Grace To You and Peace From God

Philemon 3

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

So often, when reading the letters Paul writes, we overlook this line. We figure that to whom he is addressing or his way of saying hello or his repetitious blessing is not as important as the message that he delivers. This could not be further from the truth family. This blessing is a constant reminder of what God offers us. That God offers us grace, just constant blessings upon us, He wants to bless us. He has redeemed us and how much of a blessing is that!??! It is more than we could ever fully imagine. We have been blessed beyond comprehension. “Every good and perfect gift comes from above” (James 1:17) and we have been given so much, regardless of if you are in a time of financial difficulty, or if things are rough right now, or if you are in a spiritual drought, you have been blessed even in that. God is keeping you in His hand and keeping things from getting worse to the point that you can’t bear it. God is still holding you. So often, I will forget this. I don’t think that God always has me in His hands and even when it hurts I am still blessed beyond belief because I have God who loves and cares for me. I am blessed because I have hope. I am blessed because I am not alone. I am blessed because He loved me enough to die for you and I family. He blesses me by holding back more than I can bear. He blesses me by allowing me to go through hard times, even if it is not what I desire. He blesses me by making me strong in Him. He blesses me by calling me His child when all I have done in my past was spit in His face and act in hatred and rebellion towards Him. He blesses me because I have the promise of eternity in my future even though I did nothing to deserve it. I am blessed because no matter what the circumstance, I can have peace from Him that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7). Who needs knowledge and understanding when you can have peace beyond what you can ever understand? When things are falling apart, though I commonly ask “why” I need to be asking for His peace and to draw towards Him because all things will work out for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). It might not get better on earth, but it will get much much better in heaven with the King. That is my hope. Not that I prosper and have a good life here, but that I can spend eternity with my King in paradise! Now that is hope! That is the hope of the redeemed that WILL become reality someday. Life is short. It will end. But eternity will never stop. This life will be like a blink in the grand scope of eternity. I can’t even begin to fathom eternity, but it is real and it will come and heaven and hell do exist and we will be in one of those two place and this life is the crossroads of where we must make a choice. God and truth and peace and grace and mercy and love or death and lies and misery and emptiness and fleeting pleasure that never will stay. I choose Life and life more abundant. What about you family? 

Blessings