. You’re who Christ says you are - new, clean, free. Live like it.
The People Jesus Chose on Purpose
Saturday 28 February 2026
Ever feel like you’re too messy to be useful to God? Here’s the truth - Jesus doesn’t choose you despite your past, he chooses you because of what grace can do with it.
“As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus said” (Matthew 9:9).
Tax collectors were traitors and thieves. Everyone knew it. They worked for Rome, overcharged their neighbours, and pocketed the difference. Matthew wasn’t hiding his past - he was sitting in his tax booth when Jesus found him. Everyone in town knew exactly who he was.
But Jesus walked straight up to the least likely person and said, “Follow me.”
You’re not disqualified because people know your story. Jesus calls you publicly, mess and all.
Watch what Matthew does next: “Matthew got up and followed him” (Matthew 9:9). No hesitation. No “let me sort my life out first.” Then he threw a party and invited all his messy friends to meet Jesus.
When Jesus calls you, he’s not asking you to clean up first. He’s asking you to follow now. Your network is your mission field.
The religious experts were horrified. But Jesus told them: “Healthy people don’t need a doctor - sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners” (Matthew 9:12-13).
If you know you’re broken, you’re exactly who Jesus is looking for. Matthew went from tax collector to Gospel writer. Your story isn’t over either.
When You Fall Down After You’ve Started Walking
Sunday 1 March 2026
Read: Psalm 37:23-24
The hardest failure isn’t before you follow Jesus - it’s after. You know better, you’ve tasted grace, and you still mess up.
Here’s David’s promise: “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand” (Psalm 37:23-24).
Most of us think stumbling means we’ve lost our way. But the Bible says even stumbling is part of a directed path.
Notice the tense: “The Lord directs” - not “will direct” or “might direct.” It’s already happening. When you fail after following Jesus, you don’t go back to square one. You’re still on the path. Your stumble doesn’t erase your steps.
Here’s the gamechanger: stumbling isn’t falling. Stumbling is a moment. Falling is a mindset. You can stumble and still be held. One mistake doesn’t undo your relationship. One bad day doesn’t cancel your direction.
And you’re not walking alone. God’s got your hand. Your spiritual life isn’t sustained by your grip on him - it’s sustained by his grip on you. When you feel weak, lean harder into the hand already holding you.
God doesn’t just tolerate your journey - he delights in it. Every detail. Even the stumbles. Your mistakes don’t surprise him, and they don’t change his delight in you.
Falling down after you’ve started walking is part of walking. You’re still on the path. You’re still held. Get up and keep moving.
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Unless otherwise shown, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. All song extracts used by permission. CCL Licence No. 135015.