Grace and Peace

Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:2 AMP.

There are people who claim that they had a life changing experience. So the people around them look for evidence of change and see nothing. They behave the same way; they say the same things; they go to the same places; they interact with the same people. Change requires a difference. It’s obvious that some things will remain the same. Your features will not change but your behavior, that is, the things you do must change in some way.

The Apostle Paul had a life changing experience after the death of Stephen and his behavior changed. He no longer went looking to stamp out the message he considered false; his encounter with Jesus Christ changed his life and changed his message. So he was going on missionary trips telling the Gentile world about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. That change brought some hardship into his life.  He experienced hardship on his second missionary journey. He went to Philippi, a city in Greece. This city was conquered by Phillip ll of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great and they named the city after him..

On his trip to Philippi, Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into jail; that episode in their lives gave birth to the church there. But now, Paul is in jail and he is writing this letter to the Philippian Church. He greets them with his usual greeting: grace and peace. Why did he choose this greeting? Well, we experienced grace and peace from God. You see God made peace with us through the blood of Jesus Christ and He did it by grace. Ephesians 2:8 NLT says, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” So God’s grace is necessary for salvation..

What does grace and peace mean in your everyday life? Well there is always the opportunity to enjoy more grace and more peace. 2 Peter 3:18 tells us, “Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Now when something grows it becomes larger. When the Apostle Peter greeted the church in 1Peter 1:2 NKJV he said, “Grace to you and peace be multiplied.” When life gets tough, we have the opportunity to experience peace in a larger capacity because God’s peace can increase in our lives. So today I pray God’s grace and peace for you through your hurt and pain. May His peace be multiplied in your life.

Thought for Today: Friend, God gives peace liberally.

Have a blessed day and walk in victory.