Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him. Psalm 34:8 NLT

Imagine if you will, going to a wonderful restaurant and as you walk in you immediately notice the beauty of all that is around you. Then you order your meal and its presentation and taste, blow your hair back. The next day you find yourself telling all your friends how wonderful it was and encourage them to go. Well here is even a greater invitation. Taste and see that the LORD is good. Wow! Obviously this is not some kind of invitation to a religion or belief system. This is an invitation to experience the beauty, the life and the grace of God within your journey. Here in him there is refreshment and a freedom that is found nowhere else. On this new day may you taste well and see well that his grace for you is good. May you find your joys in him overwhelming. May the foundational relationships of your home be found in the joy of his grace.

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 the 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 freedom 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. On this new day may you celebrate the freedom you have in his grace to live in the joy of thanksgiving. Here, you and everyone around you will experience a delight in relationships with the Lord and each other. As you live and imitate the freedom of his grace no one around you will be irritated. Transparency, kindness and integrity will just be who you are. Enjoy!

This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:9,10

Here we have the beginning of what is commonly known as the “Lord’s Prayer.” This is actually what Jesus the Christ gave to the disciples when they asked – “teach us how to pray.” Many can quote this prayer without any joy of understanding of what is being said. Grace gives us the ability to see the wonder and awe of our relationship with the one we know as God. “Our Father” lets us know how personal God’s grace has made our relationship with the Lord and each other. “Hallowed be your name,” is the expression from our heart and words that says there is no one like you and I am in a state of awe, overwhelmed by your grace. “Your kingdom come” reveals that where you are there is no death or condemnation and is an expression of praise and thanksgiving. “Your will be done” expresses the joy and result of grace in our lives that trusts our Lord’s direction through the details of our journey. On this new day may you know and enjoy the love of Christ in this relationship of grace. May you celebrate his name with the certainty that he is in the details of your life. Prayer will no longer be something you have to do, it will be an expression of your relationship with the Lord because of his grace that has been expressed and given to you in Jesus the Christ. Attitudes of joy and encouragement will just be who you are.

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 the Christ. It is not just some kind of forgiveness so that we may continue in our addictions to our old sins. 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 judgement 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, encouragment, with attitudes and actions that bless us and those around us. On this new day may your life bring praise and glory to the one who called you by his grace. May you rejoice in this life in Jesus the Christ that is eternal and as you delight in him may you discover what it means to give glory to his name.

Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? Romans 2:4

The nature we are born with gives us the ability to be intolerant, impatient and at times less than kind towards those around us, even those of our own family. With this comes condemnation about ourselves, others and even God. The beauty of being overwhelmed by his grace is that we have the freedom to live without this condemnation, which changes all the relationships around us, especially our view of God. Repentance does not come from a feeling of condemnation, it comes as an act of worship because of his grace (his love and kindness expressed and given without condemnation). This being true, we have joy in the details of our lives because of the results of repentance. For repentance is a change in our emotions, thinking and activities along our daily journey. This change gives glory to God and refreshment to others. On this new day, may you enjoy the freedom of his kindness that gives you a brand new day in your emotions, thinking and activities. May his grace overwhelm you along your journey and may you know that freedom of expression called grace. You and everyone around you will like this day. Thanksgiving and praise will be just who you are. Enjoy!

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.  Ephesians 3:16-18

Here in God’s breath we have a prayer given so that we might have the power to enjoy our relationship with the Lord. We will then find out that our worship is much more beautiful than something we just do on Sunday.  In worship prayer can be described as the oxygen of the soul.  Worship is from the inside out and we find that it is founded in love and faith; therefore it has no condemnation or regret at all.  When we recognize the love of God in the depth of our being, we begin to enjoy and live in his grace.  Growing in grace can be defined as the decreasing frequency of sin because of the power of Christ’s love and therefore there is no sorrow in it.  Today may you find your heart established in his love by faith.  Your expressions, your voice and your opinions in this place will delight you and everything about your journey will become uplifting for anyone who meets you.  Allow those around you to grasp the love of Christ because of you.  Enjoy!

You are the light of the world – like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.  In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.  Matthew 5:14, 16 NLT

One of the beautiful benefits of God’s grace in our lives is the freedom we have in letting.  His grace not only gives life but the power to let.  The illustration of the life of grace here is seen as light, light that can be seen in all directions like a city on a hill.  But this light is also now our character which is the character of grace.  The power of his grace gives the freedom to “let” this new life be seen and heard in the midst of all our opportunities.  Then men and women will see as well as hear, through us the refreshment of the life of Christ.  This refreshes families, neighborhoods and communities. Oh, it also blesses us and lets us enjoy the wonders of his grace.  Today may you find that what you are “letting” (your life) is like a light shining on a hilltop and everyone around you, including you will be blessed.  Enjoy!

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!