Praise Jesus!

“Life is pain, Highness.
Anyone who says differently
is selling something.”
(Wesley, The Princess Bride)

“In this world,
you will have trouble.
But take heart!
I have overcome the world.”

(Jesus Christ, Messiah, The Holy Bible John 16:33 NIV)

Mind Your Own Business

I have been reading through the Message this year. It certainly has a different way of looking at some things. (Some I agree with, and some I don’t.) Some times, it hits home hard!

Like today...

Romans 14 is very convicting about not judging others. The Message tends to personalize things even further. So, in verse 12, I read this:

“So tend to your knitting. You’ve got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.” (I, of course, substituted crocheting for knitting!)

Then in verse 22:

“Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don’t impose it on others.”

Wow! Ouch! Yikes!

I’m going to be some time pondering the wide scope of implications here!

Sovereignty

Not until each loom is silent,
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Will God unroll the pattern
And explain the reason why
The dark threads are as needful
In the Weaver's skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver
For the pattern which He planned.

(Streams in the Desert)

Amazing Grace

Romans 5:8 (NIV) says: "God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

The Message puts it this way: "God put His love on the line for us by offering His Son in sacrificial death while we were no use whatever to Him."

Either way, WOW!!! And He doesn't stop there!

In Romans 8:32, He goes on to say: "He Who did not spare His Own Son, but gave Him up for us ALL---how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us ALL things."

NOW THAT'S GRACE!!!

In verse 34, it says that Christ (Who gave up His very life for us) is at the Father's right hand interceding for us, praying on behalf of all of us though we are the very ones that made His death necessary.

NOW THAT'S LOVE!!!

AMAZING!!!

Why do we so often fight against Him Who loves us so much?

Delighted

Isaiah 61:10

"I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God.
For He has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with jewels."

Zephaniah 3:17

"The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing."

I am heart glad that the LORD and I are mutually delighted with each other! Doesn't it just make you smile, knowing He is delighted with you?

More on Grace

Of course it is more about grace. Recognizing His grace in my life is just what this blog is about.

Romans 10:9-10 (Message) “This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—“Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what He did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not ‘doing’ anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting Him to do it for you. That’s salvation. With your whole being, you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: ‘God has set everything right between Him and me!’”

Now that’s exciting! I am trying to embrace a new freedom. Amazing how long it takes to work something into your life. I’ve been walking with the Lord for 27 years now.

So I’m joining in with Paul and saying:

“GOD HAS SET EVERYTHING RIGHT BETWEEN HIM AND ME!!!”

Not EVERYTHING except for... EVERYTHING, as in ALL!

Woohoo!

Grace

I have been pondering grace a lot lately. Being a structured person, I fall into legalism many times and God has to remind me that He is doing the work in my life.

He tells me: "This is the work (service) that God asks of you: that you believe in the One Whom He has sent [that you cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger]." (John 6:29 Amp.)

That's it! My only work! Everything else Christ is working in me. (Philippians 1:6 "...He Who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.") And even the work of believing is with help because without Jesus' help, I can do nothing. (John 15:5)

This good news is a boon to my soul. I am learning to rest in Him, trusting Him to work in and through me. I have added my name into the Message version of Romans 4:3 and placed it where I can see it daily.

"Lezlie entered into what God was doing for her, and that was the turning point! She trusted God to set her right instead of trying to be right on her own."