Mercy & Grace
Terrible, rotten, no good day!! Have you ever had one of those days? Well, yesterday was one of those days for me. Started with text messages before I even got out of bed, that just set the tone for my entire day. Then to step on the scale and it went the wrong direction.. such a love, hate relationship with that bathroom scale! It was one of those days where everyone and everything just irritated me to no end. I am certain I am alone in this, where it feels like the real me leaves my body and some mean, irritable woman takes over!
I am a Christian these days aren't supposed to happen to me.. well, think again sister! The bible says in Ephesians 6:12 "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." So it isn't our husbands, boyfriends, or best friends or even our children we are really angry with, its the powers of the dark, the darn devil. Every minute the enemy can get us off our game is a good day for him and a terrible, rotten, no good day for us! Hold, on girls, there is hope..
You see Jesus came to give us life, a good life, John 10:10 says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." Now in my bible, those words are in red, which means those are the words of Jesus. So, Jesus knew we were going to have trouble here on earth, but also wanted us to know we have hope because He came to give us an abundant life. Yes, we are going to have days when our heads spin and we act very unChristian-like, maybe even stomp our feet and raise our voices and probably eat too much chocolate (not that too much chocolate is un-Christian!) The good news is, then comes mercy and grace.
You see our Heavenly Father, the one who came to give us an abundant life, He also has an abundant amount of mercy and grace. His word promises, in Psalms 86:15 "But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." No matter how bad our terrible, rotten, no good day was, Jesus will wipe it all away and He offers us steadfast love, mercy, and grace. So a clean slate to start the morning fresh. Ladies, do not beat yourselves up for having a bad day. Pick yourself up, brush yourself off, ask Jesus to forgive you for any ugliness that may have happened the day before and accept his mercy, grace, and love.
Jesus, we thank you for your steadfast love, your mercy, and grace. We thank you for loving us even when we do not act lovely. Help us, Jesus, to fight against the powers of the dark with your strength. Help us to be easy on ourselves and to trust in you, Jesus.