In this first week of 2017, I am still thinking about all the effort everyone makes with gift giving at Christmas time. There is so much shopping, so many excessive bills created, so many cardboard boxes to throw away, and so much shredded wrapping paper. Many of the gifts go unused, hidden away in closets, returned, or even some broken within weeks. Often, we are not even told we got it wrong, which means no second chance this year to give that one gift our loved ones will love forever.
The important thing to remember about gift giving and Christmas, is that we do have a God of second chances. He never gets it wrong. When God sent His Son to die on the cross to save us He gave us the greatest gift of all - one that cannot be returned once accepted. He gave us the gift of grace.
With this gift, we may become broken in tribulation, but God is always with us. We may once again sin because of our sin nature, but God's grace forgives. The amazing thing about His gift is that, because we are His children, we are motivated to serve Him.
In considering the gift of grace I came up with the following acronym.
G -race - gift of eternal life to those who believe in Jesus and His death on the cross for us
I -nheritance -gift of abundance of God's blessings and His promises
F- aith - gift of peace and comfort by believing in God and His Word
T- hankful- gift of peace and joy, knowing God's love surrounds us daily.
In my reading of today's devotional in In Touch, the writer gives Romans 5:2 and makes a quote which I would like to share: "Through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God."
The writer states, "This is no puddle of mercy that barely wets the toes, but rather a mighty ocean."
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