Happy Thursday!
I have spent the day
writing my New Testament exegesis paper.
I think it is complete, but I am putting it to bed for the night and
will look at it again tomorrow before sending to my beloved editor. I have learned many things as I have written
this paper, but the most important think I have discovered consistently is that
forgiveness comes by faith in God through belief in Jesus.
Prayer: Lord, I am what I am by Your grace. I am
saved because of Your grace and can live for Your glory because of Your
grace. I shudder to think where I would
be apart from Your grace. Today I need Your grace to strengthen and to guard
me. Let my speech be seasoned with grace, my attitude motivated by grace, and
my actions directed by grace alone. I pray that I would extend Your grace to
others, as You have been so gracious to me. Amen.
“But He gives more grace. Therefore He
says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
James 4: 6
I have always
thought of the Book of James as where the rubber meets the road kind of
writing. It seems like a book of rules
to live by with not a lot of gray area.
Our salvation is by grace alone.
My meditation tonight says that “no one in heaven is boasting about how
they got there.” I love that line.
There
are no bragging rights in heaven—only humble, grateful praises directed to God
and the Lamb of God. You know that
phrase in the Lord’s prayer that says, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on
earth as it is in heaven”? That means that God’s will is the last word in
heaven and needs to be done on earth.
God saves us and fits us for heaven by grace and then requires us to
live by that grace here on earth.
I learn more each
day about my need for God in every situation in which I find myself. I pray as
I write these papers. I pray that they
are not only academically accurate, but that they also identify where I stand
in my faith. As I continue on in this
journey of seminary learning and path to ordination I find myself growing
weaker in my outer self and God is strengthening me inwardly. I pray for inward holiness and an outward
witness by God’s grace. I know these
things cannot be accomplished in me without God for without God I can do
nothing.
Take joy in the
journey. Wear comfortable shoes and get
some sleep. God has our back tonight so
only one of us needs to remain awake.
Count your blessings and say your prayers. Love you all, Bruce,
Gaylene, Geni and Travis.
I am not moved by what
I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I
believe God.