Voice of Thanksgiving

Psalm 26:7 (NASB)

That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving 
and declare all Your wonders.

Father, this Thanksgiving Day I am truly amazed at the wonders of your glory. In my moments of fuzzy clarity I am amazed by every sunset, every grain of sand, every relationship, every cloud filled blue sky, every tree and flower amazed by these glimpses of Your beauty and glory! Every smell at Thanksgiving, every remarkable piece of nature, every breathtaking sight speaks volumes to your being.

It causes me to say Halleluiah; our Indescribable God is altogether great, altogether loving, altogether lovely, altogether wonderful!

Father, when I think of your plan of redemption, when I think of all Christ has done, when I think by the power of the Holy Spirit; I must proclaim with a voice of thanksgiving declaring all your wonders.

When surrounded by these glimpses of your glory I am able to recognize the wonder of it all! Abba Father, with a voice of thanksgiving I proclaim amen and amen!

Grace and Peace!

Sola Gratia

Ephesians 2:8 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God

This morning as I sit spending some quiet time in study and prayer I am just struck by this thing called Amazing Grace. As I sit here listening to Chris Lizotte singing songs such as Sweet Mercy, The Love of God, and I Will Trust You I am humbled and oh so thankful for the grace of God through Christ in my life.

As I sit here this morning astonished by grace alone I recognize this thing called grace is so amazing, so saving, so reconciling, so wonderful, but it is also so empowering. Augustine reminds us that Grace enables us to “perform with love the duty that they know.” Augustine expands this saying;

“The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord must be understood as follows: grace is the only thing that delivers human beings from evil; without it, they do absolutely nothing good, whether in thought, or in will and emotion, or in action. Grace not only makes known to people what they ought to do, but also enables them to perform with love the duty that they know.

The apostle Paul certainly asked God to inspire the Corinthians with this good will and action when he said, ‘Now we pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear to be approved, but that you should do what is good’ (2 Cor.13:7). Who can hear this and not wake up and confess that the Lord God is the One Who turns us away from evil so that we do good? For the apostle does not say, ‘We admonish, we teach, we exhort, we rebuke.’ He says, ‘We pray to God that you do no evil, but that you should do what is good.’ Of course, he was also in the habit of speaking to them, and doing all those things which I have mentioned — he admonished, he taught, he exhorted, he rebuked. But he knew that all these things which he was openly doing in the way of planting and watering were of no avail, unless He Who secretly gives the increase answered his prayer on the Corinthians’ behalf. For as the same teacher of the Gentiles says, ‘Neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God Who gives the increase’ (1 Cor.3:7).”

Abba Father, we pray that we would do no evil, but that which is good. Gracious God, we pray that we would perform with love and we pray that as we plant and as we water that you would give the increase – all to your glory!

Grace and Peace!

Faith Defined

The Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms defines Christian faith as “Belief, trust, and obedience to God as revealed in Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 11 we are told that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Can you see that both definitions rely on that with which we have faith. There is a criticality in the object of our faith; an absolute necessity. Faith becomes our link to the object of our faith.

Kevin DeYoung offers an interesting perspective and illustration;

“Faith is only the instrument by which we embrace Christ, have communion with Him, and share in all His benefits. It is the object of our faith that matters. If you venture out onto a frozen pond, it isn’t your faith that keeps you from crashing into the water. True, it takes faith to step onto the pond, but it is the object of your faith, the twelve inches of ice, that keeps you safe. Believe in Christ with all your heart, but don’t put your faith in your faith. Your experience of trusting Christ will ebb and flow. So be sure to rest in Jesus Christ and not our faith in Him. He alone is the one who died for our sakes and was raised for our justification. Believe this and you too will be saved.”


Grace and Peace!