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 transformation 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 life of his grace.  Here in Jesus Christ 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 choice you have in his grace to live in the joyful attitude of thanksgiving.   You and everyone around you will experience a delight in relationships with the Lord and each other. As you live and imitate God in the life of his grace, no one around you will be irritated, hurt or ashamed.  Transparency, kindness and integrity will just be who you are.  Enjoy!

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.  Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.  Psalm 63:1, 3

There may be moments in time when we can be in a great throng of people and yet feel weary and alone.  It is as if we are in a dry and weary land where there is no water.  There in that place we discover emotions that never give any life, they only seem to exhaust whatever we thought we had.  We name them as hopelessness, despair, sadness and depression.  But right in that moment our God offers his grace which is water for our soul.  It is his love that quenches all our thirsts and brings hope, joy, refreshment and an abundance of kindness.  That is why his grace is called amazing and overwhelming.  Today allow yourself to know the sweet relief of his love and grace.  Let your emotions and thoughts be renewed in his presence and compassion. Let yourself experience the sweet freedom of thanksgiving, praise and rejoicing in your soul. You will find your lips will glorify him; you will live in the beauty of his life where there is no remorse or weariness.  Enjoy!

That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life – whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear.  Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds.  They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them.  And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?  Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?  Matthew 6:25 – 27 NLT

Somehow through our life, stress and worry show up and seem to make their home in our hearts.  With them being resident in our emotions and thoughts, habits begin to form so that our conclusions of where we are or where we might be in the future are much smaller than a blessing.  Then tension shows up and our world does not seem to be enjoyable.  Here in this place grace can be experienced.  You see God’s grace in Jesus Christ replaces stress and worry with thanksgiving and praise.  There is a powerful freedom in thanksgiving and praise, for where they are stress and worry cannot come or even express themselves.  Oh, and by the way, tension is never found in grace. Today let your emotions and thoughts live the experience and freedom of his grace.  Let your heart express thanksgiving and praise through your mouth, with words and tones that will bless you and your family.  Because of his grace you have been given a new life and it is yours to live.  Enjoy!

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, it 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 love given without limit or condemnation.  His grace makes us new which changes everything, from living a constant consuming 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 no regret. Today may you choose the joy of our Lord as you consider your ways.  Let yourself 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 remorse, no brokenness or tearing apart in the grace of our Lord.  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 living gift given to us 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 judgment to men and women who were guilty and condemned because of their sin.  Grace has nothing to do with our worthiness or what we have done or failed to do.  This is the wow of salvation, a life with new emotions, new attitudes of encouragement, and new actions that bless us and those around us. Today may your life bring praise and joy to the one who called you by his grace.  Let yourself rejoice in this life in Jesus Christ that is eternal and as you delight in him may you discover what it means to give glory to his name.  Enjoy!

As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed them into her home.  Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord's feet.  But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing.  She came to Jesus and said, "Lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work?  Tell her to come and help me.  But the Lord said to her, "My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details!  There is only one thing worth being concerned about.  Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her."  Luke 10:38-42 NLT

Worship (delighting in the Lord) is that one thing that is needed for a good and healthy attitude.  It comes when we enjoy the Lord and live with a heart full of thanksgiving.  For without these, there can be no worship of the Lord and therefore we will not sense the nature of his grace.  What we experience is the emotions of condemnation in all its forms, about others, about ourselves and at times even about the God.  Worshiping the Lord puts all the details of life in proper perspective.  Today may you allow his grace the freedom of expression through your attitudes and your thoughts.  In a life of grace there is no complaining, no stress and no mistrust.  Here you will experience his joy in all the details of your life and that is called grace.  Enjoy

No one can serve two masters.  For you will hate one and love the other, you will be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and money.  That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life.  Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?  Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.  Matthew 6:24,25,27,33

Somewhere in the beginning of creation, Adam and Eve began to reason within themselves that their logic and understanding was better than what God had said.  It was there that sin came in and the battles began with God and with each other.  Men and Women all over the world are still suffering from this logic and understanding.  Many times we find ourselves much more devoted to what we feel and what is in our hand, over what we know the Lord has said.  It is in this condition that grace can overwhelm us, so that what is in our hand does not own our emotions or our understanding.  Grace gives the ability of delighting in our Lord no matter where we may be found.  Allow yourself to know and experience today the blessings of grace, where you will find no worry, no stress, no forms of envy and no tension.  Let his grace bathe your heart and mind with the freedom of delighting in the Lord.  Enjoy!

Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise.  Give thanks to him and praise his name.  Psalm 100:4 NLT

Our emotions seem to be birthed in feelings of criticism, which is very self-focused.  In that condition we can find ourselves easily angry, annoyed, irritated, having feelings of being evaluated.  With that nature, living thankful and praising the Lord is something to do, which is just one more task along our journey which can  eventually be exhausting. Grace changes our entire situation.  It puts God's love right into the center of our lives, changes our values and how we see ourselves.  In that condition, emotions of thanksgiving and praise are not one more thing to do, it is who we are.  Living our journey in thanksgiving and praise to our Lord lets us encourage, bless, be considerate and esteem others as more important than ourselves.  Today, may you absolutely enjoy his grace that has set you free from the power of your old emotions.  Grace is stress and tension free; it will give you a good day. Those around you will feel important, encouraged and refreshed. His grace lets thanksgiving and rejoicing just be who you are.  Enjoy!

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.