Daily Word of Grace # 157 (October 21, 2020)
One of the litmus tests of whether a relationship in your life is law-based or grace-based is how you write a text or email to that person. When you text or email them, do you make sure to proofread and double check to make sure there are no grammatical or spelling errors, make sure you are phrasing things a certain way so that they cannot be misinterpreted, make sure you use the right emoji or combination of emojis? Or are your texts or emails to that person more free-flowing and from the heart, without worry about grammar or spelling or emoji correctness? The first applies to law-based relationships and the second to grace-based relationships. Regardless of whether the human relationships in your life are law-based or grace-based, thankfully when it comes to God, your relationship is always grace-based. In Jesus Christ we have all received “grace upon grace” (John 1:16)—and it is solely by the grace of God that we have been saved (Ephesians 2:8). This is why the Apostle Paul was so focused on grace, as indicated by the fact that each and every one of his thirteen New Testament letters include his proclaiming grace to the recipients both near the beginning and end of each letter (no exceptions)—i.e., “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” (Philippians 1:2 and 4:23). Your prayers to God can therefore be free flowing and from your heart.
Love and Prayers,
Dave