Grace

Every Day with God
 
Welcome to March! This month we'll be looking at a number of passages from a devotional book entitled New Morning Mercies*. Join us as we read from the Bible and consider gospel teachings from pastor and author Paul Tripp.

Read Ephesians 3:14-21
In this short passage, Paul speaks to the Ephesian church reminding them of their new life in Christ. No longer children without purpose, these believers were to grow up in Christ and produce change in both their hearts and their actions. Their lives were no longer to be futile and insensitive to spiritual truth, but rather filled with purpose and grace for one another. But unfortunately, we often fail to offer grace to strangers, to our friends, and especially to our family members.
 
Paul Tripp proposes a potential reason for our lack of grace toward others: "Maybe one of the biggest sins in our relationships with one another is the sin of forgetting. I wish I could say that this is not my problem, but it is. It is so easy to forget how profound your need of grace is and is equally easy to forget the amazing grace that has been freely showered upon you. And when you forget the grace that you've been given, it becomes very easy to respond to the people around you with non-grace.
 
For the believer, harsh, critical, impatient and irritated responses to others are always connected to forgetting or denying who we are and what we have been given in Jesus. Because we forget so quickly, because we fall into believing that we are deserving and because we tend to think that we are more righteous than we actually are, we all need to be given grace right at the very moment when we are called to be a tool of grace in the life of another. The God of grace is working his grace into everyone in the room."
 
Questions for reflection-

+ Paul Tripp mentioned our tendency to be harsh, critical, impatient and easily irritated. With whom do you most often fail to show grace?
+ What helps you remember the amazing grace God has bestowed on you?
 

*New Morning Mercies by Paul Tripp.                          
365 devotional readings with a compelling gospel-centered thought, followed by an extended meditation for the day. Focused less on behavior modification and more on helping people encounter the living God, this resource equips readers with the good news that they need to trust in God’s goodness, rely on his grace, and live for his glory—day in and day out.
 
Available on Amazon and also in the NorthPoint bookstore.
ISBN: 978-1-1-4335-4138-4
Linda Miller | Ministry Development