Growing in Grace

"Use me, then, my Savior, for whatever purposes and in whatever way you may require. Here is my poor heart, an empty vessel, fill it with your grace."  -D.L.Moody "Grace is alive, . . . If I dam up the grace, hold the blessings tight, joy within dies. A life contemplating the blessings of Christ becomes a life acting the love of Christ." (p. 184) Jesus washed the disciples feet at the Last Supper. When He was finished, He asked the disciples, "Do you understand what I have done for you?" Then He told them, "Now that I your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." (John 13:12; 14-15) Ann Voskamp writes, "At the last, this is what will determine a fulfilling, meaningful life, a life that, behind all the facades, every one of us longs to live: gratitude for the blessings that expresses itself by becoming the blessing . Euchar...

On September 2nd we celebrated Dennis' 49th birthday. I wrote on Facebook, that for a cancer survivor and his family, birthdays are a treasured gift. On August 18, two years ago we received the news of Dennis' colon cancer diagnosis. It was a great shock and life as we knew it came to a screeching halt. Our lives have been filled with all things medical for the past two years. August 5 was the one year anniversary of Dennis' last chemotherapy infusion and August 17 was one year from his porta-cath removal. We thought this would be his last surgery and that life could begin to move forward - that we could get back to "normal". But as we've written before, we are now living a "new normal". Dennis is still dealing with affects from his treatment and surgery. He still has follow-up appointments. We still have medical bills. And he had to have another surgery which was related to his previous surgeries. Dennis developed a hernia at his ostomy site tha...

I cannot add anything to what Ann Voskamp has already said in this chapter of her book "One Thousand Gifts", except the continuation of my own list as I continued to be surprised by joy in even the hardest, darkest days. . .  How to live in a state of awe when life is mundane and ordinary? I murmur eucharisteo thanks . . and the world expands and heightens and deepens and surges with the glory of God and I can feel the body decreasing and the soul increasing and joy filling the breadth between.(p. 168) Expectations kill relationships. . . Without expectation, what can topple the surprising wonder of the moment? (p. 169) Is it only when our lives are emptied that we're surprised by how truly full our lives were? Instead of filling with expectations, the joy-filled expect nothing - and are filled. . .  The humble lived surprised. The humble live by joy. 'God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.' (Matthew 5:5) The humble are the ...

Following the feeding of the five thousand in chapter six, chapter seven opens with Jesus continuing to teach and do miracles throughout Galilee. He stayed away from Judea, however, because the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Him. As the Feast of Tabernacles was drawing near, Jesus’ brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas, told Jesus that He should go to Judea to do His miracles publicly. Their advice was not to bring others to a salvation, but to see Jesus become a prominent public person. Sadly, Jesus’ own brothers did not believe in Him. Jesus told His brothers that it was not the right time for Him to go. He was on a divine time table set for Him by the Father. It was right for the brothers to go to the Feast because they were following tradition - it was expected of them and they were not a threat to anyone. Jesus, however, was hated because His teaching challenged people to live righteously. He called sin what it was - sin; and the world hated Him for it. Therefore, He could not g...