Tag Archives: Grace

2012 Day 91 – Mark 16

31 Saturday Mar 2012

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We can assume that the man in the white robe at Jesus’ tomb is an angel. I love what he says in verses 6-7, “6 Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ ” What I love is that he says and Peter. The significance is that he made a special mention of Peter to show that in spite of Peter’s denials, Jesus did not disown him. In fact, Jesus had great plans for him to fulfill in the establishment of the “soon to be” Church. It is encouraging to see that God can use anyone despite what they have done in their past.

2012 Day 80 – John 13

20 Tuesday Mar 2012

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The passage describing Peter and Jesus’ interaction when He washes the disciples feet it’s humorous and a good parallel to how we sometimes choose to interact with God. When Jesus goes to wash Peter’s feet, he refuses. This is very much the way we sometimes react to God’s attempts to bless us. We feel unworthy and sometimes feel we need to earn it. Jesus takes the time to make Peter understand that he can not have a place in God’s kingdom if he doesn’t accept God’s gifts and blessings. While we may sometimes not be worth, Jesus’ mercy and grace are sufficient for us.

2012 Day 78 – Mark 14

17 Saturday Mar 2012

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There is a lot to absorb in today’s reading. The first thing that stood out to me was in verse 62 when Jesus answers the high priest’s question as to whether He is the Christ or not, “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Even when Jesus answers truthfully He is still called a liar and is beaten. This is something for us to remember. Just doing the right thing and telling the truth about Jesus does not guarantee that everything turns out ok. Notice that Jesus points to His reward in heaven, not here on earth.

The second thing that stood out to me was Peter’s denial of Jesus. It took Peter 3 times before he reaches verse 72, Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept. The tough part is seeing Peter walking right into the middle of it. However, the really good news here is that Peter still becomes one of the foundations, The Rock, of our faith. No matter how bad we mess up, God can and will still use us.

2012 Day 69 – Matthew 22

09 Friday Mar 2012

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Today’s reading in Matthew 22 shows how much the religious leaders wanted to stump Jesus. Both the Sadducees and Pharisees worked very hard, but at ever turn Jesus had an answer. What stood out to me today was verse 22, “‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” In this verse Jesus is making it clear that heaven is for real. God is the God of the living and not the dead. I love knowing that I will see the people I love once again in heaven. It brings me comfort and joy knowing that those who believe in Christ and His saving grace will be with me for eternity.

2012 Day 63 – Matthew 20

03 Saturday Mar 2012

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Here is another verse so many of us take out of context; verse 16, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” The verse talks about non-Jews having equal access to the Kingdom of God as Jews. Somehow we love to use this verse as some sort of “get to the front of the line” verse. It is important to know what Jesus is saying and why he says the things he says. For this verse we must remember that Jesus died for everyone, not just a select few. It is not up to us to figure who to impact, but to remember we are a reflection of Him in all that we do.

2012 Day 60 – Luke 17

29 Wednesday Feb 2012

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We all sin and we all mess up on a regular basis. Forgiveness is very easy to accept but not always easy to give. Jesus makes it clear that forgiveness is not something we are to give once; it is something we need to give on a regular basis. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” When we repent God forgives us endlessly, the least we can do is forgive others when they repent to us.

2012 Day 36 – Matthew 14

05 Sunday Feb 2012

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In this chapter, my focus was turned to Jesus walking on the water. Peter’s experience is very much how I am with Jesus in my own walk sometimes. When my eyes are focused on Him, I can handle any of life’s obstacles. But when I focus on the waves crashing all around me, I struggle dealing  with the issue at hand. God never asked me to suck it up. He asked me to trust in Him and know that He will never leave me alone. When I stop long enough to see this, my level of understanding leaves me at peace. The other day a friend posted the following dialog on her Facebook page…

Me: God, can I ask You a question?

God: Sure

Me: Promise You won’t get mad…

God: I promise

Me: Why did You let so much stuff happen to me today?

God: What do u mean?

Me: Well, I woke up late

God: Yes

Me: My car took forever to start

God: Okay

Me: at lunch they made my sandwich wrong & I had to wait

God: Hmm

Me: On the way home, my phone went DEAD, just as I picked up a call

God: All right

Me: And on top of it all off, when I got home, I just wanted to soak my feet in my new foot massager & relax. BUT it wouldn’t work!!! Nothing went right today! Why did You do that?

God: Let me see, the death angel was at your bed this morning & I had to send one of My Angels to battle him for your life. I let you sleep through that

Me (humbled): OH

GOD: I didn’t let your car start because there was a drunk driver on your route that would have hit you if you were on the road.

Me: (ashamed)

God: The first person who made your sandwich today was sick & I didn’t want you to catch what they have, I knew you couldn’t afford to miss work.

Me (embarrassed):Okay

God: Your phone went dead because the person that was calling was going to give false witness about what you said on that call, I didn’t even let you talk to them so you would be covered.

Me (softly): I see God

God: Oh and that foot massager, it had a shortage that was going to throw out all of the power in your house tonight. I didn’t think you wanted to be in the dark.

Me: I’m Sorry God

God: Don’t be sorry, just learn to Trust Me…. in All things , the Good & the bad.

Me: I will trust You.

God: And don’t doubt that My plan for your day is Always Better than your plan.

Me: I won’t God. And let me just tell you God, Thank You for Everything today.

God: You’re welcome child. It was just another day being your God and I Love looking after My Children…

2012 Day 19 – Matthew 12:1-21

19 Thursday Jan 2012

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I think today’s message is pretty straight forward. The Pharisees were so concerned with keeping religious rituals, that they missed the whole point of Jesus’ purpose here on earth. They were more concerned with the disruption Jesus caused to their way of thinking and refused to see the good that Jesus brought to the people around them. I know there are times I miss the good that people bring because I get stuck on the method or the fact that I would have done it differently. But I need to accept that ultimately God wants us to serve Him and honor Him by serving and accepting people right where they are and not where I want them to be. In verse 7 where it says, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”, it jams me right through the heart and reminds me that I fail when I am more concerned with the amount of sacrifice someone does than the amount of mercy they receive. And one final point; the mercy and sacrifice is all from God, He doesn’t really need mine.

2012 Day 18 – John 5

18 Wednesday Jan 2012

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The lame man being healed at the pool is a story that has always bothered me. Ever since I was a little boy I remember how troubled I was that it took him 38 years to be healed. For 38 years no one helped this man get into the “healing pool” and it took Jesus to come along to finally heal him. It wasn’t until recently that I realized that this man’s life was put into place to ultimately glorify Jesus. He was asked by God, unknowingly I’m sure, to live out his life for the sole purpose of helping to shine a light on the Messiah. I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand suffering for more that 5 minutes, much less 38 years. I was reflecting with someone today about how easy it is to be an American. We have everything at our fingertips and when we suffer just a little it seems like the whole world is coming down on us. We must accept the life He has given us and know that all circumstances are for His purpose and not ours. I think it is also important to remember that our lives, whether in prosperity or in suffering, is put in place for the sole purpose of glorifying God.

2012 Day 5 – Psalm 85 & 106

05 Thursday Jan 2012

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Today we get to do the first of our Psalms. Psalm 85:4 says, “Restore us again, O God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us.” Even in the Old Testament it shows that only God can lead us into salvation. Only He can restore to relationship and fellowship with Him.

Psalm 106 covers God’s judgment and salvation of His people from the time they left Egyptian captivity to the time they became captives of the Babylonian empire. The verse that stood out to me the most was “So he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one,  stood in the breach before him  to keep his wrath from destroying them.” (Psalm 106:23 NIV84) This is a great picture of what Jesus has done for all of us. He stood in the gap between our imperfection and God’s perfection. Praise be to Him for saving us from ourselves.