We’ve all heard of “Power Couples” perhaps mentioned in Hollywood or the media, but did you know there is an ultimate “power couple” mentioned in the Bible? Priscilla and Aquila were married ministers who knew the Apostle Paul and worked together as a team in the ministry working to encourage fellow believers in the Lord (Acts 18). Now, that is a true power couple! Another power couple I love and adore is my own Pastors, Rich & Jan. I am blessed to call them both my pastors and my parents! They truly are the modern day example of Priscilla and Aquila, working together in the ministries, their whole lives and hearts intertwined in this calling they have received from the Lord to serve as pastors (and yay for celebrating 40 years of faithful service next month!).
In Psalm 50:23, another “power couple” is found: God says, “The life that pleases me is a life lived in the gratitude of grace, always choosing to walk with me in what is right.”
This passage got the wheels turning inside my head—grace & gratitude? How do they work together? Come to find out through studying other passages like 2 Corinthians 4:19 and Psalm 9:1 that Grace & Gratitude surely do go hand in hand! It’s not enough to have one without the other. They belong together and belong in the life of anyone who is a believer. And there is great POWER released when they operate together.
Let’s look a bit closer: Grace is “charis”: the favor, blessing, kindness of the Lord towards us. He chooses to cancel the curse (we deserve) and instead pour out His blessing on those who call Him Savior. Grace is the gift(s) God gives us because He loves us and calls us His own (Ephesians 2:8).“Gratitude” is being thankful, showing appreciation for, returning kindness. We’ve learned through passages like Hebrews 13:15-16 that our gratitude is a sacrifice of praise. When we have a grateful heart, we thank God for His undeserved graces in our lives. We also, as an action of gratitude, spread His grace to others as well.
Psalm 103:1-5 is a “Gratitude List” in the making. The author, David, urges his own soul to recount and remember the blessings the Lord has given him. He lists them…
forgives all my sins
heals all my diseases
redeems me from death
crowns me with love and tender mercies
fills my life with good things
renews my strength like the eagle’s
(read the passage on your own- it’s so good!)
The same blessings God gave David He has provided for each of His children as well! Now that sounds like a good overflowing amount of grace He has extended to us, doesn’t it? And what’s our response to all these blessings? Gratitude!
I encourage you to write out David’s Grace & Gratitude list and even add some of your own personal blessings from the Lord! Put it up in a spot you will see it—the mirror, the refrigerator, even the lock screen on your phone. Let us recall and remember the gracious blessings our Lord has poured out on us and turn our hearts and words of thankfulness to Him.
God generously pours out His grace on us and we continually life up our sacrifice of praise. Now that’s a “power couple” I want to be linked up to in my life, how about you?
Until next time,
P.S. Here’s a picture of my faithful Pastor parents then & now. I am so grateful for both of them.
Melanie Talevski 