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One of my coworkers here at Purpose Driven Ministries
slipped up and forgot to do something he promised me
he would do. It was important to me because I wanted
to make a change, and he was my last backup. But by
the time I got to him about it, the issue had diffused
somewhat and there was even reason to believe that the
end result might have been better without the change I
wanted. (It was one of those times you wonder if God
meant for him to forget. It is true that sometimes
God’s will incorporates our failures.) My friend
apologized profusely and I told him not to give it
another thought, that I was starting to even have
second thoughts about the change I asked him to carry
out. To which he replied, “Well, thanks for using your
Grace Card on me today.”
Grace Card. I like that. I had never heard that
before. He had never said that before. We laughed, and
then I thanked him for my next devotional idea! (Now
we have two positive things that came out of one
failure. Two for one… that’s not bad!)
Any relationship is going to require a Grace Card.
That’s because we are destined to fail each other over
and over again. We will fail because we are fallible,
and we will fail without even trying, because one’s
expectations are too high for the other to meet.
One of Christ’s disciples once asked Him how many
times he should forgive his brother, “Seven times?” he
suggested. That probably seemed like a lot to him.
“Try seventy times seven,” Jesus replied (Matthew
18:22 The Message).
Now I don’t think Jesus meant by this that we were to
literally count up all the times we have forgiven
someone and as soon as we get to 491, say “Okay,
that’s it. I’m not forgiving you anymore!” I think
what He meant was: if you’re going to put a number on
it, make sure it’s too big to keep track of.
Or better yet, how about a credit card with an
unlimited account? An account Jesus opened on the
cross? An account we can draw on as much as we need,
for ourselves, and for those who offend us, or sin
against us, or disappoint us, or let us down? You’ve
already got one if you’ve been to the cross. Why not
activate it today?
Grace Card. No relationship is possible without one.
Don’t leave home without it. (Don’t go home without
it, either. That’s probably where we need it the
most!)
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More Devotionals here
Jimmy's Safe Harbor
Jimmy's Safe Harbor
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