Archive for the ‘God’s Grace’ Category

8
Dec

HANGING ON

   Posted by: pastordiehl

We have a Pin Oak tree at our house that we planted a few years ago. It is beautiful! But I’ve noticed that long after the other trees have shed their leaves, these oak leaves are still hanging on. Even the strong winter winds can’t succeed in getting those stubborn leaves to let go. But, in the springtime a wonderful thing happens. Tiny little buds start appearing at the tips of the twigs, pushing off the dried remnants of the preceding season. What the winds and ice could not do from without, the forces of new life do from within.

Sometimes, my old ways of doing things can be like those stubborn leaves, and I don’t want to let go. However, the new life within me through the Holy Spirit, finds a way to push those old ways off and out of the way for the new life. The old served its purpose in its time, but today is a new time. And life is always fresh. That’s His grace at work.

What are you hanging onto that you need to let go?

1 Comment
7
Dec

GOD’S GRACE

   Posted by: pastordiehl Tags: , ,

This week we’re going to look at the subject of grace = unmerited favor; favor we don’t deserve. The airline had mangled Debbie’s luggage. Then her purse disappeared. Instead of entering the airport through an enclosed corridor, she stumbled off the plane in the pouring rain. She was drenched, far from home with no money, no identification, and no dry clothes.

Under normal conditions Debbie would have been furious, but that night it didn’t matter. She had just survived the crash of Flight 1420 in Little Rock, Arkansas. “When I walked off that plane,” Debbie said, “I walked off with nothing, then I stopped and thought, I have everything.” She had suddenly realized that her life was more important than all she had lost.

The fact that God allows me to continue to breathe is grace, considering my past failures. Let’s quit griping about what we’ve lost and focus on what He has permitted us to keep. That’s God’s grace.

No Comments
Back to top
Next Entries