Day 22 - 40 Days of HOPE
Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days of HOPE
Day 22 | GRACE AND HOPE
40 Days of HOPE
Day 22 | GRACE AND HOPE
GRACE AND HOPE
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.” (NLT)
Have you ever received a lovely gift at a time you didn’t expect it? Not on your birthday or anniversary or Christmas, but some other day?
Why did you receive that gift? How did you like it? Were you surprised? Was it, in some ways, more exciting than a gift at a more expected time? My guess… it was.
GRACE is an interesting – and essential – word. It’s something that our heavenly Father loves to do for His children: show us His grace.
Grace means – in short – God giving us something we don’t deserve. A gift out of LOVE. The typical church definition of “GRACE” – using the letters of the word grace – is “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.” And so, we do… enjoy God’s riches via the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
These verses tell us that we have “eternal comfort” and a “wonderful hope” BECAUSE of God’s love and grace towards us. And indeed, He does love us. That fundamental verse says:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).
Now, WHO else has ever loved you (or me) that much? We didn’t ask for it, we didn’t pray for it, yet we desperately needed it. It was the ONLY way – through Christ’s death on the cross – that we could have a way to be cleansed and born-again!
What wonderful GRACE. What eternal comfort. What wonderful hope!
Prayer: LORD, You are amazing, kind, loving, generous, full of grace, and SO MUCH MORE. Thank You that You made way for me to be one of Your children. Amen.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.” (NLT)
Have you ever received a lovely gift at a time you didn’t expect it? Not on your birthday or anniversary or Christmas, but some other day?
Why did you receive that gift? How did you like it? Were you surprised? Was it, in some ways, more exciting than a gift at a more expected time? My guess… it was.
GRACE is an interesting – and essential – word. It’s something that our heavenly Father loves to do for His children: show us His grace.
Grace means – in short – God giving us something we don’t deserve. A gift out of LOVE. The typical church definition of “GRACE” – using the letters of the word grace – is “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.” And so, we do… enjoy God’s riches via the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
These verses tell us that we have “eternal comfort” and a “wonderful hope” BECAUSE of God’s love and grace towards us. And indeed, He does love us. That fundamental verse says:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).
Now, WHO else has ever loved you (or me) that much? We didn’t ask for it, we didn’t pray for it, yet we desperately needed it. It was the ONLY way – through Christ’s death on the cross – that we could have a way to be cleansed and born-again!
What wonderful GRACE. What eternal comfort. What wonderful hope!
Prayer: LORD, You are amazing, kind, loving, generous, full of grace, and SO MUCH MORE. Thank You that You made way for me to be one of Your children. Amen.