"Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin. "
I love this hymn! It reminds me of the grace that God has poured out for me (a sinner)! "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain." 1 Corinthians 15:10 I love the story of Paul! How God took a man who persecuted His people and then used Him to proclaim His name to the nations! May God's grace on my life not be in vain. We are going through a study at church on 30 Life Principles (by Charles Stanley) and this week God did a work in me that really opened my eyes to my sinful ways. Our principle that we studied this week was: "You reap what you sow, more than you sow, and later than you sow." (Judges 2:1-4) . Even though we covered verses in Judges and in Galations (6:7-8), the verse that really hit home was one that I hadn't studied this past week. It wasn't in our lesson, and I only read it while our lesson was being taught. on Sunday We read from Psalm 22 (verse 6), discussing the idea of (sowing) planting seeds in your children's lives and one day, prayerfully, being able to reap the blessings. In our case, this would be, raising our children in a Godly and loving home, to love the Lord their God, teaching them to care for the needy, train them to go into all the world and proclaim the message of Christ to the lost and then being blessed by knowing that our children are honoring God with their lives. But I went further down the chapter, verse 8 "Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail." My sinful ways,lack of faith for provision, had led me to not speak up for the injustice in the world. I don't know when that came about, to be honest I grew up in a house that spoke up for the injustice in the world, and for as long as I could remember I had strived to do the same. In the last couple months, however, something had changed. The idea that Trey's job might be on the line if I spoke up and said something, prevented me from doing just that. This week, I had the opportunity to feed, clothe, and share the love of Christ with a homeless woman (Lauren) who stands under a bridge near our home, frequently asking for money or food. God used that one situation, I believe this week, to get me back on the right track. The past couple of months, sitting silent , not standing up and speaking up for the dying of this world, was evidence of pure selfishness and disobedience.
The two children we have now, enjoy a refreshing glass of clean drinking water several times a day, but sadly I don't know that our next child does. Over 5,000 children a day, under the age of 5, die from the lack of clean drinking water. That doesn't even cover the children who are over the age of 5....how many are dying because we sit silent, how many are dying because we're not standing up, how many die because of our selfishness or lack of faith that God will provide when we are faithful to give. Now, it's not the Joel Osteen idea of "give all you have and God will give you more money back than you could have imagined", BUT give because it's commanded of you-of us as BELIEVERS, give because He will richly bless your life (maybe not with material things but with the reward of knowing that you live a life that is God honoring)!
My thoughts, I know, are random today. When God lays something on your heart to share, all you can do is share. I pray everyday for God to continue to work in me, mold me, shape me into what He wants me to be. May I (and may we) never grow complacent in our walk with God, but live a life that strives to be deeper in His word, that yearns to be closer walking with Him. May God use me to stop some of the injustice in this world, may God use our family to show the world how you can honor God in all that you do, and may my children, one day, know the love of Christ and proclaim it to all the nations...all my children, the ones I know and love now and the ones I will know and love one day (soon)!
