Sabe o que é que os meus filhos me ouvem dizer todo o tempo? Espero que já tenha ouvido isto um milhão de vezes dos seus pais, e que o diga muitas vezes aos seus filhos; se os tiver. "Eu te amo!" Há tantas maneiras diferentes de dizer aos nossos filhos sobre o amor que temos por eles, e eles precisam de ouvir isso de nós. É tão importante, de facto, que o repito vez após vez aos meus filhos.
Ao pensar no verso de hoje, não poderia deixar de ser lembrado de dizer aos meus filhos do meu amor por eles. O apóstolo João poderia facilmente ter escrito que recebemos a graça de Deus, mas ele diz que se recebe "graça sobre graça". Deus obviamente pensou que era suficientemente importante ter João a escrevê-lo desta forma. Mas porquê? Acho que, assim como digo aos meus filhos, eu te amo constantemente, Deus quer que saibamos que Ele é um Deus cheio de graça que dá graça. É assim que John Piper descreve este verso e por acaso foi neste época de Natal, quando ele o pregou:
"Deus não quer apenas encher a sua cabeça com conhecimento sobre a Sua verdade e graça, Ele quer que o receba e o experimente. Neste Natal, Ele quer dar-lhe pessoalmente a fundação da verdade e da realidade para se sustentar para que não ceda sob stresse. Neste Natal Ele quer tratá-lo com graça, perdoar todos os seus pecados, todos! Tirar toda a sua culpa, tornar a sua consciência limpa, ajudá-lo com os seus problemas, dar-lhe força para cada dia, e enchê-lo com esperança e alegria e paz. Não é este o significado da graça? E não é por isso que Ele armou a Sua tenda no meio de nós?"
~ João 1:16
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Do you know what my kids hear me say all the time? I hope you’ve heard it a million times from your parents, and that you say it often to your children; if you have any. "I love you!" There are so many different ways to tell our children about the love we have for them, and they need to hear it from us. It’s so important, in fact, that I repeat it over and over to my kids.
When thinking of today’s verse, I couldn’t help but be reminded of telling my kids of my love for them. The Apostle John could have easily written that we receive grace from God, but he says that we receive "grace upon grace". God obviously thought it was important enough to have John write it this way. But why? I think that, just as I tell my kids I love you all the time, God wants us to know He is a God full of grace who gives grace. This is how John Piper describes this verse and it just so happens it was around Christmas when he preached it:
"God doesn’t just want to stock your head with knowledge about His truth and grace, He wants you to receive it and experience it. This Christmas He wants to give you personally a foundation of truth and reality to stand on so you won’t cave in under stress. This Christmas He wants to treat you with grace, to forgive all your sins, all of them! To take away all your guilt, to make your conscience clean, to help you with your problems, to give you strength for each day, and to fill you with hope and joy and peace. Isn’t that the meaning of grace? And isn’t that why He pitched His tent among us?"
~ John 1:16
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Do you know what my kids hear me say all the time? I hope you’ve heard it a million times from your parents, and that you say it often to your children; if you have any. "I love you!" There are so many different ways to tell our children about the love we have for them, and they need to hear it from us. It’s so important, in fact, that I repeat it over and over to my kids.
When thinking of today’s verse, I couldn’t help but be reminded of telling my kids of my love for them. The Apostle John could have easily written that we receive grace from God, but he says that we receive "grace upon grace". God obviously thought it was important enough to have John write it this way. But why? I think that, just as I tell my kids I love you all the time, God wants us to know He is a God full of grace who gives grace. This is how John Piper describes this verse and it just so happens it was around Christmas when he preached it:
"God doesn’t just want to stock your head with knowledge about His truth and grace, He wants you to receive it and experience it. This Christmas He wants to give you personally a foundation of truth and reality to stand on so you won’t cave in under stress. This Christmas He wants to treat you with grace, to forgive all your sins, all of them! To take away all your guilt, to make your conscience clean, to help you with your problems, to give you strength for each day, and to fill you with hope and joy and peace. Isn’t that the meaning of grace? And isn’t that why He pitched His tent among us?"
~ John 1:16
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