This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.  Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor.  In your hearts do not think evil of each other.”   Zechariah 7:9,10

It seems that the nature of all mankind is to be very self-absorbed as it matures.  It does not matter if it is our marriage, our education, our career or even our retirement.  There are no laws or set of standards that can change this nature, which has been seen throughout history.  Just look at the wars, the divorces, the crimes or even all the swear words.  But in this condition God gave his grace through Jesus Christ, not to fine tune our old nature, but to give us a new nature which is his nature.  In grace there is no oppression, no monkey on our backs, no elephants in the room and best of all no regret.  Grace gives joy and can put a smile in our soul in some of the most difficult opportunities.  Today enjoy the grace and mercy of our Lord that is in you.  Relax and embrace his kindness that is now yours.  Take a deep breath from his word today and then go out and live in the freedom of who you now are because of his grace that renewed you.  Enjoy!

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you", he said, " if you will bow down and worship me." Jesus said to him, " Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only." Matthew 4:8-10

We will always serve the one we worship. What Satan did here with Jesus the Christ is the same thing he did with Eve. He offers the creation over the Word of the Lord. There is one thing that he does not want us to do and that is to enjoy worhip of the Lord Jesus the Christ. Now it is in this moment that we may experience the freedom of grace. For grace gives God's love to us in order that we may enjoy worshiping him and in that place he communicates his presence. See worship is not focused on us, it is celebrating our love and joy with thanksgivng of him. Worship of our Lord is the submission of all our nature to God. And as we worship grace renews our nature to be like his. On this new day may you enjoy the beauty of his word that lives in you. May your worship be more than just going to church or even trying to do something good. All of these things are wonderful, but worship changes our nature into a freedom that has no condemnation. Worship will open your heart to his love and the surrender of your will to his pupose.

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 beautiful and 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, blessings in the details of people’s 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 love is given and expressed without condemnation of any kind. Grace puts a smile in what we say and in what we do. On this new day, that has never been nor will come again may you find yourself overwhelmed with his grace. Praise 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 refreshed as you have by his grace. Enjoy!

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:12,13

For most of us along our journey through life, no matter what our age is, we enjoy having new clothes. It does not matter if it is swim shorts, tank tops, shirts, pants, suit or shoes, something in these new experience makes us feel better and most of the time we at least think we look better. New clothes usually even impact our attitude and emotions, its just a refreshing time. God's grace puts new clothes in our closet every day and these clothes not only make us feel better, they bless everyone around us. Believe me, these clothes really impact our attitude and emotions for the day. What is wonderful about these clothes, is that they are a gift from the Lord and they are rapped in grace. That means everyday we can experience the opening of a new gift and when we put them on, we do look better. On this new day may you enjoy what the Lord has given you in and through his grace. There is great freedom here with no condemnation and you will find that what he has given you to wear is a perfect fit. Thanksgiving and joy will come very naturally and everyone around you will comment on how you look.

God's law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God's wonderful grace became more aboundant. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God's wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:20, 21

Sin is the damnation of the soul. It is self seeking, all consuming condemnation and its goal is death. Not just death to ourselves, but death in our relationships with God, with family and with friends. God's grace is his love given without condemnation so that we may live in our journey without fear, guilt, shame or a constant bad self image. In his grace relationships are restored, refreshed and renewed. Grace gives joy and freedom in our relationship with God and man and provides a life that is called eternal. Here, eternal is not a length of time, but a quality of life. It is life as our Lord knows life, fresh, relaxing, new every morning. On this new day, may you rejoice in knowing that grace is more than a word, it is God's love expressed in and through you and the life you live is given to you on this day to refresh and bless you along your journey, as well as those around you. Grace lets you bless others along their journey, even if they do not deserve it. You will like this day.

Repent, all of you who forget me, or I will tear you apart, and no one will help you. But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God. Psalm 50:22,23 NLT

Sin has no desire for God or his path, and lives only for wanting, not thanksgiving. If left to itself, it will tear apart the individual, the family, the community and a nation. Yet, in this place the grace of our Lord can be found. Here in his grace is love given without limit or condemnation. His grace makes us new and in that place everything changes, from living a constant consumning life, to a life that gives thanks to the Lord and esteems others as more important. Living in the grace of Jesus the Christ renews us, our family, our community and even our nation. It is a life of rejoicing. On this new day may you choose the joy of our Lord as you consider your ways. May you find many varied ways to give thanks for the life you have, for what he has put into your hands and for the freedom that is yours to be an encouragement to everyone around you. There is no regret, no brokeness or tearing apart in the grace of our Lord.

The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. John 1:41,42

When we find something along our journey that is true, refreshing and exciting, we want to share the news with our family and friends. There is something inside us that loves to give good news when we are not living life on ourself. It is also true that when the journey of our life has gone on for some time focused on ourself we have much more of a tendency to be critical of others, condemning and focused on lust, which is a view about things and people that is less than good. The grace of our Lord does more than save us for heaven. It refreshes our values of family, friends and community. There is a joy in being overwhelmed by grace that just has to express itself through encouragement, kindness and refreshment. On this new day in the grace of our Lord may you be refreshed again with the heart of an Andrew. There will be no condemnation there. Your joy for the day will become overwhelming and the refreshment you give to others will impact there life and values in all the right ways.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Psalm 51:1,2 Our natural nature usually thinks of God as seeing all our failures and all our irritations and then offers nothing but condemnation. Many do not think of God according to his unfailing love at all, they actually believe he is angry all the time. Here is what grace can do for all of us. Grace is his love given in and through Jesus the Christ without any condemnation forever. Here we experience, mercy, love, compassion, kindness and a freedom that is absolutly clean. On this new day may you experience and enjoy his unfailing love that removes all your transgressions and sins. May words like delight, rejoice, praise, thanksgiving and encouragement be words used by everyone you know to describe you. In this place your life will feel brand new and refreshing. Enjoy!

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 our 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 their 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.

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 the 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. On this new day 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