"My greatest thrill in studying the Scripture is that God always reveals Himself to us! I especially enjoy word studies. Often the original definition of a word will open up the meaning of a whole passage or story. One of my greatest joys is teaching the Bible. The Bible never gets tiring, the more I learn about the background of the Bible, the clearer it becomes. I do pray that God would always enable me to be a student of the Word." Ginnie Lunt

GRACE AND PEACE
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 2:1 NIV

Paul’s most common greeting to his beloved churches was “grace and peace to you” in one form or another. It was a common greeting in the first century but Paul brought it to a new level adding a spiritual dimension to these already gracious words. Of all the one hundred and twenty two references to grace found in the New Testament, eighty five find their way into Paul’s epistles. In fact Paul uses the word grace more times that did all the Old Testament writers together. Paul had received God’s grace; God’s favor. He, himself; the “least of all the saints”, (Ephesians 3:8) was given the grace to be able to preach to the Gentile nations. He never forgot the depth of his persecution of the Church, of those he led to death and imprisonment for the sake of Jesus Christ. Nor did he ever take lightly the forgiveness of his many sins.

A good friend married an inmate she had met when she was part of a prison ministry team. To all outward appearances the marriage was a disaster. After being released from prison, my friend’s husband went back to his heroin addiction. He was mean spirited and from time to time would steal her disability check to satisfy his habit. It got worse, he developed AIDS. He was attending a good church where he received the ministry of the body of Christ. She was committed to the marriage and truly loved him. However, because she was in danger of losing her apartment, the day came when she insisted that he move out until he could give up the drugs. One cold New England winter he found himself shivering as he tried to sleep in a car. Finally, he heard the voice of God recounting the blessing of having a wife who loved him and a pastor who was on his side. He did turn away from his sin and was reunited with his wife. We watched God refine his character even as he grew weaker from his illness. His funeral was a testimony to two things: the power of God’s saving grace and the power of grace poured out from God’s people. I learned much from my friend about extending grace to another human being. The result being that a life was saved from destruction.

When we receive grace we receive something that we don’t deserve. Grace is an outright gift, in fact the Greek word for grace is actually the root of the word, gift.
We find ourselves knowing the benefit of forgiveness when we deserve to be condemned. We stand before the judge and hear him say, “Not guilty” because the blood of His Son, Jesus, has paid the debt for our sin. But this grace is not for our benefit alone, but for those who touch our lives. “For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.” (2Cor 1:5) There are many opportunities around us to pour out grace to those in need. I have experienced the grace of God as he made sense of the death of a child. Many times I have had the honor of speaking with a bereaved mother sharing how God was able to help me see His perspective of a life shortened by an early death.
Take some time today and recount the benefits of knowing Jesus. The result will be an overflow that will bless someone who is much in need of grace.

Do You Know Jesus?