“May grace and peace be yours from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. He died for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. That is why all glory belongs to God through all the ages of eternity. Amen.”
Three powerful verses, containing the whole truth of the gospel. Let’s unpack the riches here.
Grace and peace…two items I am desperately seeking right now, and I’m sure if you think about it, you are pursuing them too. I’m struggling to find a balance in my schedule, now a whole month since school started. Every day I feel exhausted from the pressures of taking care of my family, making my health a priority, scheduling in time to work at my job and as a housewife, serving in church ministry, and of course, spending time with my husband. You know what has been my greatest challenge in the past month though? My relationship with the Lord! I feel so frustrated by my inability to keep all the balls in the air—but I know I’d have more grace (to deal with my unforgiveness toward self and others) and peace (to face challenges with the right perspective) if I just spent 15 minutes with the Lord every morning. I’ll keep you informed as I work toward that goal.
The second verse is the Good News that I need to hear. God the Father had a plan before people even existed to send Jesus to die for our sins, and rescue us from the world. I work so hard every day to guard my children from the evil voices of the world and teach them God’s principles to counteract their own sinful tendencies. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the responsibility to teach them the right thing, and sometimes I feel discouraged by my own sinful nature that wins way too often. Yesterday at church we discussed Romans 7, Paul’s “I do what I don’t want to do” treatise. Interestingly enough, Paul finds relief from his internal struggle only from Christ himself, as he says in Romans 8:1, “…there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus,” which is the same principle in verse 2 today. The only relief we can find from both external and internal evils is because Jesus rescued us when he died on the cross for our sins. That is reason to praise him!
All glory belongs to God…this verse shifts my focus from my problems back to God. No struggle I face now—and there are several—is too big for God to handle, and no sin has been left behind at the cross. I have to repeat that last sentence to myself many, many times every day to keep my focus right. And I don’t always succeed; in fact, lately I’ve failed more often than succeeded at keeping my focus on God. My true heart’s desire is to glorify him by being a godly wife, mother, friend, family member, leader, and servant. I know that what I do now will pay eternal dividends, and I want to show God that I love him through my actions, not just my words. Again, if I develop the daily habit of spending time in his Word, I’ll be reminded of my eternal purpose to glorify God, and that will carry over into my daily actions…which will bring me grace and peace.
How do today’s verses speak into your life right now?
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