JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Key Element for Thriving Relationships is grace.
We can be useful instruments of God’s redemptive plan as His grace flows through us in our relationships. Here is how:
Grace can flow through us in a friendly greeting. The Bible is filled with greetings extending the grace and peace of God to someone else.
Grace can flow through our generous spirit. Second Corinthians 8:7 challenges us to excel in the grace of giving.
Grace also flows through acts of service. First Peter 4:10 instructs us to use whatever gift we have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
God also works through our gracious conversation to be voices that reconcile people to God and build meaningful relationships.
Grace is a key element for thriving relationships that honor God.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Word of Encouragement is “Pray.”
Author Ray Stedman has said that when you take the whole range of Bible teaching on the subject of prayer, you will find that prayer is simply conversing with God. As the famous hymn declares, “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!”
Jesus taught us to how to pray in Matthew chapter 6, verse 9.
“Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread,
And forgive us our debts and we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Find encouragement in prayer to the God who made us and loves us in the Year of Endurance.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
JOHN SHIRK – from Colossians 4:5 and 6.
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Jesus once said that His followers were the salt of the earth, which indicates that we are called to flavor this world with the Gospel. One way that God helps us to do that is through our speech. When our words are full of grace, our witness reflects God’s love.
God’s grace is evident not only in the words we choose to say, but also how we choose to say them. A tone of gentleness and respect serves to build connections. When we hear of life challenges that someone is facing, we can offer to pray with them or remember them in our prayer time alone with God.
As we come into contact with unbelievers in our schools, our workplaces, and in other venues, God’s Word challenges us to look for those opportunities to share the Good News of God’s love with words of grace.
Conversation filled with grace is a vital sign of a changed life in the Year of Transformation.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
