Wednesday's Writing......9/6/17

Good Morning,

Today's Writing is titled, Given Grace."  We often think about grace as a gift of God which it is. Through out acceptance of the once for all sacrifice of Jesus we are made sufficiently righteous to spend eternity with Him in paradise.

However, it can also be a gift from us to another person. This is the kind of grace that the author is writing about today. Whenever we do not condemn or become angry with another for a mistake made unknowingly that inconveniences us or is hurtful, we are following the example that God shows us every day. One is salvation grace and the other is human grace that can be given in-spite of our missteps. In this devotional there was an important duty to do that was forgotten and caused expense to the business she and her husband own. He never condemned her or acted in any way that would be hurtful. He just dealt with the problem as he could and assured her not to worry. The author wrote, "How blessed we are that the Lord “covers” us in our failings. How loved we are to be given such grace. The Bible describes grace as “God’s unmerited favor”. That means that there is nothing that we could ever do that would cause us to deserve it in any way. Nothing. Ever!" This is the kind of Grace that her husband gave to her.

Be blessed by God's grace and pass onto another person that kind of Grace today,

Beverley and Corinne

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Wednesday Devotional
Written by
Beverley A.Napier 
"Given Grace"

“(All) are justified and made upright 
and in right standing with God,

 freely and gratuitously by His grace, 
(His unmerited favor and mercy)
through the redemption 
which is (provided) in Christ Jesus”.

Romans 3:24

 (Amp)

For those of you who don’t know, my Husband and I own an Auto Repair Shop. I am the Office Manager and have a whole list of responsibilities, but most of it has to do with paperwork, of which there is a lot of. I deal with all of the payroll, payroll taxes, license renewal fees, quarterly taxes, accounts receivable, etc.

We have two Smog Machines which are licensed by the State of California. The license renewal date for these two machines was October 31. Well, I had known they were there, I had received them about a month and a half in advance. So, I filed them, and then I forgot about them. Somehow they managed to get further and further back as I began to file the more recent bills in front of them.

To make a long story short, I paid them late. Four days later both of our Smog Machines were shut down by the State of California. Due to a Holiday, the mail, with my renewal check, hadn’t gotten there in time. We were locked out of both machines for four days. This meant that our Smog Technician could not perform smog tests for any of our customers, which promptly led to a “piling up” of cars in the yard. 

What a mess that one mistake caused. The one thing I have never wanted to do was to put added stress on my Husband. Well, I did. He was the one who had to listen to the customers complain when they called up and asked to speak directly to him. He was the one who had to go into work early on the day that the machines were finally up and running again. He was the one who carried the whole responsibility of my mistake on his shoulders.

What stood out to me is this. He was also the one who continued to tell me that “It’s okay, Beverley, mistakes happen.” For four days I kept waiting to hear him blame me in some way, but he never did. What he did do though, was to show me grace. He never humiliated me. He never yelled at me. He never even changed his behavior towards me. In fact, I heard him on several occasions “cover” me while talking to others, when he could have exposed the fact that it was my mistake that had caused this whole mess.

How humbled I was, and still am, by his Godly behavior. Now, I know that my husband is a very good man, but honestly, I was so humbled. I have thought about it since then and I don’t know how I would have responded if I had been in his place. I don’t think that I would have handled it as well at all. In fact, quite honestly, I know that I wouldn’t have. But now that I have been the recipient of that kind of grace and “covering” I know that I would love to treat others the same. I guess the hardest part for me was to know that I deserved the blame! It would’ve been easier in some ways to have just been yelled at and gotten it over with.

This all leads me to thoughts of being thankful. How blessed we are that the Lord “covers” us in our failings. How loved we are to be given such grace. The Bible describes grace as “God’s unmerited favor”. That means that there is nothing that we could ever do that would cause us to deserve it in any way. Nothing. Ever!

Yet, we still remain the objects of His love and “unmerited favor”. At times, I just can’t fathom the meaning of all of this. I know that the Lord gives us this kind of grace, and then He expects us to give it to others just as freely. I have to admit, at times I have been known to be quite “stingy” with it. At times I have judged, instead of “covering” others in their weaknesses, or mistakes. I have behaved with a “holier than thou” type of attitude. I have withheld my kindness and acceptance in the very place that grace was calling out to be given inside of me instead.

Lord Jesus, thank you today for your grace. Thank you that You died for us, while we were yet sinners. Thank you that you loved us first, in order that we would love ourselves, and others. Thank you for the grace that you show us, and also for the grace that others give to us as well. When people behave as my Husband did, they are behaving as You do. Thank you for teaching us to be thankful during this season, and for walking beside us in each and every other season of our lives. Please teach us to be more like You,                                                                     we pray. In Your Name, Amen.

In closing, I’d like to leave you with the following verse. It has been on my mind and in my heart ever since all of this has happened. 

Written by Beverley A. Napier

Matthew West 

singing 

"Grace Wins"

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Here is an uplifting graphic

for you to think about.

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Prayers are lifted up daily for you
by the Staff Writers of 

Women's Focus Ministry

  Jan Andersen,  Cathy Friberg,  Sandy Billingham, 

Beverley Napier, Shelly Keith, 

Brother Thomas Ukwute, Jody Ward,  Karen Bennett, 

Carol Steficek, Amie Spruiell, and  Corinne Mustafa

Occasional Contributors
Kathy Bireley,  Lynda Kinnard, Mary M. Wilkins,

Terri Baker, Beverley Napier, Kelly Dobyns

Glenna Williamson, Lisabeth  Lipp, Nandita Bhatnagar