Don't fool yourselves.  Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people - none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.  Some of you were once like that.  But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.   1 Corinthians 6:9-11 NLT.

The nature of sin will produce by-products that at best are filthy.  There has never been a family, a community, a state or a nation that has become refreshed and renewed when these things are the habits of its people.  Grace comes in right at this point to remove sin's power and give us a new nature that will bring thanksgiving and delight.  Grace is the power of God's love in Jesus the Christ to release us from habits that are hurtful by nature. Grace produces new habits that have their foundation in God's love, where there will never be any regret or shame.  Today may you allow the strength of his grace to set you free from habits that do not bless you or anyone else.  In his grace you have the right as sons and daughters to praise, bless and encourage others through your actions and words.  This freedom is now and forever yours because of his grace given to you in Jesus Christ.  Enjoy!

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Romans 1:21,22

It is one thing to believe that there is a God or even to believe in God.  The beauty of grace, which is the power of God's love given without condemnation, is meant to change how we think of God and therefore how we feel about ourselves. Grace lets us not just believe in him but to know God in a way that refreshes our emotions and therefore brings the desire to express joy and thanksgiving.  The man or woman that lives with a personality of joy will automatically give glory to God through their actions.  Today may you delight in finding ways to express joy and thanksgiving.  Let God's grace express through your words and attitudes the beauty of a thankful heart.  In this place you will always be known as an encourager and a delight to those around you.  Some of the most difficult situations are changed by expressions of joy and thanksgiving.  Enjoy!

Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises?  Absolutely not!  If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it.  But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.  Galatians 3:21, 22 NLT

What is so amazing about God’s grace is that it gives something to us that we cannot ever accomplish by ourselves.  It is called freedom or known as a new life.  This new life is given through what God promised his love through grace would do in Jesus the Christ.  Sin can never love; it can only lust because it is always self-seeking.  Now here is the kicker, the freedom of God’s grace lets us choose how we will respond to our opportunities. We can now see clearly the difference between new life and being a prisoner.  Bless those who curse you or curse those who curse you.  Which one lives in the freedom of a new life?  Today let your heart relax and be refreshed in who you are because of the promise in Jesus Christ.  His grace lets you choose what direction your thoughts and emotions will go.  One will give you a sweet relief and one will strap you to the ground.  We now know why we sing – “Amazing grace that saved a wretch like me.” Enjoy!

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD.  They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.  Psalm 92:12-15

What an interesting journey life is.  We can hardly wait to grow up and become an adult.  But along our life we seem to have developed some emotions that are less than stellar about what we look like and who we are.  It is in this condition that grace can renew, refresh and give great freedom.  For in the freedom of grace we will find a joy and strength that comes from the very life of God, it is called eternal.  No matter what our age is, grace can and will make our life new every morning with the joy of thanksgiving.  Today may you be refreshed by the promise of grace in your life.  You are meant to be the expressions, the voice and the attitude of God's love to everyone around you. What you say and do in the grace of our Lord can bring a beautiful delight to everyone you meet and at the same time make your day brand new.  Enjoy!

The LORD does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7

One of the beautiful moments along our journey through life is when we feel something and we describe it as feeling it with all our heart.  This is not an academic statement; it is something that touches the very fiber of our being.  The beauty of God's grace is that it takes our belief in the Lord from the academic into a relationship with him that reaches the very soul of who we are.   God’s grace impacts our heart like nothing else can and in grace our desires along with our emotions become free to express love, kindness and encouragement without the feeling of being strained.  Here our marriage, our children and our relationships are refreshed in ways that cause us to rejoice and give thanks to the Lord.  Today let yourself enjoy this freedom of his grace.  Let your heart be refreshed along your journey and may he then give to you the desires of your heart as you delight yourself in him.  In this place you will find no regret or sorrow.  Enjoy!

The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The LORD protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me.   Psalm 116:5, 6

There is a true relaxing joy in us when what we believe and say about God becomes who we are in the depth of our soul.  It does not mean troubles and opportunities all leave the scene, but seeing them with the attitude of grace brings the blessings of real emotions and thoughts that are renewing and relaxing.  When we allow the freedom of his grace to touch our emotions we will discover what the Psalmist meant when he said – “when I was in great need, he saved me.”   Today, take a good deep breath from his Word and let your heart along with your mouth express compassion and thanksgiving for his grace and love for you.  Your nature is on a great journey of renewal and the freedoms you were created for are about to blow your hair back.  Enjoy!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.   Romans 15:13

The words here - hope, joy, peace and overflow are words of WOW!  Here we see that our Lord desires for us on our individual journeys, to not just believe in him but to trust him with all the details in our thinking and emotions. His grace is given so that we may experience that life called eternal, and find ourselves in an optimistic mood, a mood of hope, a mood of joy and a mood of peace.  His gift is given to us with the strength of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ.  In this place we find ourselves overflowing with emotions of thankfulness, which impacts people in a very good way that live and work around us.  Today, may you lay aside anxiety, worry and stress and enjoy trusting in him.  It is refreshing to live a life that can be called overflowing with hope, joy and peace.  Enjoy!

He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.  Proverbs 21:21

 It is amazing what we really pursue as important during our lives.  We work so hard at going after so many things that we think are important, only to find out that while pursuing them many of our relationships do not turn out to be what we hoped for.  So what is this righteousness and love?  Well, righteousness is the pursuing through all the details of our life a relationship with God that gives him glory (which is praise and thanksgiving to him).  It allows us to work with our abilities, then rejoice and delight in him. Love allows us the ability to bless others as we work and play.  It allows us the joy of being aware of the emotions, desires and goals of people we meet along our journey, then finding ways to bless them as our Lord has blessed us.  Today let yourself enjoy his grace that gives you something to pursue that will not wear you out and will bring you along with others refreshment in your journey. Enjoy!

 

I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him. Lamentations 3:24-25

What a wonderful journey life is, even with all its highs and lows. The awe of falling in love and finding that someone else loves you as much as you love them. Wow, what a refreshing time that is, and as wonderful as that is, it gets even better with age. When the Lord becomes a reality to us in the journey of life instead of some kind of belief or religious system, his grace begins to overwhelm us. Let us remember that his grace is his love expressed and given without condemnation and with his grace in our lives we now have the freedom to enjoy expressing and giving love to others the same way that he has done for us. With grace we find the joy of giving more than receiving and now our thinking and emotions can really enjoy our journey. On this new day may you enjoy the Lord as your portion, knowing how much he loves you. May all who meet you see and hear your hope and joy in him and may his grace allow your life to overflow with gladness. His grace will do things through your life and speech that will blow your hair back and it will feel like you have lost weight. Enjoy the freedom of the Lord and give his grace to everyone, it will put a smile on your face and all those around you. I told you love gets better with age.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O GOD! how vast is the sum of them. Psalm 139:16,17

One of the great beauties of God's grace is that it gives us the ability to relax and rejoice all at the same time. Living overwhelmed by his grace gives us better hearing, of what is really around us and much better vision as to the situations we are walking through. Grace changes are values and choices which automatically impact our attitude for the day we find ourselves in. Living in a grace condition removes fears, anxiety and much of mis-trust about others. It gives the freedom to know that our Lord is involved in the journey with us and therefore we do not need to be offended so easily and we can enjoy encouraging others along there journey as we have been encouraged by our Lord. On this new day let his grace be precious to you and enjoy his attitude of kindness as it will be expressed through you. You will be pleased at the way you process info and so will those around you. This is a good day to smile and give thanks to the one who has overwhelmed you with his grace and enjoy his thoughts, bringing praise and refreshment through you.