As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  Psalm 42:1, 2

Now that does sound like some kind of a relationship that longs after God.  We are probably living in some of the greatest educational times in history.  For most of us, we really desire much of our relationships and our finances.  Yet even with all this desire we see our families, our businesses, our communities and even our churches somehow being stressed, even though we are believing all the right things.  No matter where we are found, God’s grace can change everything.  In grace there is no stress or anxiety, but there is the great emotion of delighting.  Living in the grace of Jesus the Christ can cultivate a relationship with God our Father that becomes more refreshing, more exciting and more loving along our journey.  Today let his grace give you the joy of longing after Him.  In this place all things become new and your journey will become expressions of all kinds of joy to you and to those you meet.  Today, enjoy the living God.

 

Imitate God, therefore in everything you do because you are his dear children. Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity or greed among you.  Such sins have no place among God’s people.  Obscene stories, foolish talk, and course jokes – these are not for you.  Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.  Ephesians 5:1,3,4 NLT

What is commonly called salvation in Jesus Christ is the freedom that his grace gives to our character.  If the things listed here in God’s Word were so outstanding, we would have stayed in them and rejected the beauty of his grace.  Here we can experience the refreshing nature of grace as it renews our values, our thinking, our emotions and our attitudes towards God, family, friends and co-workers.  Today may you celebrate the freedom you have in his grace to live in the joy of thanksgiving.  Here you can, along with everyone around you, experience a delight in relationships with the Lord and each other. As you live and imitate the freedom of his grace no one will be irritated.  Transparency, kindness and integrity will just be who you are and you really will relax in the freedom of grace.  Enjoy!    

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.  At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Matthew 27:50,51

The sacrifice of Jesus the Christ was not a religious moment.  It was that which is dead coming into contact with that which is life.  The curtain in the temple separated people from the presence of God and only the high priest could go behind the curtain once a year for the sins of the people.  The curtain represented our sins and the tearing of the curtain, from the top to the bottom was the action of God’s grace upon our sin.  Now because of his grace nothing can separate us from the love and presence of God.  Yet some who have experienced grace for salvation let their sins keep them from the beauty of the life of God that tore the curtain.  Today because of the grace of God in Jesus the Christ may you live in the joy of his presence and love.  No matter where you have been, nothing can separate you now from the life, the love, the grace and the presence of God.  This is a good day to choose to celebrate your life in the Lord.  In his presence all things become new.  Enjoy!

Imitate God, therefore in everything you do because you are his dear children. Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity or greed among you.  Such sins have no place among God’s people.  Obscene stories, foolish talk, and course jokes – these are not for you.  Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.  Ephesians 5:1,3,4 NLT

 What is commonly called salvation in Jesus Christ is the freedom that his grace gives to our character.  If the things listed here in God’s Word were so outstanding, we would have stayed in them and rejected the beauty of his grace.  Here we can experience the refreshing nature of grace as it renews our values, our thinking, our emotions and our attitudes towards God, family, friends and co-workers.  Today may you celebrate the freedom you have in his grace to live in the joy of thanksgiving.  Here you can, along with everyone around you, experience a delight in relationships with the Lord and each other. As you live and imitate the freedom of his grace no one will be irritated.  Transparency, kindness and integrity will just be who you are and you really will relax in the freedom of grace.  Enjoy!

And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.  Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.  1 Thessalonians 5:14,15

 Can you imagine living in a place where people stopped offending, stopped condemning, stopped irritating and stopped sinning against one another?  Living in a place like that, what would marriages be, what would a neighborhood look like, what would be the mood of the community?  Well, this is what is intended to happen to a man or woman who has come into contact with the grace of God given in and through Jesus Christ.  Our nature is renewed with the desire to bless, overwhelm with goodness and forgiveness and to live a life that can be the music people enjoy listening to and seeing.  Today may your journey of grace be the song that everyone can see and hear with joy.  May your marriages, your neighborhood and your community be blessed because of what the grace of our Lord is doing in and through you.  Grace makes you a man or woman of God, so go ahead and delight yourself in our Lord and this new day will blow your hair back.  Enjoy!

For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many.  But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.  Romans 5:17 NLT

 There is a beautiful gift given to us in and through Jesus Christ.  It is not just some kind of forgiveness so that we may continue in our addictions to our old sin nature.  There will always be a great contrast between what once we were and what now by the grace of God we are.  God's grace is his love given in power, by which he grants total exemption from judgment of any kind to men and women who were guilty and condemned because of their sin.  Grace has nothing to do with our worthiness and based on nothing we have done or failed to do.  This is the wow of salvation, a life full of freedom, encouragement, with attitudes and actions that bless us and those around us. Today let your life bring praise and glory to the one who called you by his grace.  Let yourself rejoice in this life in Jesus the Christ that is eternal and as you delight in him may you discover what it means to be refreshed and renewed in him through all the details of your life. In grace there no sorry, regret or emotions of failure.  Enjoy!

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.  Philippians 4:8

What we think about most really does determine how we see our life and how we feel about it.  Someone once said – “It isn’t what you have, or what you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy.  It is what you think about.”  God’s grace not only saves, but it gives us life so that we may have the freedom to process our moments in ways that will refresh and renew our lives as well as those around us.  Grace takes the Word of God and lives it in real time, through the details of our journey.  Today, though it has never been before, take the Word of God and speak out loud what you know is true because God cannot lie.  Your emotions, your intellect and your future will be overwhelmed in all the ways of his grace and you will just down right feel better.  En joy!

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.  He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others.  When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.  2 Corinthians 1:3, 4 NLT

 Sometimes in the journey of our life things happen that cause our thinking and our emotions a lot of stress.  When this happens it seems so natural for stress to begin to take over our thinking, our feelings and even our sleep.  This natural stress never seems to bless us or change our circumstances.  But God is and will always be the source of all comfort.  It is through his grace in Jesus that he reveals his love and encouragement to us in some of the most difficult times.  His comfort begins to renew our thinking and our emotions which brings a sense of peace in difficult times.  Today let your faith through grace have its beautiful way with the details of your life.  Comfort is yours and when enjoyed, allows you the encouragement of blessing others where ever you find them.  Your life will be the visible actions of his grace, his kindness and his comfort and all this will bless your socks off.  Enjoy

The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words.  I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.  Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the LORD never ends!  His mercies never cease.  Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.  Lamentations 3:19-23 NLT

No matter who we are, no matter how much money, education or talent we have, we all have moments of sorrow and suffering.  These storms may be for a day, they may be for a week and sometimes they last for a season.  In this place, many of us grieve over our loss.  But right here in the midst of the storm the fragrance of hope comes and begins to renew us, not because of the storm, but because of the one who loves us without embarrassing us or ridicule.  The mercies of our Lord that begin afresh each morning are word, tones and actions of grace.  Here hope, tenderness and compassion are found and we begin to be renewed.  On this new morning may your hope in the beauty and grace of our Lord allow you the joy that has no regret.  No matter where you have been, for whatever season, know you are loved and his grace and mercy are yours today.  His blessings are yours now and forever.  Enjoy!

I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. I will praise my God to my last breath! May all my thoughts be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD. Let all that I am praise the LORD. Psalm 104:33-35 NLT

 Something happens to us when the Lord is not just a thought or some kind of belief system. When his grace touches our lives we begin a relational journey with him that impacts our goals, our desires, our thinking and our emotions. His grace brings our soul to life just as yeast would impact dough. Once the yeast has been put into the dough, the dough will never be the same. So is the grace that is given in and through Jesus the Christ. Grace begins the journey of enjoying the Lord and its by-products impact our family. Grace changes our focus and gives us the freedom of giving encouragement, blessings and praise. In this place there are no irritations. Today allow his grace to express his life through your actions, your words, your goals and your money. Your enjoyment of the Lord will bring praise and rejoicing to him and be of a great delight to you and those who know you best. So go ahead and express yourself in the blessings of his grace. Enjoy!

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  Romans 8:28, 29

Grace in Jesus Christ brings a freedom and a joy that is contagious through our life’s journey.  Grace does not just forgive and save us from our sins, it saves us from ourselves.  If salvation in Jesus the Christ means anything, it must work where sin begins, not merely where it ends.  It changes us at our very foundation so that we are no longer suspicious, hateful, jealous, stingy or moody.  God's grace does not just deal with a record book; it refreshes, renews and gives freedom to the foundation of our character.  Today may you  feel the freedom of grace in every detail of your life.  May you notice the joy in your tone of voice and the expression of your face are gifts of grace.   Your hope and encouragement are the results of delighting in the freedom of letting his grace conform you to the character and attitudes of Christ.  Go ahead, enjoy!

Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel.  The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes."  Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put beautiful garments on you.  Zechariah 3:3, 4

Here we see a beautiful picture of God's grace towards us.  Grace removes our filthy garments which is our own activities in sin, not someone else's.  His grace cleanses, refreshes and renews our soul, our mind and our body without any ridicule, condemnation or shame.  What our Lord does in and through Jesus Christ brings a delightful blessing to us as well as those around us.  In this place our life becomes new again and we find our thoughts and emotions rediscovering the beauty of life one more time. Today may you be blessed with this beautiful garment of grace that is yours.  Living in his grace has no regret or sorrow at all.  In fact words, actions and tones of grace will renew and refresh your life as well as those you meet.  Here, life is awakened and a new journey begins.  Enjoy!

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  For God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:6,8

  Sometimes there just seems to be so many emotional storms through life. We often feel our lives would be different if we were just a little older, if I was just a little younger, if I was just a little thinner, if I just was a little heavier, if I just was married, if I just felt important.  These are moments where condemnation arises and can begin to direct the course of our lives in ways that are less than wonderful.  In the midst of all the details of our lives God demonstrates his love for us right where we are, not right where we want to be.  If in your life you have ever felt powerless, or ungodly, know in this place Jesus the Christ gives you his grace, which is his love without any condemnation or peer pressure of any kind.  Today let your heart be filled with his love, his kindness, his delight and his blessing.  You are either a man or woman of God because of the grace in Jesus Christ.  You are no longer powerless, you are no longer ungodly.  In fact you are now the demonstration of the blessing of God to your family, your friends and your neighbors. This is the right time to enjoy!

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.  2 Timothy 2:15

There is something wonderful that happens within us when we know we are at our best.  Well, the beauty of God’s grace that is given through Jesus the Christ frees us up so that we may know at any given moment we are at our best.  Grace is powerful and relaxing at the same time.  It is eternal life without any form of condemnation about ourselves and a freedom to give this grace away to everyone we meet along our journey.  Grace gives a rebirth to our character which obviously affects our emotions and thinking.  Grace makes life beautiful and therefore husbands and wives that are full of grace make really good marriages and families.  Today enjoy who you are because of the grace of God.  Believe what our Lord says about you, that he enjoys you and loves you.  Smile right down to the depth of your soul and your life will be the voice, the knowledge and the character of the word of truth. Enjoy