In pondering what should be written for you today, I have come to the conclusion that my mind is cluttered with the needs of the gift shop that I manage here in this retirement village, and all the music that needs to be practiced and memorized. Whoa….has my precious time with God been pushed aside because of “busyness”? Forgive me Lord. I am so thankful, not just at this season of thankfulness, but every moment of every day for Your unfailing Grace!
What better gift of life words could I give you than the words from the Book of Life? So glean strength from these words of encouragement.
Romans 5 We have been made right with God because of our faith. So we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through our faith, Christ has brought us into that blessing of God’s grace that we know enjoy. And we are happy because of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory. And we also have joy with our troubles because we know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces character, and character produces hope. And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts God gave us His love through the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to us.
Christ died for us while we were yet sinners and weak. We were living against God, but at the right time, Christ died for us. Very few people will die to save the life of someone else. But Christ died for us while we were still sinners. In this way God shows His great love for us.
Sin came into this world because of what one man (Adam) did. And with sin came death. And this is why all men must die …. because one man sinned against God. But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.
Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.
God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”