Ephesians 1:2 English Standard Version (ESV) Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Cultural norms differ from country to country and region to region. Greetings here in America are not any different but they tend to be less formal and are not as likely to extend a blessing. Cultural diversity is great in America and ethnic greetings tend to be shared only within that ethnic group.

Even the handshake has evolved into a complicated ceremony based on what is in fashion at the moment. That can change and does. It is harmless and often meaningless and that might be the problem.

Paul extends a blessing to his readers from God. Is that a reminder of where grace and peace originates or does that come from within Paul and then released by the power of the Holy Spirit? If it were a reminder from Paul then it would not carry as much weight as if the Holy Spirit was the vehicle of transference of the blessing.

2 Corinthians 5:20 English Standard Version (ESV) Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Ambassadors are diplomates and diplomacy requires that the message being delivered is accurate in tone and content representing the interests of Christ.

I doubt we remember that when greeting friends. How about strangers? Do we greet them with the same casual familiarity as we do our friends? They don’t know us and possibly do not know Christ. Doesn’t that make a greeting as an ambassador from Christ even more important?

Granted this will not affect our eternal salvation but it just might affect someone else’s salvation.

When the clerk at the store asks me how I am doing, perhaps I should not tell them how I am feeling at the moment. It is an opportunity to use a diplomatic approach with measured words.

Grace and peace to you.

Proverbs 1:22-23 English Standard Version (ESV)

²² “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
    and fools hate knowledge?
²³ If you turn at my reproof,
behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
    I will make my words known to you.

The Good News is simple. God made it simple in order to make it easy to be saved. Now answer this question; would you want a baby to remain a baby forever? Part of us adorn the simplicity of infancy where love abounds, needs are simple, and messes are easy to clean up.

There is no hope of a future for that infant. Parents have hopes for a future and so does God.

What is reproof here? It is correction. An infant that walks and runs will explore a world that if fraught with danger. Reproof might sound like “Stop”, “Don’t touch that.” Seldom is it a simple no. Instruction in right behavior is never accomplish with constant comments of no. What must accompany reproof is guidance in the right way.

If we ignore God’s reproof will He deny us His Holy Spirit? No, but if you keep ignoring His reproof then something stronger than correction will be required.

On the spiritual side of this life lesson is a plea. Hear the Holy Spirit. If you have no sense of what the Holy Spirit does in your life, the tendency is to make mistakes and suffer consequences. God gave us of His Spirit to avoid consequences.

An infant can see mother and father and knows where that voice of correction is coming from. Hearing the Holy Spirit is a little more difficult.

John 3:8 English Standard Version (ESV) The windblows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

Here is a hint. Even if you cannot hear the wind, you can feel it.