I recently experienced something that very few people get to enjoy.
We celebrated five generations of women alive and well in our family.
WOW! What a blessing! That is quite something, don't you agree?
And best of all, we had no say or part in the achievement at all...it was all by the grace of God.
My mom who will be 93 in July; my eldest daughter, second eldest granddaughter who lives in Hillcrest, Durban, and her daughter, my only biological greatgranddaughter, aged only 8 months, all visited me at the same time.
Another visitor, my granddaughter's friend, who also hails from Durban, just happens to be a photographer! So we were able to make memories and capture the moments for future generations.
One particular photo is quite a treasure. The photographer captured all of our left hands on one photograph. Imagine, 92 years between the ages of the five hands displayed in one photo.
Over and above the blessing of this shared moment between five generations, I am also blessed to have not one but three children, 5 biological grandchildren - one grandson and 4 granddaughters - and one biological greatgranddaughter. Over and above that there is my son-in-law's daughter from a previous marriage and her little daughter and although we do not all live on one continent, we are all blessed to have a roof over our heads, food to eat every day and clothes to wear; we have people who love us and care for each other, who has each other's wellbeing at heart - what more can one ask for?
So, as you can see, I am abundantly blessed by the mercy and grace of God.
What is the difference between mercy and grace?
Mercy is God not giving us what we deserve; and grace is God giving us what we do not deserve....
There are wonderful blessings declared in the Word of God.
God promises Abraham that he will be blessed and that his children will be like the sand of the seas and the stars in the heavens. Obviously Abraham does not see all of these, but I am sure he also saw his children to at least the fifth generation, as he lived for a hundred years or more after the birth of his first son. If we look back in the Word, however, we see that God's promises were fulfilled and that Abraham's seed was indeed blessed to the utmost.
We may believe that all God's promises in our lives will also be fulfilled. There are, of course, conditions to the promises of God:
Deut. 28: 1-14:
"Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord
your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command
you today that the Lord your God will set you on high above all nations
of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you,
because you obey the voice of the Lord your God: "Blessed shall you be in
the country. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your
ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the
offspring of your flocks. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading
bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when
you go out. The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be
defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee
before you seven ways. the Lord will command the blessing on you in
your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless
you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. The Lord will
establish you as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of
the Lord your God and walk in His ways. Then all peoples of the earth
shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be
afraid of you and the Lord will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of
your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your
ground, in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.
The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the
rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand.
You shall lend to many nations but you shall not borrow. and the Lord
will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not
be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which
I command you today, and are careful to observe them. So you shall not
turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the
right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them." "
As I am typing this, it has started to rain outside - a confirmation to me of God's goodness and mercy to us all. We may be unfaithful at times, but God's faithfullness will remain at all times.
How blessed can one person be?
Thank You Lord, for your kindness, Your mercy, grace and faithfulness; for Your blessings which we may experience every day of our lives.
Much more if we are but willing to live according to the Will and ways of Almighty God.
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