Today
is a beautiful day, it is not too hot and it is not too windy. It is calm and
peaceful in my house. I can hear nice music playing and each child is off doing
his or her own thing. It is easy to be gracious and be full of
grace toward my children at the moment.
How can I keep this peaceful graceful feeling? Where can I go to find
help to be more full of grace?
In His
Word!
You
are fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God
has blessed you forever. Psalm
45:2
So all bore witness to Him and
marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth and they said
“Is this not Joseph’s son?”
Luke 4:22
But He gives more grace.
Therefore He says:” God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he wil flee from you. Draw near
to God and He will draw near to you. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord
and He will lift you up. James 4:6-8 &10
Life is not always so
calm. More often than we like the children are at each others faces saying
‘mine’ or ‘you’ or ‘give it back!’. No
grace abounds in those words!
While enjoying watering my garden
today and fellowshiping with the Lord in song and praises I thought about how a
group of us have been reading the book of James.
Now
James talks about a lot of things that are important but today I was thinking
first on my speaking setting the mode, like we spoke of before, but also how I
can cause grace and peace to flow in my surroundings.
I know that what I say affects those
around me, because I know that what others say affects how I react to them. So
what can I do to understand this ‘grace’ I hear about?
I know
that Jesus spoke with grace. In Luke 4
it tells us of this fact. It also shows us what happens when we speak
with grace! His words came out with humbleness and kindness and those around
Jesus questioned if this were the boy they knew as Joseph’s son. They could
tell by His speech that He came from God the Father! Though they may not have
made the connection at the moment they knew He was more than just a carpenter's son who had such wisdom.
In
James we read that Grace is something that was given. God gives grace to the
humble, which would be those who submit to God and allow His will to be their
own.
Okay,
so grace is given to us when we humble ourselves and follow His lead. How can
we bring grace into our homes?
First
of all, we have to know where grace comes
from.
Jesus-
He performed the biggest act of Grace when He died on the cross for us! If we
know Him,then we can have His grace with us always.
So how
do we share His grace with others?
By putting them before us. Isn’t that what Jesus did? He put us before Himself
when He died for us!
So if
I want my children to behave I need to give them grace?
Yes!
But that does not mean I let them get away with murder! Jesus died for us so we
could be saved, basically from ourselves! We have the choice to follow Him and
share in His grace by doing what He wills in our lives. So Grace and obedience are on the same side
of the coin as they would say. They are on the same team!~
So if
I want to speak grace, I need to remember that it is not about me, but it is
about Him and my wanting to please God!
I can
choose to be angry with the people around me when they fail to line up to my
expectations, or I can choose to not let it get to me and love them and speak
with kind words and still get the point across. Jesus did not mix words, HE did
however speak the truth in love!
Remember
the woman at the well, from Samaria? He told her exactly what she had done in
her life, things she had not told anyone else. He did not let her get away
without knowing that He knew her heart. In the same way when we speak with
grace, we can share the truth about what is bothering us, with out using
hateful or hurtful words.
In
James 4:11 it tells us plane and simple, “do not speak evil of one another
brethren.” Instead we are to give grace to those who are ignorant of what the
right thing to do is, and yet hold accountable those whom we know have the
knowledge to do the right thing. Call a cat a cat and a dog a dog! But don’t go
pushing buttons just to get what you want.
It is
not about you, or me! It does not matter if our dinner is cooked on time, or if
we eat when the Jones’ eat. It is about Him, and His love, and His grace being filtered through us. We are God’s
ambassadors and our job is to stand up for Him. So if He gives grace to rotten disgusting little old me then I need to give grace to the person who spilled
the milk and did not clean it up.
Okay,
that is a lot of word pictures but I am hoping to get across the idea that
today we all need to work on giving out grace as Christ would do. Remember that
the Pastor is a person first, as frail and fallible as the rest of us, and
remember that the woman at the grocery store who opened her door and nearly
smacked you in the hip is just a person too! Whether it is the fact that the
laundry does not get done with out you doing it, or the toys don’t get picked
up unless you tell them to do it a hundred times…
Grace
will abound when you speak the truth in love.
I
was able to test this out today, while standing in a long line at the local
store I noticed another line had opened up. I looked at the line I was in with
shopping carts and full ones at that, and decided to go to the new line. I
proceeded around the long line so as not to push my way through the people in
front of me and possibly offend them. On the way to the, still one person, line
I grabbed one more item, a paper bag. Just as I turned my head back to my line…
I was stepped in front of and the person who had been in front of me in the
first line, cut in. Exhausted and tired from waiting behind this family to
start with as they doddled alone I was upset. I thought to tell them
“Ex-cuse-me! But I was here first!” then dropped my basket in disapproval and
slowly made my way to the register behind them.
It
took a lot of strength not to say anything, cause gee I was the one carrying a
basket as apposed to pushing a cart, and I was the one who was there first, and
I was the one who had tired feet, one of which was fighting to get out of the
shoe it was wearing… it wasn’t fair! But then again… I had no idea what that
other family was going through in their day. They had a cute little baby
sitting in the cart, and maybe that little one needed to get through faster.
So
I thought on it for a moment and realised I gave them grace! I got a smile when
they left too, not a mean “ha ha we cut on you” but a nice “have a great day”
type of smile. Grace is good.
On
the way home I took a wrong lane change and had to do a U-turn to get back
where I wanted to be but it did not even bother me as it would have before. I
figured God had some reason for me not to get in that turn lane when all those
other cars came barreling into it first.
It
felt good to keep that attitude of grace flowing all the way home. I didn’t
even get too mad when I came in to markers on the couch ( in a case but still)
or the fact that I had to fix lunch for the child who had stayed home before I
could sit down. God is good, His grace and mercy endure forever.
Wouldn’t
it be great if we could be like Him?
Dear Heavenly Father, help me to continue in an attitude of grace today and
each day as I grow more and more like you. Help me to shed off that old man and
put on newness in You each day. In Jesus name, amen.
Suggested
Readings for this week;
Monday: Psalm 45-all
Tuesday: James 4:1-17
Wednesday: James 5:1-12
Thursday: 1 Peter 1: 3-9
Friday: 1 Peter 3:8-4:11
Weekend readings: Hebrews 3-4 all
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In His
love,
Teresa
M. Wilson
www.teresawilson.com
Copyright © 2004
by Teresa M. Wilson.
Rom 8:24-25