He has showed you, O man, what is good.  And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

Sometimes through our journey in this life we find ourselves thinking life is much more complicated than it was intended to be.  Let’s just suppose the grace of God in Jesus the Christ is real and is not that complicated.  Here in his grace there is no condemnation of any kind, no bitterness of any kind, no resentment of any kind and no mistrust of any kind.  His grace gives a beautiful voice to mercy and faith so we may begin to live life in a freedom that can be called joyful.  Today that has been given to you as a gift, relax in the beauty of his grace and mercy.  Let your thinking and emotions enjoy your life in him without fear or anxiety.  There is a natural fragrance that will be yours in the grace and mercy of our Lord, it is called thanksgiving.  Everyone around you will be blessed because you are now the expression of his kindness and mercy.  Enjoy!

So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work.  Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God.  For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him? Ecclesiastes 2:24,25

He gives us taste buds to enjoy and delight in eating and drinking.  He gives us vision and hearing to enjoy and delight in his creation.  He gives us his grace so that we may enjoy and delight in a relationship with him and others without feelings of insecurity.  What happens in the noise and busyness of our time is that we have a tendency to forget that his grace is relational and refreshing.  In those moments we forget who he is and who we are in him.  Today may you find yourself choosing to enjoy what is around you with a heart of thanksgiving to the Lord.  Go ahead and bless everyone that you come in contact with and your life will be a beautiful fragrance that brings delight to you and those around you.  Enjoy

God saved you by his grace through faith.  And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Ephesians 2:8,9 NLT

Whatever may be true about sin and whatever has happened to all of us because of it, God has done infinitely greater by his grace through Jesus Christ.  Where sin increased with all its forms of condemnation, right there grace overwhelmed with joy and freedom.  Grace is the power of God’s love given to us all in and through Jesus the Christ.  It is only grace that could make sin yield.  The result of grace upon our life is faith and therefore faith becomes the first result of the new life bestowed.  Here the healing from all our condemnation begins.  This really is a gift worth opening; it will refresh your life forever.  Today know that you are free to enjoy being loved, valued and honored because of God’s grace.  Here your heartaches have a place to be made whole; your past will no longer be the ruin of today.  You might just find yourself smiling right down to the depth of your soul.  God’s freedom of grace is yours.  Enjoy!

Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.  Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin.  Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law.  Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. Romans 6:12-14 NLT

 Here is the freedom of God’s salvation.  Legal obedience was never the condition for our salvation or freedom.  God never saved us by law. What the requirements of the law had to do with our salvation was to provide the way for sin to express itself so that we might see our condition and enter into God’s grace through Jesus the Christ.  In this place condemnation and fear leaves the room because salvation has nothing to do with human merit, it is given in the freedom of God’s grace.  God never withholds grace because of sin; in fact grace is the infinite flow of perfect love.  Today may you celebrate the freedom of grace in your desires, your emotions and your conclusions.  Grace will and has provided the way for all wounds to be healed so that you may enjoy the beauty of who you are in and through Jesus Christ.  Rejoicing, peace and encouragement are yours know and forever.  Enjoy!

 God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8

There is something absolutely enjoyable when we find ourselves in a place where we are loved and respected.  In this place there is no stress, anxiety or feeling of walking on egg shells.  We find ourselves relaxed and refreshed so that we have the freedom of expression, especially the giving of gifts of encouragement in the details of individual lives and helping in how ever we can, even financially.  God's grace allows us the freedom to live this way twenty four seven, Wow!  Talk about being refreshed, how about actually living in a place, no matter where we are found, where kindness is given and expressed without condemnation of any kind.  Grace puts a smile in what we say and in what we do.  Today may you find yourself overwhelmed with his grace.  Encouragement and thanksgiving will naturally flow from your mouth as well as your hands.  What you find to do today will bring joy to you as well as everyone around you.  God's grace just makes a good day and allows you to see and hear with new eyes and ears.  Feel free to have tones in your voice and expressions from your face that cause others to be renewed as you have by his grace.  Enjoy!  

 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. 1 Corinthians 1:8,9

The beauty of the life that is given to us in Jesus the Christ is a freedom to rejoice and relax in the midst of our opportunities.  The power of his grace is that we will be in his presence someday and in that place we will be blameless because of Christ.  This being true, for God cannot lie, lets us encourage instead of being irritated.  Bless instead of cursing, trust instead of being suspicious.  The joy of knowing we will be blameless is that he keeps us strong in and through the storms of life.  Grace is always refreshing and therefore allows a positive perspective which can be seen as joy.  Today may you experience the strength of his grace.  Let your old habits that do not take you where you hoped to go, be lost in the life of his grace.  The habit of grace in your life will bring a delightful attitude, a refreshing emotion and wonderful thoughts about God, to you and those around you.  Today, may those who come in contact with you sense the freedom of Grace.  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 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 giving love to others the same way that he has done for us.  With grace we find the joy of giving more than receiving then our thinking and emotions can really enjoy our journey.  Today may you enjoy the Lord as your portion, knowing how much he loves you.  Let all who meet you see and hear your hope and joy in him.  Let his grace allow your life to overflow with emotions of thanksgiving.  His grace will do things through your life and speech that will blow your hair back, it will feel like you have lost weight.  Enjoy giving 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.  Enjoy!

 Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him.  For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean. Hebrews 10:22

Sometimes along our journey we feel or have some kind of sense that God is not interested in the details of our lives.  That feeling or sense is real, but it is not telling us the truth.  Here again we have in God's Word a wonderful picture of his grace working in and through our lives.  We are invited to come into his presence with our full emotions and intellect, allowing the faith and grace he has given to express itself before him.  We are reminded that we now have no condemnation, shame or at times feelings of worthlessness, all because of the blood of Christ.  Today, may you enjoy your journey of grace and go right into his presence with the details of your life.  As you do, enjoy the attitude of thanksgiving, it will bless you, those around you and refresh the direction of your life.  Enjoy!

Everything that does not come from faith is sin. Romans 14:23

This statement in the Word of God is not one of condemnation, anxiety or stress.  In reality, it is bathed in grace so that we may discover the life that has been given to us in Jesus the Christ. So what is faith?   Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.  It is not a system or belief, it is the certainty of what God has said is true and his love can be seen in Jesus Christ. It is the gift of God through his grace and it is living.  Faith therefore can see and hear.  I like to think of it this way, that grace is the river and faith is the channel along which the beauty of grace flows down to renew our souls.  Being free from condemnation lets us have thoughts and emotions that are relaxed, experiencing joy and gladness.  Today may you experience the life called faith by the grace of our Lord.  May your fears, your anxieties and your regrets find no place to express themselves because of the grace and faith of Christ in you.  Enjoy!