by jphilo | Jun 9, 2015 | Top Ten Tuesday
Life’s been rough at our house lately. So I’m fighting discouragement and a tendency to dwell on what’s wrong in my world by giving thanks for the small and good blessings that are part of each day.
10. The weather’s been so pleasant, we’ve hardly needed to turn on the AC.
9. The propane company sent a letter saying our bill will go down over $100 in September.
8. At this moment, the weeds are pulled and the housework is done.
7. The herb garden provided fresh parsley, basil, and cilantro for several meals this week.
6. Our first CSA produce pick up is today.
5. But the CSA strawberries started early so we feasted our way through 2 delectable quarts…and I took some down to Mom last week, too.
4. Revisions on my mystery novel are moving along and the escape therapy is just what the doctor ordered.
3. The Man of Steel and I will take Mom to a family reunion in Minnesota this coming weekend. She will complain during the whole trip and then thoroughly enjoy being queen for a day in the presence of her nieces and nephews.
2. My daughter held the phone close to our 2-month-old grandson’s mouth so we could hear him coo. Happy tears!
1. In the last week, God arranged encounters with 2 dear friends and a sister who understand my current struggles and the time spent with them was soothing balm to the soul.
What blessings are you thankful for this week?
by jphilo | Jul 1, 2013 | Church Newsletter Columns
For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one,
much more those who received the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
Romans 12:7
Summer in Iowa is a time of abundance. Our neighbor’s sour cherry tree is covered with enough fruit for their family, our family, and the birds. Hiram and I are working our way through a two gallon bag of lettuce given to us by friends. Every week, we feast on fresh-picked strawberries from our CSA share.
But the abundance of summer garden produce pales compared to the abundance of God’s eternal grace described in Romans 5. Over and over, Paul reminds us of two things: the abundance of human sin and God’s abundant grace. He reminds us that have a choice: to walk in the path of sin, or to follow the path where God’s grace. Whichever choice we make leads to abundance. The first, to abundant sin. The second to grace abundant enough to wash away our sins through the sacrificial love of Jesus.
The love of Jesus demonstrates God’s abundant grace. His vast capacity to absorb darkness into his light. His ability to take what was meant for evil and turn it to good. Not just for some sins in a few lives here and there. But for every sin in the lives of all who come to know him.
God doesn’t force this life-giving grace upon us. But it is always present, as long as we live. Always available, hiding in the mundane circumstances of our lives. Present in the midst of challenge and sorrow. Waiting to be discovered in the unexpected compassion of friends and strangers. Breathing hope into despair.
God doesn’t use an invading army to reveal and deliver this abundance. He uses one man, his Son. And he doesn’t grant blanket absolution to everyone on earth. Instead, he saves us one-by-one. Then he initiates a tender, intimate relationship with each believer. Not an elaborate, one time ceremony, but a daily, quiet conversation. Not a lightning bolt, once-and-final change of character, but a process of sanctification that begins when a person gives his heart, once-and-forever, to the Savior who died so we might live.
God offers his children an abundance of relationship. A relationship that lasts a lifetime, an eternity. A relationship in which we are free to explore his character, delight in his presence and enjoy his gifts. Through that relationship, we see him more fully revealed. We come to know the God, the One-and-only who intimately, simultaneously, and eternally lavishes abundant grace on all who come to know him as Lord and Savior.
