Grace and Peace
Reflect on Ephesians 1:2
"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ"
It's a funny thing peace. I believe it comes from with us, not sound all "new aged", but really peace is inside of us. Jesus brought the peace. Once you have him in your life, you have the peace. It seems our choice to be peace bringers, to fight for peace in our lives, in our hearts. I find myself in this season of loudness because I have three boys ages 11, 6 and 4, and there literally is just no peace. Farmer Adam and I continually have to remind them they don't have to talk so loud (anyone else?). After reading this, I feel compelled to great my children with this same greeting that came for Paul to Ephesus---PEACE to you. Paul didn't lead with peace though, he lead with GRACE my next favorite word to strive towards. Two super powerful words in one sentence. You'd think a fourteen word sentence wouldn't be so very powerful but it is. Grace and peace is how their teacher greeted them. Paul made it into the Bible, he may know a thing to two. So, let's allow ourselves to learn from the wise here and focus our days with grace and peace. It's there in us, we can fight for it, we can give it out. We must choose to breathe in and out these two words in our days. You can reinforce peace and learn about grace in the pages of the Bible. You can also gain a great sense of peace from creating a prayer relationship with God. These two things are great starting points for us. So may I challenge you to greet yourself with grace and peace each day for the remainder of our week. Greeting yourself with God's grace and peace just may overflow into your love relationship with him and those around you!
- Take a breath in the morning a say either out loud or in your brain "grace and peace". As life piles on throughout your day make this your mantra to breathe in and out grace and peace.
- Make it a point to meet with God each day in word and prayer. It will provide a peace that nothing else can. Don't know where to start? 1 John or Ephesians is a great place for us this week. Also, add in some Psalms in there. I can't wait to hear how this helps you to stay centered in God's grace and peace!