Another sunrise beautifully captured by Eileen DeCamp at Seabrook Island, S.C. |
The
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the
Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14
Paul spoke this benediction to the believers at Corinth and
his inspired words still bless those of us who believe today. I’ve been meditating on the words he chose—grace,
love, fellowship—to grasp his meaning and their power.
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ…”
For by His grace, we are saved. His grace. His undeserved favor. Paul wanted believers to
take full advantage of all the benefits that Christ purchased by His blood on
the cross. He asked the believers in
Corinth,
Do
you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? 2 Corinthians 13:5b
As Christ now lives by the power of God, so must we live by
that power. His grace is sufficient.
“And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit…”
Fellowship is friendship and companionship. How wonderful that our Lord Jesus Christ did
not abandon us when His time on earth was fulfilled. He promised
I
will not leave you comfortless. John14:18
And
I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you
for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive…for he dwells
with you, and will be in you. John14:16, 17a
What a blessing we have received—the indwelling Holy Spirit
of God.
“And the love of God…”
I’ve saved the best for last. God IS
love. (1 John 4:8) May the love of God be with you.
Here is a quote from Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary of
the Whole Bible:
None of
our words or thoughts can do justice to the free, astonishing love of a holy
God towards sinners, who could not profit or harm him, whom he might justly
crush in a moment, and whose deserving of his vengeance was shown in the method
by which they were saved, though he could by his almighty Word have created
other worlds, with more perfect beings,
if he had seen fit. Search we the whole universe for love in its most glorious
displays? It is to be found in the
person and the cross of Christ.
For those of us who call Jesus Lord, the kingdom of God
reigns in our hearts. What more could we
ever want or need?
So I leave you with
Paul’s blessing today and another awesome picture by my friend Eileen DeCamp. Be blessed.
Sunset at Seabrook Island, SC ~ courtesy of Eileen DeCamp |
Thank you all so much for visiting Write Moments with God. I am honored by your presence.
Thanks to everyone who participated in last week's FREE BOOK GIVE-AWAY. Join me the first Monday of every month to meet Christian authors and participate in our drawing.
NOW, to announce the WINNER of a signed copy of Rebecca Waters new novel, Breathing on Her Own:
Congratulations to Jennifer Brommet. I hope you'll enjoy it Jennifer and thanks so much for participating.
"And also with you" Rose! Every Sunday 2 Corinthians 13:14 is the opening greeting at Mass and I have always loved it! Thanks for your beautiful blog today and also for sharing my photos of Seabrook!
ReplyDeleteAh, how wonderful, Eileen. There's unity in the Holy Spirit. Your photos beautifully illustrate God's wonderful world. You're very kind to allow me to use them on this blog.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post. I appreciated reading these words today.
ReplyDeleteWOW!! THANK YOU Rose and Rebecca! I am excited to read your book Rebecca and let others know about it as well. Today's blog was so encouraging. Thank you Rose for imparting God's truth through His Word and the insights He has given you. May the Lord shower you with blessings as you continue to serve Him with such grace, love and joy!
ReplyDelete