July 9, 2015 … Oh How We Need His Grace!!

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2015 - Day 190

Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of the group, Phillips, Craig, and Dean, singing their songYour Grace Still Amazes Me, with a prayer of thanks and amazement as to the grace of Christ offered to any/all of us if we’re willing to humbly receive it and even more to share it with others.

Highlight Passage Ephesians 2: 8-10 [NKJV] … 
8 For BY grace you have been saved THROUGH faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus UNTO [i.e., “for”] good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
… Saved BY God’s grace THRU our faith UNTO good works …
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Highlight Context - Ephesians 2: 1-10 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… God’s grace saves us and then sanctifies us …
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Reference Passage #1 - Ecclesiastes 10: 12 [NKJV] … 
12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, … But the lips of a fool shall swallow him up; …
… What we say expresses God’s grace - or NOT !! [see also Eph. 4: 29]

Reference Passage #2 - Philippians 2: 3-11 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
... When we humble ourselves to serve others, as Christ did for us, we extend His grace to others.

Reference Passage #3 - Colossians 3: 16-17 [NKJV] … 
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. 
… And what we do expresses God’s grace … or NOT !!

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Cindy Hess Kasper, used an illustrative story about a powerful US Army General who was, in his dress uniform, mistaken at a Washington dinner for a waiter by a White House staffer. The staffer exhorted the General to get her a beverage, which the General cheerfully did, embarrassing the staffer when she realized her mistake. But the General, rather than becoming haughty or demanding had simply been gracious, being willing to serve the staffer.

 It’s a good story and word picture, illustrating how we should humble ourselves as did Christ for us [see Philippians 2: 5-11], being willing to serve others rather than being demanding or controlling. When we choose to exalt others over self, Christ can share His grace, through our faith in Him, to others; and we glorify Him in the process.

 So, in every thing we think, say, and do today, let us share God’s grace with others and receive it from Him as well.

My Prayer Today: Oh Lord, … We, … who have Your Spirit planted in our hearts, desire to serve You by giving out YOUR grace to others. Amen

Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.