"Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Corinthians 1:2
I have already written a devotional about this verse, not this exact verse, just these exact words. They bear repeating. Paul wrote them to everybody. In every letter he writes he uses these words. He sends them to the Romans, the Corinthians (2x) the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, The Thessalonians (2x), Timothy (2x), Titus and Philemon. I am not exaggerating. Literally, everyone he wrote to he said grace and peace to them from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Must have been important.
I have things I often say too. I say "in Him", (if you know me you know I do), all the time. I often say "many blessings!" Why? Because as Pastor I know it is vital for His sheep to be reminded of their blessings and the fact that Jesus lives in us, therefore we are in Him.
We repeat what is valuable and important. The lessons of my mother and father are the things they repeated over and over. It is how to teach. So, why can't we somehow infuse more truth from the Word of God into our spoken language and written words too? Slowly but surely all references to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are being eradicated from our communication. Even 'God bless you' is fading away. We should find ways to refer to our faith and Lord more directly than we do. I know Paul not only wrote these words, but He spoke them often too. We should incorporate what is most important to us into what we say commonly. Our church is not named Grace Harbor by whim or by accident. Grace is one of the hallmark messages of who we are.
I hope to hear words of encouragement and hope from His Word in our words more and more often.
Grace and Peace to all of you,
Pastor Fred
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And grace and peace to you, Pastor Fred. I can only imagine what it must be like to be in your position all day, every day. Not only do you have your own life and family to tend to, but you've also got all of ours when we bring to you our messes. I thank you for so willingly offering your time and services to our graceless and peaceless situations when we bring them before you. It's so often because of your God inspired guidance, instruction, and counsel that we are restored to grace and peace. I'm grateful that God picked you to lead us through difficult times. Grace and peace to YOU.
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