(G)Leaning on Grace

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6 Afraid of the dark? Me too, or at least I used to be. There was a time when I wandered aimlessly in the disorientation that an all consuming blackness could bring on. I remember feeling totally lost with no sense of direction. Constantly groping for a lamp, a candle, even a match, anything that would bring the slightest bit of brightness into my world. Now, I'm not saying that everything in my life was horrible, on the surface it may have seemed normal, but I felt no sense of hope for future improvement. I did not see how my situation could ever get better and in fact my circumstances were spiraling out of control. My personal life, my home life, my health all reaching destructive extremes. I had my husband, but our relationship was rapidly deteriorating. My job was taking over my life ...

Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4:16 (NLT) Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16 (NIV) Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it]. Hebrews 4:16 (Amplified) This verse says a lot to me, to us, as Christians who have been accepted, sanctified and strive live by the Word of God. It says that God did not go through all the trouble, make the greatest sacrifice in the history of mankind for us to live timidly. He gave His son, making a pathway to himself so that we would come boldly, confidently and fearlessly t...

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Deuteronomy 33:27 I have spent a significant amount of time pondering this verse. I know that in context of the chapter it may not mean all the things I can imagine it to, but it's still a comforting thought to try to imagine God's everlasting arms. This is part of Moses' blessing on the Tribes of Israel. Moses was imparting his wisdom on his Israelite brothers and reminding them just who had delivered them, His power, His might, His protection and that the God of Israel is in control of all things. Our God is in control of all things. Our God is eternal, no beginning and no end. He is forever the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow. Because he is eternal His promises are for all generations of believers. We all have access to Him because of His great sacrifice so that we could be reconciled to him. We can be with Him in his eternal glory, heaven. He is our refuge. He is the safe place where we can fin...