T H U R S D A Y
put this man on his donkey and sent him to the hotel to enable him to begin a new start in his life.
Three: Love and Mercy. Here it can be said that love is a fruit of God’ s character. It acts out of God’ s deep affection for man. Mercy, however, acts out of need. Love therefore is constant and mercy is given on an“ as-you-need-it-basis”. Love is therefore the source of mercy. Without love there can be no mercy.
Four: Love and Grace. Grace is the expression of love and it generally comes in the form of a) A gift- Ephesians 2 v 8 says,“ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God …” b) An invitation – It is the grace of God that invites us into a relationship with Him. Jesus spoke a parable( Matthew 22) of a king preparing for a wedding. Those who were originally invited declined for various reasons, so the king sent out an invitation to all those who would be considered to be undeserving. This is what grace does. Despite our‘ undeservedness’ we get to be invited to the wedding feast of the King.
It is very important that we understand the difference between these words and I hope that this word study will have been helpful to you. Won’ t you take some time to ponder it again and see afresh the beauty and the depth of God’ s absolute love as it takes on its relative form as it relates to mankind. Read again, if you will, Ephesians 2 v 1 – 10 with particular emphasis on seeing the very specific use of the words that we have spoken about today.
Prayer Thought: As you pray today, won’ t you specifically meditate on the four words that we have looked at in this devotional. Take time to relate them to yourself personally and spend time thanking God once again for the magnitude of his amazing grace.
T H U R S D A Y
Mark 10 v 17 – 31
Today I would like to make the point that life without grace is meaningless and that within every human being born is the Desire for Grace.
I believe it is true to say that this subconscious desire for grace is what leads people into a life long journey of trial and error until this seemingly elusive grace is found. Some, on their journey, will try alcohol, drugs, unnecessary relationships and passionate endeavours. Others, in their journey, may go the“ religious route” with rituals, self-discipline and legalism, but at the end of the day for those who find it, they find out that it is a gift. Those who have received the gift of grace acknowledge that“ you’ ll only know you’ ve got it when you get it” – until then the search continues.
In the reading above Jesus was confronted by a young man on the journey just described; he tried everything from chasing after power and possessions only to come