One afternoon when my youngest was little and in need of discipline, I brought her upstairs to my room and felt convicted to extend grace to her instead of discipline and I said, “Gwendolyn, what you did is wrong but mommy is going to extend grace to you and let you play and move on with your day. She melted into my arms with relief. I prayed over her and off she went completely at peace. For the next hour or so, I noticed that she was sitting in a chair in our entryway looking as if she were waiting for something. So I asked her what she was doing and she said, “I am waiting for Grace to come over. You said you were giving grace to me and so I am waiting.” She thought the grace I was talking about was Grace, the girl across the street. This sparked a precious talk about the grace of God.

Paul and Timothy give a blessing of grace and peace in their greeting. In fact, in most of Paul’s letters, he includes this blessing of grace and peace…always in that order. Why?
Grace is “that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness.” When we experience God’s grace which is the gift of faith in the person of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, peace comes. We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and He kindly takes us in His arms and says, “I am going to extend grace to you.” When this happens, we can’t help but respond in faith and in that moment guess what comes? Peace.

Are you still waiting for grace to come over like my Gwendolyn? Well, stop waiting. He has come. Since He has come, may grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be upon you today.

Blessings to you.