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. Imitate God, therefore in everything you do because you are his dear children.  If the iniquities listed here in God’s Word were somehow renewing to our nature, we would have stayed in them and would have had no interest in the life of his grace.  In the grace of Jesus Christ we can experience a refreshing nature, we would recognize it as thanksgiving in our thinking, our emotions and our attitudes towards God, family, friends and co-workers. Imitate God therefore in everything you do… let there be thankfulness to God.  Today allow yourself to celebrate the life you have in his grace, that joyful attitude of thanksgiving.   You and everyone around you will experience a delight in relationships with the Lord and each other. As you imitate God in the life of his grace, no one around you will be irritated, hurt or ashamed.   Your day will be just down right refreshing when your heart is filled with thanksgiving.  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 NIV

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you. There may be moments in our life when we can be in a great throng of people and yet feel drained 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. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. That is why his grace is called amazing and overwhelming.  This would be a great way to start a new day!  So allow yourself to desire the life of his love and grace.  Let your lips glorify Him and you will experience thanksgiving and rejoicing in the depth of your soul.  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 self, there is no thanksgiving within it.  If left to itself, it will tear apart the individual, the family, the community and a nation.  Yet, in this place God’s grace can be found. Repent, all of you who forget me… Here in his grace an invitation is given without limit or condemnation. But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.  His grace makes us new which changes everything, giving a life that is actually thankful to the Lord and esteems others as more important than ourselves.  Living in the grace of Jesus the Christ renews us, our family, our community and even our nation.  It is a life, a salvation of no regret. Today may you actually desire to give thanks to our Lord as you consider your ways.  Let yourself find many varied ways in giving thanks for the life you have. There is no remorse, no brokenness or tearing apart in the grace of our Lord.  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 NIV

Have you ever wondered what God really thinks or feels about you?  Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved.  That is an eternal definition of God’s thoughts and what he feels about you.  Therefore, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  God's grace lets us clothe ourselves with new clothes, which impact our thoughts, our desires, our hopes and of all things our emotions. In fact, these clothes will bless everyone around us and bring a desire to Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  What is wonderful about these clothes is that they are a gift from the Lord and they are wrapped in grace.  Today enjoy what the Lord has provided for you to wear through his grace – compassion, kindness, humility gentleness and patience.  These are wonderful emotions that will clothe your heart and you will find that what he has given you to wear is a perfect fit.  Joy and praise will come very naturally to you and these clothes never get old or wear out.  Enjoy!

If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.  John 7:37, 38 NIV

There was a time in my life when I know I became thirsty. If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.  It was after I had grown up into a young man, finished my time in the Marine Corp and had come back from Viet Nam. The thought came to me – “what is life for, what is its goal?”  I had no problem believing in God because it says – “In God We Trust” on our money.  So I asked this God on our money to please do something with my life and he began to do something in me that would change and renew me forever. If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.  By his grace he renewed my faith to trust again in Jesus the Christ and I have never been the same.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from with him. This living water flowed, which I discovered was the Holy Spirit producing a new character within me, which looked like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and of all things self-control.  Today enjoy being thirsty for our Lord and his grace. The life that is eternal will be yours even through your opportunities.  As the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow naturally from within and through you.  This will give you a life that will bless you and bring inspiration to those around 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

God’s grace in Jesus Christ really changes things.  You are the light of the world – like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.  Wow, now that is a change.  In Jesus the Christ a new life is given to us which produces wonderful results. Let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. 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 life of his grace produces a new nature in us to “let” this new life be lived and seen in the midst of all our opportunities. Let your good deeds shine, they will refresh families, neighborhoods and communities. Today may you find that what you are “letting” is like a light shining on a hilltop, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. 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 results that are catastrophic to relationships. There has never been a family, a community, a state or a nation that has become refreshed when these sins are the habits of its people.  Therefore the promise of grace was given. God’s grace is offered to remove sin's power and give us a new nature that will be a pleasure to relationships. 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.  Grace is the power of God's love in Jesus the Christ to release us from habits that are hurtful by our own natural nature. You were cleansed, you were made holy, you were made right with God.  Grace produces a new life that has its foundation in God's love, where there will never be any regret or shame.  Today allow the life of his grace to set you free from habits that do not bless you or anyone else. This new nature is now and forever yours because of his grace given to you in Jesus Christ.  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

Let’s start with a question: Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises?  The answer that is given is: Absolutely not!  What is so amazing about God’s promises is that they give something to us that we cannot ever accomplish by our own efforts. If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. But new life is given through what God promised his grace would do through Jesus the Christ.  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., God’s grace gives us the freedom to see clearly the difference between our new life and being a prisoner to our sinful life. Today enjoy being refreshed in who you are because of the promises in Jesus Christ.  His grace lets you choose what direction your thoughts and emotions will go. We now know why we sing – “Amazing grace that saved a wretch like me.” Enjoy!

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD.  They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.  Psalm 92:12-15 NIV

What an interesting journey life is.  We can hardly wait to grow up and become an adult. Then one day we look up and we are seniors, Wow!  I have a sign above my fireplace that says – “Old age is coming at a really bad time!”  I find it humorous that it has taken me so long to understand righteousness.  Listen to the impact of grace on a man or woman –They will still bear fruit in old age; They will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The LORD is upright, he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”  I love this, that God’s grace in Jesus the Christ produces His righteousness in us, which is the deliverance from the penalty of our own sin along with the deliverance of its power over us.  Now how cool is that kind of grace? Grace reveals to us that the joy of the LORD is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). Today may you be refreshed by the promise of grace in your life.  You are meant to be the expressions, of the attitude of God's love to everyone around you. What you say and do in the grace of our Lord can bring a beautiful delight to everyone you meet and at the same time make your day brand new. The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.  Enjoy!

The LORD does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV

There is always a feeling of refreshment in our life when we experience joy and describe it as feeling it with all our heart.  This is not meant to be an academic statement; it is something that touches the very fiber of our being. The LORD looks at the heart.  The life of God's grace is that it takes our belief in the Lord from the academic into a relationship that reaches the very soul of who we are.   God’s grace impacts our heart like nothing else can (the LORD looks at the heart).  In grace our thoughts along with our emotions become alive with the desire to express love, joy and kindness.  Here our marriage, our children and our relationships have the great possibility of being refreshed in ways that cause everyone to rejoice and give thanks to the Lord.  Today enjoy this life of his grace.  Be willing to allow your heart be refreshed in his grace and peace.  May he then give to you the desires of your heart as you delight yourself in him (Psalm 37:4).  In this place you will find no regret or sorrow.  Enjoy!