{"id":24421,"date":"2021-03-17T12:37:34","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T17:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/?p=24421"},"modified":"2021-03-17T12:37:36","modified_gmt":"2021-03-17T17:37:36","slug":"through-his-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/through-his-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"Through His Grace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

17 March 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through His Grace                                                                         <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading:<\/strong> Ephesians 2: 1-10<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scripture:<\/strong>  \u201cBut God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved .\u201d (Ephesians 2:4-5)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflection:<\/strong> Paul, in speaking to the people of Ephesus tells of God\u2019s grace, in spite of man\u2019s sinful nature. How have things changed for us? In the text, Paul reminds us that we were lost in and to sin and uses verses 4 and 5 to focus on the message that, because of His grace, He has made us alive in Christ and provides the possibility of redemption when we sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the world in which we live, there is a prevalence of greed-driven selfishness and not enough genuine caring for each other. Human lives and feelings are expendable and all that matters, therefore, is what will help us as individuals to move ahead. In this setting, there is the very great probability that we could find ourselves offended and mistreated by others. How then do you respond when you experience repeated acts of misbehaviour and misconduct towards you, or, when you are wronged? How readily and how often do you forgive? Does forgiving seventy times seven times come easily to you, or are you likely to be in the placard-bearing crowd shouting ,\u201cWe want justice\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your answer, whatever it is, is not likely to come near to the depth and breadth of God\u2019s grace and mercy which manifests in His ability to forgive us every time we repent and cry out to Him. He holds no record of our wrongs\/sins. Yet, the answers to the questions above could point you to an area in your Christian life and character that may need some attention.  Forgiveness we are told is liberating for the forgiver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we journey in yet another Lenten season in the pandemic where millions have been affected worldwide, let us reflect on the fact that it is only by God\u2019s grace that we are still alive.  Let us seek the discernment to identify His purpose for us and let us resolve to consciously spend more time in strengthening our personal relationship with Him and working on those areas that we know require His forgiveness.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meditation:<\/strong> Think of how much more happiness and inner peace you could enjoy if you were able to forgive more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prayer:<\/strong> O Lord our God, we thank You for Your grace so freely given, help us to keep our eyes forever fixed on You so we may share Your love with others and live lives that are pleasing to You.  Amen.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The St. Jude\u2019s Writers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. Jude\u2019s Church<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stony Hill<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anglican Diocese of Jamaica and The Cayman Islands<\/p>\n\n\n\n

17 March 2021<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

17 March 2021 Through His Grace                                                                          Reading: Ephesians 2: 1-10 Scripture:  \u201cBut God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved .\u201d (Ephesians 2:4-5) Reflection: Paul, in speaking…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":24288,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","ctfw-has-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/610"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24421"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24422,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24421\/revisions\/24422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}