Tag Archives: grace
Don’t Forget…
Grace
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND what I do.
The things I want to do, the things I know to do, I do not do them.
But WHAT I HATE, that is what I DO.
My heart is DECEITFUL and beyond all cure. My sins have SEPARATED me from God and have hidden his face from me.
You must grow weary of my trampling through your courts of grace with my vain requests for forgiveness.
Oh, God, can you still HEAR me?
Please speak to me.
I am undone.
In my darkness, I hear your voice,
“Come now,“
And with its sound, I am once again reminded of your TENDER MERCIES.
You are COMPASSIONATE and GRACIOUS, Lord. You are SLOW TO ANGER and ABOUNDING IN LOVE.
You do not deal with me as my sins deserve nor do you repay me according to my offenses.
Instead, you are PATIENT WITH ME.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so GREAT IS YOUR LOVE FOR ME.
You are FAITHFUL TO FORGIVE – when I confess – and to cleanse my heart of its unrighteousness.
As far as the east is from the west, you have removed my transgressions from me.
YOU REMEMBER THEM NO MORE.
From your abundance, Lord, I have received your GRACE UPON GRACE.
Of this my heart will forever sing!
*This expression of praise for God’s love, forgiveness and grace is a compilation and personalization of the following Scriptures: Romans 7:15; Jeremiah 17:9; Isaiah 59:2; Isaiah 1:11-15; Job 11:5; Isaiah 6:5; Isaiah 1:18; Psalm 51:1; Psalm 103:8; Psalm 103:10; 2 Peter 3:9; Psalm 103:11; 1 John 1:9; Psalm 103:12; Isaiah 43:25; John 1:16 and Psalm 89:1
A Year of Smiles – Day 333
Reason to SMILE #333: NUGGETS OF TRUTH a/k/a I KNEW IT! MOMENTS a/k/a GOD MIGHT GET ME FOR THIS ONE
“Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as CURSING.”
Proverbs 27:14 ESV (emphasis added)
See there. Even God thinks all you overly animated morning people need to bring it down a notch! At least give the rest of us grumps time to have our seemingly excessive but completely necessary eight cups of coffee.
Hehehe! I couldn’t resist this one today.
SMILE! But please do it quietly. I’m only on cup number three. 😉
A Year of Smiles – Day 296
Reason to SMILE #296: SECOND CHANCES
Time and time again,
I know that I will falter.
I know my steps will be misled.
This fate I cannot alter.
I try to choose the way of good;
It is my heart’s desire.
Yet when my will is put to test,
I find it all haywire.
There are times I have been proud.
I’ve stood my ground in battle.
But more than these, I am afraid,
I see resolve unravel.
Oh, but thanks be to our God!
Great mercy He advances
And ev’ry time we’ve fallen short
He’s given second chances.
… and third and fourth and fifth and …
What a loving and merciful God we serve! No matter how many times we fail, He’s there to pick us up and give us a chance to try again. Each new chance is a reason to SMILE and an opportunity to share that same mercy and grace to the world around us.
Have you been given a second chance? Why not give the same to others?
Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
Colossians 3:13 (NLT)
A Year of Smiles – Day 239
Reason to SMILE #239: BELIEVING THE BEST IN OTHERS
I wonder how our world would look if we all believed the best in each other.
What if we looked past the rough edges and saw the potential waiting to burst forth.
What if we embraced the awkwardness and peculiarities and allowed them to broaden our horizons and enlighten our perceptions.
What if we ignored the drama and discovered an infectious spirit of energy and attraction.
What if we overlooked the gruff and callous demeanor and the offensive words and actions and focused on the hurting soul in need of love.
What if we forgave the faults we see in others, the same faults we long for others to forgive in us, and see each other as imperfect brothers and sisters doing our best in an imperfect world.
What if we stopped discarding people and embraced each other as a masterpiece of the the Great Creator, a child of God worthy to be loved, pursued, forgiven and accepted.
What if…
Believing the best in others takes practice, patience and persistence. It opens us up to heartache and disappointment but if we make the effort to see others through the eyes of Jesus, I feel certain that our world would be filled with so many more SMILES.
A Year of Smiles – Day 191
Reason to SMILE #191: MERCY
I messed up. There’s no other way of looking at it. I completely blew it. I’ve worked for weeks to get a project completed. I’ve coordinated with several different parties from all over the United States, fought with overnight couriers, manipulated schedules and pretty much performed everything short of miracles so all could be finalized today. Then I had to go and throw all that hard work away with one bad decision. Ugh! I may have played a huge role in completing this project but I’ve also single handedly thrown a huge kink in it’s culmination.
It has not been a good day. Fortunately, I have an understanding boss who did not even flinch with the news of my screw up. Instead, he helped me to meet enough of the requirements of the project today which will allow me time to fix my blunder in the next day or two. It’s humbling when you expect/deserve a negative reaction or speech filled with disappointment but you actually receive a helping hand and sympathetic gesture of forgiveness.
That’s a lot like God. No matter how many times we mess up, He isn’t waiting to give us a tongue lashing or strike us down with a lightning bolt. Instead, He’s waiting to forgive us with open arms. Yes, there may be consequences for our bad choices. We do have to learn from our mistakes. But God shows us mercy by withholding what we truly deserve, separation from Him because of our sins, and giving us what we do not deserve, grace and forgiveness.
I have no idea how my blunder is going to work out. It may be fine and I will be able to SMILE and thank God for the blessing. Or it may be the opposite and I may find myself cleaning up an ugly mess. Though definitely more difficult, I will still be able to SMILE realizing that I have been given an opportunity to learn from my mistake. (Did I mention how hard it will be to find that SMILE?) No matter the outcome, I am thankful for the reminder of the great mercy God shows to me every day of my life.
No More Excuses
People are people – that’s just one of the excuses I tell myself when someone has said or done something to hurt me. I reason that we all make mistakes and we all do stupid things at one time or another. It doesn’t alleviate the pain I feel. It doesn’t eradicate the offense but it does aid in forgiveness and understanding – a little.
But what about those times when the offense comes from a Christian, a fellow church member, someone you’ve trusted as a brother or sister in Christ? What excuses can be used to heal the hurt that is caused by careless words or thoughtless snubs from the ones who bear the name of Jesus Christ? I suppose the excuses are the same. Christians are people. We all make mistakes. We all do stupid things. Though Jesus calls us to be perfect, though we are to be His hands and feet, we are still just people with selfish desires and sinful tendencies. That sounds good, right?
I can make excuses all day long for my own transgressions. I can reason away my thoughtlessness or my pride. I can even defend my fellow believers in their times of weaknesses just so I may settle my own soul and ease my own mind. I have mastered this skill of bandaging problems instead of solving them. What I cannot seem to successfully accomplish, however, is making a believable defense to a lost world that cannot reconcile the words that we preach with the actions we display. And an even more difficult task I find is presenting viable excuses to new or young believers who are struggling in the Christian faith wondering why we, their church family, act nothing like the Lord and Savior we profess and why we have left them to fend for themselves in their Christian walk.
What do I say to these young Christians? I’ve exhausted my list of excuses. And frankly, I’m tired of making excuses. I’ve tried to steer the focus off of people and onto the One who’ll never fail or disappoint us but, often, faith is a strange concept to new believers and trusting in something that cannot be seen is a difficult task. A majority of their Christian growth is a direct result of what is observed in the lives of other Christians. So what do I say? What is the defense when our behavior as Christians turns away even those newborn Christians who were once filled with so much hope?
Yes, we are all people. Yes, we are all sinners. As Christians, we cannot forget this fact. For we know that even our very best is not good enough in the eyes of a Holy and Righteous God. It is only by His Grace and Christ’s work on the cross that we are saved from the punishment of our sins and are able to share in the glory of Heaven. It is only His Mercy that allows us to start again when we fail to live and walk in the footsteps of Christ. We are not perfect and we do make mistakes. I think how we handle our mistakes can make a difference in the eyes of the world and the eyes of those baby Christians. Do we bandage our sins hoping that enough time will pass for these sins to be forgotten? Do we simply pretend that the problems don’t exist? Or do we earnestly seek a solution and strive to live as we know we should?
Does my life reflect my Lord to an ever watchful world? Do my actions provide a good example for the new Christian to follow? If I am being truly honest, my answer must be…….
1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
Ephesians 5:1-2 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Mark 9:42 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.”
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?
Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
A Couple of Stars and a Happy Face 