Creation

Psalm 19:1-2
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.

We recently took a trip out to Colorado to visit our daughter who was working at a summer camp for Young Life.  It was amazing, it was beautiful in many ways.  I was struck by the beauty of creation.  

I was so thankful.  I was also so very encouraged by the work of Young Life and at the time of our visit they had 480 teenagers there for a week of fun, nature, and Jesus.  It did my heart so much good to see all the excitement for Jesus and to see the Gospel presented in such a relevant and loving way. 

I guess if we just look around we can truly see.

Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

You know we truly are without excuse!

Grace and Peace!

What are you afraid of?

I was listening to Christian Radio on the way home and in the afternoons they sometimes interview Christian artists or authors. This particular day they were interviewing Bethany Hamilton; the surfer from Hawaii that was the survivor of a shark attack in which she lost her arm. Survivor is an understatement as she went on to be national surf champion and is still competitive today. 

There was a movie about her life, she has written a book and continues to surf and speak. It was a very interesting interview and some of the questions were deep and some were just fun type questions. One question or should I say answer to a question just stopped me in my tracks. The question while intended to be playful ended up being very...ah...interesting. 

The question was; “what are you afraid of” and knowing what we know about Bethany you might guess at some of the answers and right away she said this could be a playful question or a very deep question and playfully she was afraid of spiders. Well guess what me too! She then shifted and said that the thing she is most afraid of in the deep bottom of her soul is that she doesn’t love God with her whole heart. 

That just caused such an emotional reaction for me, tears welling up I said to myself “me too!” In Matthew 22:37 Jesus says; “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Wow that is incredible when you think about it. And as broken as I am is this even possible? So as I was contemplating this and the brave answer this young lady gave; this answer that had such an emotional impact on me, dare I say this answer that convicted me; something marvelous occurred to me; that is what is so amazing about grace! We (I) can love God with our whole heart through Christ...Tullian Tchividjian reminds us; “God's love for us does not depend on our love for God. Our love for God depends on God's love for us.” And God is love...

Our God is so amazing – and by His grace we are forgiven of our shortcomings, our inabilities, our sin and they are all wiped clean, erased, forgotten by the finished work of Christ! Amen! Spurgeon once wrote; “I sin like a man, but He forgives like a God.” And I am so thankful! 

Romans 8:1-2 

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 

Father, thank your for your amazing Grace...thank you for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and thank you for your Spirit who gives life. Father, we believe, help our unbelief... 

Grace and Peace!

Circumstances

I have been thinking about worship lately. There are times when I am just so joyful and my worship is heartfelt. But, there are times when troubles, fears, circumstances seem to weigh me down and my worship seems; well a little less worshipful. 

When I really stop to think about this I realize that our God is always faithful, always loving, always there and as such we should rejoice; we should be joyful despite our circumstances. 

This brings to mind Habakkuk 3:17-18 

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. 

So no matter what, we can rejoice in our Lord and Savior...Abba Father, we love you and trust you. May we always rejoice and joyfully worship you. 

Grace and Peace!

Grace

Isaiah 55:1 

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 

I get so excited when I think clearly about the Grace of God; when I can truly wrap my mind around it! There are those that say too much emphasis on grace will lead to licentiousness (license to sin) and antinomianism (free from moral law). I say not! An improper appreciation for Grace could lead to such things, but also push toward what Bridges calls the “swamp of legalism.” An emphasis on following rules rather than all Christ did.

On the days when I am so clear about grace; all it does is cause me to be in awe of our Great God...it causes me to love more and more because He first loved me. 

Robert Capon was an American Episcopal Priest known for the theme of God’s Radical Grace. He once said; “May we always run the risk of overemphasizing grace, for it is a risk that will never be realized.” 

To that I say Amen! 

2 Corinthians 12:9 

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 

Grace and Peace!