Good morning and happy Tuesday. Have you ever been pulled over in your car on a bright sunny beautiful day ? Then just as you thought the whole day was ruined you got a warning ticket. The officer showed you mercy. The beautiful day is grace from God. Neither one was deserved. Grace and mercy are very similar and not always understood in their proper definition. Mercy is more like judgement withheld that is deserved. Grace is unmerited love no matter the circumstance. People who are married and have issues in that marriage can see it this way. Not getting a divorce and splitting up the belongings and the money and all that goes with that would be in the light of mercy. Continuing to love the person for what ever the reason and wanting to love them with full forgiveness is grace. Which one do you find easier to give to others ? I've never in my life felt what real grace from a human is like. We learn in church about the grace of God. It's too big for me to wrap my head around really until now. I am the receiver of grace from another person and I am in total amazement of what this feels like. Because of human nature I find myself waiting for the other shoe to drop and the real and true feelings to arrive and give me a good swift kick in the head. It would be deserved too. But then that's not grace and that's not what I've been given. Now that I've received this, huge on a people scale, small amount of grace, compared to God's, I'm seeing the grace of God in a whole new light. I can really feel it now. The splendor of the whole world as a whole. The favor, for lack of a better word, that He has for us. The unwavering love of God is so immeasurable. This love is grace. We have to find this within ourselves to be able to fully understand it and be able to express it to one another. Imagine that world for a second. Even if we just put forth the effort without ever expecting anything from it, our own little slice of the world can change. Sometimes God is too big to get, and it takes a small little ole us to pass it along in a small little ole dose to someone so that it can be seen.

Mercy ends because judgement comes in time. Grace is what saves us from the punishment we deserve. I can never express my gratitude for what grace means to me now. I can thank God for exactly what it is and how much I'm unworthy of it but so thankful for it being poured out to me. Always try and show mercy in the same way you yourself receive it, but look for ways to extend grace to people. God's love can be seen in the sunrise; the stars in the sky; the smile on a newborns face. How good does that feel ? Pass this along to others. Tana, thank you. I love you so much. In love always. <><