Happy Lord’s Day, my friends! We’ve entered the holiday season in America, and with it often comes loneliness, depression and difficult times. We are wise to consider God’s amazing grace, His rich mercy, and His great love for us. Be still for a few minutes and meditate on these thoughts today:

"And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning" (Acts 11:15). The importance of this verse in the book of Acts cannot be overstated. Peter makes it abundantly clear that God gave uncircumcised Gentiles an "Second Chapter of Acts" Experience "just as he did upon us at the beginning." Though God had only promised to give the Holy Spirit to the people of Israel (Ezek 36:27), he does a repeat performance for those who weren't even invited to the show! If you are anything like me, you may at times be tempted to believe that God has favorite children in his family, and you are never good enough to be included on the list. As shocking as this may sound, God is unable to show partiality because such behavior would completely contradict the truth of the gospel. Fact: God loves sinners, of whom I am the chief! Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. Neither my ethnicity nor my moral superiority grants me the status of "favorite child." Jesus, and Jesus alone, is our "golden ticket" to receiving God's unmerited and eternal favor. Yes, Jesus loves me, yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so! "For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us" (2 Cor 1:20). "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)" (Eph 2:4-5).

Have you received that saving grace? Are you longing for His mercy? Does life seem out of control? Do you need the peace of God?