Philemon 1:3
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Suppose someone you loved and trusted came to you with a Rolex watch and said, “I want you to have this.” Wouldn’t you feel confident that the watch was authentic? If one of your parents, grandparents, or another close relative handed you an envelope with a lot of money and said, “This is a gift. Spend it however you please.”… would you believe them? Would you feel free to spend the money on whatever you wanted?
Why can we so readily believe human beings… yet when Jesus tells us, “My peace I leave with you…” we figure there must be a catch? Either Jesus’ peace comes with strings attached… or it isn’t truly real in the first place. We need to understand that neither of these statements is true.
Jesus sacrificed everything for our salvation…to give us complete peace in Him. Because of Jesus, we can find peace even when we are worried about college or an upcoming test. When we face a major change in our life… a move, a new job, marriage – or the end of a relationship, the birth of a baby and the rearing of children, illness, aging, or even death… Jesus offers us His peace as we work our way through every circumstance. When we are saddled with grief, loneliness, uncertainty, fear, conflict, or sadness of any sort… peace in Jesus is only a prayer away.
Along with His peace, Jesus also offers us grace. So as our hearts are breaking, or we are so mad and upset we could spit nails… we can find peace in Him and handle the situation with poise and dignity. When we are scared out of our wits or so nervous we cannot eat or sleep, Jesus can give us peace and grace to calm down, stick out our chin, and face the day with confidence. And the best part is that these gifts don’t cost us a dime. We don’t have to do anything to earn Jesus’ peace and grace… we cannot do anything to earn these gifts, and we can “spend” them any way we desire. Really, the only way to mess this up is to ignore Jesus’ offerings… or refuse to accept them in the first place!
All we have to do to receive the peace and grace of Jesus is to accept it… to trust that these gifts are genuine… that He is authentic… and to fully embrace His amazing gestures of love. God sends us many incredible blessings and gifts through Jesus Christ…but His peace and grace are among two of the greatest. Have you received these for yourself? Are you ready to fully acknowledge His constant presence and strength in your life? Will this be the day you begin to fully operate in Jesus’ peace and grace? Have you fully accepted His gifts?
©2013 Debbie Robus
Showing posts with label receiving Gods mercy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label receiving Gods mercy. Show all posts
Daily Devotional for February 7, 2013
February 7 ~ James 2:12-13
There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Recently, my husband and I watched our high school's girls basketball team win by a margin of almost 50 points. In the fourth period, the “mercy rule” was employed by the officials, meaning the clock did not stop running for free throws, time outs, or any other break in the game. The idea behind this rule is that the losing team is so far behind that it will be impossible to catch up… and running up the score does nothing but add insult to injury.
I would venture to say that God enacts the “mercy rule” pretty often in each of our lives. I’m fairly certain there are times when we are all in such deep trouble that there appears to be no way to dig out – except by the mercy and grace of God. This is not to say that we can do as we please and expect God to rescue us… nor is it to say that we should allow others to run roughshod over us with abuses and mistreatments.
No one wants to be another person’s doormat. But let me tell you… God absolutely will not become OUR doormats, either. He will offer mercy to us when we are genuinely repentant… but He will not tolerate our disrespect or arrogance. We can’t keep falling short and expecting God to go easy on us! And neither can we beg for His mercy, then turn around and fail to offer this same understanding to others.
There are times when we need to take a step back and “let the chips fall where they may.” But there are also times when we should have stepped up and shown mercy to others… and we chose not to do so. Nobody ever said offering mercy to others was easy… or uncomplicated. How do you know when to show mercy… and when to step away? There is no simple answer to this question. The best advice I can offer is to prayerfully discuss this with God. Seek His will and His guidance… and trust that the direction in which He leads you is the right one.
©2013 Debbie Robus
There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Recently, my husband and I watched our high school's girls basketball team win by a margin of almost 50 points. In the fourth period, the “mercy rule” was employed by the officials, meaning the clock did not stop running for free throws, time outs, or any other break in the game. The idea behind this rule is that the losing team is so far behind that it will be impossible to catch up… and running up the score does nothing but add insult to injury.
I would venture to say that God enacts the “mercy rule” pretty often in each of our lives. I’m fairly certain there are times when we are all in such deep trouble that there appears to be no way to dig out – except by the mercy and grace of God. This is not to say that we can do as we please and expect God to rescue us… nor is it to say that we should allow others to run roughshod over us with abuses and mistreatments.
No one wants to be another person’s doormat. But let me tell you… God absolutely will not become OUR doormats, either. He will offer mercy to us when we are genuinely repentant… but He will not tolerate our disrespect or arrogance. We can’t keep falling short and expecting God to go easy on us! And neither can we beg for His mercy, then turn around and fail to offer this same understanding to others.
There are times when we need to take a step back and “let the chips fall where they may.” But there are also times when we should have stepped up and shown mercy to others… and we chose not to do so. Nobody ever said offering mercy to others was easy… or uncomplicated. How do you know when to show mercy… and when to step away? There is no simple answer to this question. The best advice I can offer is to prayerfully discuss this with God. Seek His will and His guidance… and trust that the direction in which He leads you is the right one.
©2013 Debbie Robus
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)