.
As we continue looking at the character traits of God; the fruits of the
Spirit, grace is next on the list. Grace is the second most important
character trait of God next to love. Because God loved us He demonstrated
that love through grace. Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ.
What exactly is grace? Grace is unmerited favor. Huh? It needs a little
breaking down. Maybe it is a little easier to explain what grace isn’t.
You’re driving down the highway and a car puts their blinker on to move into
your lane. Grace is lifting and giving them space.
Maybe a racing illustration is better. Yellow is out, get into single
file and the race officials can sort out the line-up. Grace is getting into
single file and letting the officials sort it out. When you refuse and ride
around side-by-side that would indicate a lack of grace.
When we refuse to extend grace to each other we create an atmosphere of
tension, anger, anxiety and animosity. None of those things reflect the
character of God. When we extend grace we are putting control and authority
back into the hands it belongs in, God’s. We trust Him to take care of us
and provide for us. When we take things into our own hands we tend to mess
them up, being gracious is not easy for us.
One of the benefits of being gracious is peace. You see when we
relinquish control over the circumstances that surround us to the only one
who really has control over them we can rest in the peace that God has
things under control.
Easy, right? No, we struggle with letting things happen. We have a desire
to make things happen! We control our destiny and we don’t care how many
people we have to run over to accomplish it.
Letting things happen doesn’t mean not being purposeful in accomplishing
things, having a vision and working toward a goal. Being gracious doesn’t
mean being lazy. We need to have direction and a goal. We need to be focused
and working toward that. We don’t need to run people over, cut people down
and push them out of the way to get there.
1Corinthians 15:10, nlt; But whatever I am now,
it is all because God poured out his special favor on me--and not without
results.
For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I
but God who was working through me by his grace.
God’s grace allows us to make every effort to
please Him. Grace allows us to fail, be forgiven, restores and placed back
on the right track. We need to demonstrate the same grace toward others. The
key is to do so without strings attached. You know, if you do this I’ll like
you and be nice to you. No, we need to be gracious first without an agenda.
You will soon find grace doesn’t just happen. We need to practice it,
being conscious of it and make an effort to be gracious to others. It is a
good character trait worth pursuing and perfecting. The day graciousness is
our first choice is the day we start to understand what God has done for us
through Christ.
Amen.
THOUGHTS FROM THE ROAD
WINTER ARRIVES ALL IN ONE DAY - What can you say,
we knew that winter would show up at some point. It did in the Philly area
this past weekend. Problem was it was the same weekend of Motorsports 2016.
That presented some challenges but we persevered, overcame and had a good
show. Traffic was down, some vendors couldn’t get in, but all in all we made
the best effort to present what was advertised. Lenny, Earl, Danny, Davey
Tim and the entire AARN crew made every effort to accommodate us and
overcome the obstacles the over 2 feet of snow presented. Thank you.
Thanks also go out to those who helped us in the Racing with Jesus
Ministries Booth. Gino Diflippo, Joey Ferrigno, Keith Flach, Chris and Jon
Laureigh. Your cars looked spectacular and people were excited to see them.
Thank you for your efforts.
Chapel went ahead Sunday morning and we had a wonderful gathering of
folks to worship and thank God for His provision. We are looking forward to
bigger and better things. It is our prayer to pack out the main stage area
for chapel. Make that your prayer also. DJ Sound and Lighting is on board
and offered to do video and sound tracks on the monitors and big screen. Our
thanks to them for supplying the sound for us and for being willing to take
it up a notch if we need it.
THE REST OF THE STORY - What would a winter storm and a
motorsports show be without a story? Boring. So a certain late-model driver
who runs at New London-Waterford Speedbowl ventured down to the show Friday
night, late Friday night. He didn’t hit snow until Jersey but figured he
would be all right. That was before alternator problems left him limping
into the hotel lot. He got a room and then called his friend to meet up.
Problem was they were in different hotels. He knocked and knocked on the
door and no one answered! You’re at the wrong place!
His truck would barely start but he figured he could get there, checked
out of a warm hotel room and heads to the right hotel in the middle of the
night in a blinding snowstorm, yes he did. Soon to be broken down, called
his buddy who got up out of a warm bed to go get him. Hooked up a chain and
pulled him to the hotel. There were a few shenanigans played on the ride.
What else would you expect from two drivers hooked up by a chain in a
blinding snow storm with no one else around? You can only imagine.
They set out in the morning to find an alternator in the height of the
storm, ended up being good Samaritans to a half dozen stranded cars, check
out Facebook for the evidence. Got the truck up and running. Success! The
celebration over their victory got a little ugly that night, suffice to say,
no when to say when.
That’s it from the road, until next time, remember God loves you and
Jesus is Lord over Auto Racing! God Bless. Remember, that your prayerful
support helps us continue this ministry. Thank You.
Until next time, be a witness for our Lord with the ministry decals and
apparel. See them at the Show Your Faith Apparel Store at
www.rwjm.com. Send us
your prayer and counseling needs no matter what part of our racing family
you are in, or give us a call. Remember that God loves you, we love you and
Jesus is Lord over Auto Racing. GOD BLESS.
 Mail reaches us at Racing with Jesus Ministries, PO Box 586,
Tolland, CT 06084.
Check our weekly printed pages in "Area Auto Racing
News",
the East Coast’s largest weekly racing paper.
See our on-line Apparel
Store for subscription information.
Check our home page
http://www.rwjm.com for past
articles.
We invite you to input your thoughts as you sign our Guest Book.
Please remember, we can only do what we do because of your prayerful
financial support.
Numbers 6:24-26 "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord
make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face
toward you and give you peace."
May God always Bless you, everyday in everyway. Rev. Don
SHARE YOUR SPECIAL OCCASIONS WITH YOUR RACING FAMILY.
SEND THEM TO:
RACING WITH JESUS MINISTRIES
PO Box 586
Tolland, CT, 06084
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