We Do Need Friends
Friends are essential. They provide comfort, encouragement, and strength.
The word grace is a short, simple word. But understanding the biblical depth and meaning of grace can take a lifetime of study and application. It's almost a shame that a word describing suppleness of movement or a short, quick prayer before a meal is the same word we use to describe God's unfathomable love for sinners. Nevertheless, it is grace that moves Him to offer us the free gift of salvation and forgiveness.
Grace is what compelled the Apostle Paul to write of a mystery never understood before (1 Corinthians 2:7-13). Grace is also what allows us to relax into another's accepting embrace as he or she gives us the freedom to discover our unique journey laid out by God. So relax as we journey together down the path toward freedom and the wonderment of the surpassing riches of God's grace!
Friends are essential. They provide comfort, encouragement, and strength.
It’s easy to stay inside our comfort zones but reaching out to our neighbours is what the Christian life is all about. It’s what we’re called to do.
Life is all about relating to others in love, forgiveness, and grace. We need each other.
Through the months leading to Christmas we are busily about our stuff—doing business, travelling, and engaged in the give and take of life. And then Christmas hits and the zoom lenses of our minds focus on the outstretched arms of the One who saved us.
God has wired us to find comfort, security, and identity in the familiar, the routine, our customs and traditions. Losing them or changing them can throw us off balance and that’s uncomfortable.
God’s faithfulness is unconditional, unending, and unswerving. Even in the face of death. He is the eternal I AM, the sovereign Lord of the universe. And you can trust Him with your very life.
Death is inevitable, but even death can’t threaten God’s ultimate protection over our lives. We can trust God to protect us from now till the dawning of eternity.
Christians since the first century have been tempted to trade grace for a life directed by strict law and high-minded requirement. The Apostle Paul addressed the Galatian church on this very issue, warning them against trading God’s Gospel for a different, human-made gospel. As we hear the word to the Galatians, keeping our message grounded in grace will help our lives exude grace.
A wandering mind drove King David to distraction and became more than he could bear. But his multiple sins refused to stay silent. No struggle is more relentless than sin…especially unconfessed sin. Let’s take a close look at David’s response to his sin and gain some insight for our own lives about God’s blessed gift of forgiveness.
God lavishes his grace on us and there’s nothing we can do to pay Him back. Admit your need for God and claim His free gift of grace today.