Devotional thoughts tagged as: 'grace'
What is a Mature Faith?
If we have a lot of money or we want a lot of money then we need to ask for God's grace to give up our love of that money to the exclusion of using it to love and bless others.
If we do not have enough money or we are angry at those who have a lot, we need God's grace to overcome our lack of trust in God to provide and to overcome our anger which hurts only ourselves.
This does not mean we stop working to help the poor and the way to deal with economic disparity. What it does mean is we need to stop seeing people as oppressors or victims. After all, Jesus healed and saved both the rich and the poor. He did not favor one group over another. He was ruler of all people.
Why Be Baptized?
From the beginning of the church, at Pentecost, Peter issued an invitation to baptism, affirming the promise is for you, for your children and all who are far away. (Acts 2:39) In 1 Peter 1:1-9 we find God has given us a new birth into a living hope through Christ's resurrection. Therefore, our response should be one of love for Christ and belief in him. Note the theme of grace and faith in this passage.
Would it be fair to say that baptism is one outward sign of an inward and spiritual grace? Is there a connection between baptism and salvation?
Ingratitude — Taking Divine Grace for Granted
Ingratitude is a grave offense against God, and the closer to God we think we are, the more we are inclined to take divine grace for granted. Jesus makes this point in Luke 17:11-19. The psalmist continues to develop the theme by pointing out the possible problem with giving thanks. (see Psalm 106: 1-3)
The problem is this: humanity does not have sufficient words to praise God's goodness. So if we are not sincere in the expression of thanksgiving in our prayers to God, our voices may sound like a noisy gong or loud cymbal.