Dear Ones,
Hope you are having a wonderful day. We are back from the Lake and left early this morning as I made a visit to a friend in Birchview along the way. Also had my hair done before going to Ann’s for lunch. We got to see all that they have done with Canaan and you probably wouldn’t recognize it if you had visited us there before. Just Lovely!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Don’t you love to be around gracious people? They aren’t busy tabulating our mistakes or trying to persuade us to their way of thinking but just expressing acceptance and grace. It’s freeing not to feel pressured by others to be in the same political arena or have the same views on everything but just enjoy their presence in sharing the Lord. I am in the book of Corinthians now and reading how Paul handled the people with all their problems with much grace.  I was surprised today when up popped an e-mail of what Samuel Rodriguez’s take was on the church there.  The Corinthian church had many struggles but Paul didn’t capitalize on that, realizing that sin is the enemy, not the people. Instead, he risked his life for them, taught them, visited them 3 times, and spoke truth to them. He delt with their problems and encouraged them to live holy lives. Paul himself, had received much grace from the Lord, for he persecuted Christians before he had an awakening on the Damascus road and came to faith. He said in I Cor. 15:10, “But by the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not (found to be) for nothing.” I wonder when we are short on grace if we have forgotten how God’s grace was poured out on us and what He saved us from. Paul reflected grace to the people of Corinth and looked beyond their faults to their deeper needs. How well do we do that for others? Like Rodriguez said, we are never more like God than when we give grace to someone. I think of my aunt who recently died as she was a gracious person to all. I spent so much time with her, especially in my teens, and I felt like she always saw the best in me, even when I failed at something. We need people like that in our lives and we also need to be like that. That’s what grace is all about—God’s kindness and favor given when we don’t deserve it. Let us become more like Jesus and let His grace pour through us to others. I think we will find our souls enlarged as well.
Challenge for today: Accept where people are at and show God’s grace in your attitude and actions.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy