(G)Leaning on Grace

My heart overflows with a good theme... my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Psalm 45:1 NASB This morning as I look out into the creation of God I see dark clouds and rain gently washing the dirt from the surfaces of the plants and such. The grime that had built up through the winter months, in spite of the snow, was blanketing the leaves and branches of plants making everything look dull and lifeless. But this rain is washing it all away making the way for new life to begin to sprout and flourish. It is feeding the roots that have grown deep into the ground and beginning the process of waking up the plant and wild life from its long winter nap. People can be much the same. Winter time for me is difficult. I don't like going out in the cold and the lack of light, glorious sunlight, tends to depress my mood. But just as the rain is washing away the remnants of a long difficult winter, and the sunshine that will soon flood in will begin to lift my mood so does the the the ...

13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him . James 5:13-15 On the subject of encouragement, how much more inspiring could it be to know that the God of the Universe hears our requests and honors them? We must approach His throne of grace with confidence. Ephesians 3:12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence . In that confidence, we must know that if we ask for anything in accordance with his will, he hears us. I personally find great comfort in knowing that He hears me and that He will provide whatever I ask if it is according to His will. I also, however, have to trust God enough to believe that when I do not get what I asked for, no matter how painful the resu...

Encouragement, that is the topic of this weeks devotions.  Something we all need, certainly, but it is an act of kindness that each of us can perform to lift the spirit of another.  The dictionary defines encourage as "to inspire with courage, spirit, or confidence" or "to stimulate by assistance, approval, etc."  It is a verb in its many forms which denotes action on the part of the giver and on the receiver.    We not only need to practice giving encouragement but receiving it.  If you are anything like me than you do not always receive what is meant to build you up because you do not believe you deserve it. You find it hard to fathom that anyone else thinks you do, or you simply belittle your abilities or the contribution that you have made.  We all need to learn to receive the inspiring words, the hope building actions offered to us by others.  Now, I am not saying we need to be self-serving or overconfident, however Go...

What a beautiful morning! The sun is shining and there are blue jays and a cute little brown bird playing tag between the maple tree and the holly bush outside my window. They are having a great time flying in figure eights back and forth. They appear to be content and happy in the space that God has created for them. The question that comes to mind then is, am I content in the space that God created for me? Sometimes I would say yes. Other times, well, not so much. But then I have to ask why, what makes me unsatisfied, discontent or empty? I have found that in my search for satisfaction and fulfillment at times I am looking for the wrong supply. When I am sad, I retreat to quiet. When I am burdened or feel overwhelmed by circumstances I go shopping trying desperately to find something to fill the hole or ease the pain, soothe my conscience. Problem is none of that, not even buying the coolest piece of technology, cutest purse or gooiest dessert will satisfy the need I am trying to fil...

It's a new day and with it comes new opportunities to do the things we may have not done so well yesterday. I know that sometimes I 'shut down' inside or 'back away' when I feel as though I have failed someone, especially God. When I haven't spent the time with him like I should, it's like any other relationship. It becomes easier with each passing moment, each day away to just let that relationship 'rest in the past'. It becomes habit. A bad habit for sure, but a routine none the less. It's just like friends or even family members in some cases that maybe we haven't talked to as often as we should. First it is a few days, then those days become weeks, weeks become months and before you know it, years have passed. We may speak to them in passing, send a card on their birthday or at Christmas and then one year we forget. Just once, but instead of making contact, we say "I'll wait until their birthday" and then that passes....

Yeah, the birds are singing this morning!  That always makes me feel a little less weighted down with life.  The birds remind me of God and his promises to care for us.  He cares for them and they sound very happy today!  That's encouraging!   Friendship is something that we all enjoy, something that we all participate in and something that we should never take for granted.  As I read the message in our devotional book this morning I thought about the 'ones that got away'.  It's almost like a fishing story that a 'great' fisherman' would tell about the big one that eluded his hook and made it back to safety in the water.  Except, in this case it may not be safety that they made it back to.  It may very well be eternal death.   The people I'm thinking about are not just the individuals that I shared some time with at college, or high school, or at professional function.  They are not just the ones at church that came in one...

Okay friends, no 'four letter words' are adorning my yard this morning, yeah!  I know that some of you actually like the white stuff, but for me, although I think it is beautiful and peaceful looking, it usually just brings headaches and stress.  I am also not particularly fond of cold weather in general since I have to wear many layers in an attempt to stay warm.  But that is enough rambling about weather.   In our devotion today it talked about financial problems and learning to make good decisions. I loved the quote for the day:   God often allows us to be in situations that are too much for us so we will learn that no situation is too much for Him. --Erwin Lutzer, Pastor and author   I know that each of us has been in a situation, short term or long, that has overwhelmed us in one fashion or another.  Sometimes it is dealing with financial decisions or recovering from mistakes.  Other times it could be experiencing  a loss of ...

Happy Valentine's Day!  The day that most everyone is reminded of love, giving and receiving of love and all it's imagined to be.  The only problem with that is that most of us have a romantic idea of what it is supposed to look like.  In fact, love is a choice and not an emotion.  It is based on our ability to show kindness and compassion to another human being without regard to any warm and fuzzy feelings that may be evoked or even their ability to reciprocate in kind.   I was reading "Love Dare" last night.  If you saw the movie Fireproof then you may remember Caleb's father explaining this concept of love being a choice to his son.  Many of us have heard other's say or even have said ourselves that "we follow our heart".  But, if we are following our heart, then who or what is leading it?  For us to make the choice to love others, our spouses, our children, our friends, then we must be willing to love unconditio...