Thought of the Day !!

I am writing to Timothy, my true son in the faith.  May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy and peace.

                              1 Timothy 1:2 (NLT)

As Paul writes to Timothy and asks God to give him grace, mercy and peace, I would ask the same for each who read this devotion.

Grace - God's everlasting, unmerited and undeserved love and forgiveness for you and me

God has forgiven us.  His love reaches farther than we can ever sin.  This means that no matter what we've done in our past, it's not beyond the boundary of God's forgiveness. He is the ultimate Judge.  But He is fair and just in His judgment.  And He loves us so much that His mercy precedes His judgment.

Mercy - God's grace handed out

We deserve death.  Death is the penalty for sin, and unless you are sinless, your penalty is the same as it has been for every person since Adam and Eve.  And it's not like we only sinned once or twice.  I know that I, myself, continually mess up, giving into the temptations that come at me.  I try harder and harder to be better, but this just helps me realize more and more how imperfect I am.  This is okay though.  God's grace and mercy are there for me (and for you).  This means that when we fail one battle with temptation, we can dust ourselves off and go back to fighting the battle with those things that continually tempt us.  Also, we can do this without worry of whether or not we're still loved due to our past transgressions.

Peace - God's grace making all things bearable where joy can be found in good times and in bad

I know who I am.  More importantly, I know whose i am.  I was wonderfully created by my Father in Heaven, saved from eternal death by my Savior and am continually guided in ways of righteousness by my Counselor and Friend (the Holy Spirit).  Knowing this gives me a peace that can never be taken away.  I pray that you have, or will have, this same kind of peace.  

In the love of Christ,

greg