1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 1 - 2 says this;
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul greeted His beloved Son in the faith with the blessing that he would receive grace, mercy and peace from both God the Father and from Jesus our Lord.
This blessing summarizes the primal needs of any Christian walking out their faith in Jesus.
To have grace is to have the freedom to draw near to God even when we are not perfect. Grace provides the buffering that we imperfect people need in order to approach our Holy God and commune with Him especially during the time we are growing in the Spirit into maturity as we are made closer and closer to the image of our Lord Jesus.
To receive mercy is to have the compassion of God afforded to us so that even when we commit serious errors and wreck things in our lives and fall into lack and desperation, the mercy of the Lord our God provides for our restoration to Him and the cleansing of our sins and setting us back on our feet when we stumble.
To recieve peace from God is to have the stormy sea of our hearts calmed and made still. In this indescribable peace, we who believe in Jesus find the quiet space to listen for the still, small voice of our Lord when He calls on us and speaks.
Grace, mercy and peace. Let us bless our Lord and God who gives us these priceless gifts by which we can step up to gain more of our awesome God who in Genesis 1 verse 21, made the great sea monsters.
Amen.
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