Pray for us. Paul requests prayer for him and his companions. We need to pray for each other. We usually end up praying a laundry list. I am just as guilty of this as the next person. It becomes a habit that we pray for physical ills and temporal needs/wants for each other. But have you ever done a search for prayers in the Bible? It's amazing to read the prayers of Paul. Temporal issues for the most part are not mentioned. He prays for spiritual matters, for spiritual growth, growth in grace etc. Do we pray like that? This is so convicting to me.
Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. Now in that day, this was the accepted greeting. Today we don't do that. It's not part of our culture. But it is appropriate to greet each other with a pleasant greeting asking how the other person is, being genuine and loving in our demeanor toward them. This encourages your fellow-believers.
It is not an appropriate greeting to approach your brother/sister in Christ by walking up to them and asking them interrogative questions and serving up critical remarks regarding what their response was or regarding their person in general. This would not be a "holy kiss". Yet there are some who do this on a regular basis and wound their brothers and sisters in Christ with their judgmental , legalistic attitudes. This ought not to be.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Grace=God's Riches at Christ's Expense. Read Ephesians to learn what the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ entails. That book is loaded with the riches that we receive in salvation. Read it and make a list of them. The grace of Jesus Christ is immense!
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