Bless to us

"Bless to us, O God,
The earth beneath our feet.
Bless to us, O God,
The path whereon we go.
Bless to us, O God,
The people whom we meet." - Gaelic traditional prayer

Imagine if we started everyday seeking to bless others and to be open to the blessing that they might offer us?

Romans 15:29 - "I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ."

Living in Grace
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We used to ...

I am going to start our devotion today with a tough question:

How has your life changed since you accepted Christ into your life? 

If we have not changed much, then we need to start asking ourselves some serious questions. I am NOT advocating that we should be perfect, because I am certainly not perfect. However, there should be a mark of change in our lives - people should be able to point out some difference in us.

When we look at the life of the early Christians, it was their witness that drew people to the Faith. Those who persecuted the Christians found them to be remarkable and this is what brought many people to salvation.

"We used to hate and destroy one another and refused to associate with people of another race or country. Now, because of Christ, we live together with such people and pray for our enemies." - Justin Martyr

Notice the change in Justin Martyr? He was different, because of JESUS.

2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Living in Grace
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Making me whole

"God did not tell us to follow him because he needed our help;
but because he knew that Loving him would make us whole." - Irenaeus

I had the privilege of teaching my new students on some of the early church Apologists, including Justin Martyr, Tertullian and Irenaeus. I like the above quote from Irenaeus because it reminds me that God is perfect in every way, yet God allows us to be part of His life. God also wants the best for me and so when I love God, this act of love makes me more complete.

1 John 4:10 - This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

Living in Grace
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How refreshing

"...I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” - Jonah 1:12

It is so refreshing to see Jonah own up to the mistake that he made. How often do we hear people say.... "I am sorry, it was my fault!" - not often enough, I don't think. It is interesting to note that as soon as someone puts their hand up and accepts responsibility for their actions, we can then begin to make things right. 

A lot of energy is wasted in trying to figure out who is at fault for a particular problem. That energy can all be focused on rectifying the mistake, as soon as someone admits their role in the mess up. After all, we all make mistakes - we are just not all keen to own up to the fact!

Next time something goes wrong, let's just say "I am sorry" and then we can move on from there.
What do you think? 

"Love in the real world means saying you're sorry 10 times a day." - Kathie Lee Gifford

Living in Grace
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Send someone else!

There are a number of people in the Bible who were a little overwhelmed by God's calling on their lives. Jonah, Gideon, Moses - they all asked God to send someone else in their place.


"But Moses again pleaded, "Lord, please! Send anyone else." — Exodus 4:13

It is good when we realise that we can't do everything in our own strength and that we need God to get us through each situation. However, it is NOT good to ignore the unique calling God has placed on your life. 

One is an act of humility, the other is an act of disobedience!

Living in Grace
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Choose the ...

“Choose the way of life.

Choose the way of love.

Choose the way of caring.

Choose the way of hope.

Choose the way of belief in tomorrow.

Choose the way of trusting.

Choose the way of Goodness.

It is up to you.”- Leo Buscaglia

Which one will you choose?

Joshua 24:15 -  But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Living in Grace

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Do you care?

“If you have a heart to make a difference, there is always an answer.

But if you have a heart of indifference then there is never an answer.” – John Maxwell

Most of the time people just don't care. Perhaps I am just being a little harsh - I should rather say, "most people just feel like they don't have the time to care." Our lives are busy and we are rushing from one thing to the next. Sadly, this leads us to become blase and eventually indifferent to the needs around us. Thankfully Jesus always had the time to stop and care for the needs of his people. 

Luke 8:43-44 - As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. ⁴³ And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. ⁴⁴ She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

SHOW SOMEONE TODAY THAT YOU CARE!

Living in Grace

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