Growing in Grace

The heavens tell the glory of God, and the skies announce what His hands have made. Day after day they tell the story; night after night they tell it again. They have no speech or words; they have no voice to be heard. But their message goes out through all the world; their words go everywhere on earth. The sky is like a home for the sun. The sun comes out like a bridegroom from his bedroom. It rejoices like an athlete eager to run a race. The sun rises at one end of the sky and follows its path to the other end. Nothing hides from its heat. The teachings of the Lord are perfect; they give new strength. The rules of the Lord can be trusted; they make plain people wise. The orders of the Lord are right; they make people happy. The commands of the Lord are pure; they light up the way. Respect for the Lord is good; it will last forever. The judgments of the Lord are true; they are completely right . -Psalm 19:1-9 God gave "the law" because He loves man. It is for man's b

I love you, Lord. You are my strength. The Lord is my rock, my protection, my Savior. My God is my rock. I can run to Him for safety. He is my shield and my saving strength, my defender. I will call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I will be saved from my enemies. -Psalm 18:1-3

I said to the Lord, "You are my Lord. Every good thing I have comes from you." . .The Lord is all I need. He takes care of me. My share in life has been pleasant; my part has been beautiful. . . So I rejoice and am glad. -Psalm 16:2, 5-6,9a

God owes no one anything. No explanations. No excuses. No help. God has no debt, no outstanding balance, no favors to return. God owes no man anything. Which makes the fact that He gave us everything even more astounding. -From In the Eye of the Storm by Max Lucado; part of The  Inspirational Study Bible: New Century Version  by Max Lucado You are the only Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, with all the stars. You made the earth and everything on it, the seas and everything in them; you give life to everything . -Nehemiah 9:6 But He gave up His place with God and made Himself nothing. He was born to be a man and became like a servant . -Philippians 2:7

My ears had heard of you before, but now my eyes have seen you. -Job 42:5 If you underline any passage in the book of Job, underline this one: "I had heard about you before, but now I have seen you." Job sees God - and that is enough. Something tells me that Job would do it all again, if that's what it took to hear God's voice and stand in the Presence. Even if God left him with his bedsores and bills, Job would do it again. For God gave Job more than Job ever dreamed. God gave Job Himself. -From In the Eye of the Storm by Max Lucado; part of The  Inspirational Study Bible: New Century Version  by Max Lucado Job humbled himself before the Lord and acknowledged His power and justice in executing His plans. . . He realized that whatever God does is right, and man must accept it by faith. Until now, Job's knowledge of God had been indirect and impersonal; but that was changed. Job had met God personally and seen himself to be but "dust and ashes&

Ephesians chapter one is a doxology which reminds us of what God has done and expresses worship to honor Him. Verse three states the theme of this book: the Christian's riches in Christ (Warren Wiersbe). In verse 3 we see that our blessings come from the Father. Our union with Christ makes us beneficiaries of every spiritual blessing that belongs to and comes from the Father.(NIV note) Wiersbe reminds us that "we inherit the wealth by faith and invest the wealth by works. Without this balance, our spiritual riches do us no good." Verses 4-13a tell us of the blessings we have through the Son. In verse 4 we read that He "chose us" to be holy and blameless. Being "chosen" refers to divine election - God seeks the sinner. "God chose us even before He created the universe, so that our salvation is wholly of His grace and not on the basis of anything we ourselves have done. He chose us in Christ, not in ourselves. And He chose us for a purpose: to

I choose to look at what seems good to me rather than to anticipate all the gruesome complications that can happen at some point. . . We are all going to have pain, but misery is optional. We can decide how we will react to the pain that inevitably comes to us all. -From Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy by Barbara Johnson; part of The  Inspirational Study Bible: New Century Version  by Max Lucado

Most of us tend to have this idea that since God is sovereign, He's supposed to make everything work out perfectly. Nothing is supposed to touch us as long as we're walking with Him. This is the very problem that leads many Christians to despair when they go through trials. They can't imagine how God could ever let anything bad happen to them. They turn His sovereignty into a magic genie that's supposed to push all problems, trials, difficulties, and irritations away the moment we say "Go!" As a result, when we suddenly find ourselves in the midst of terrible circumstances, we crumble, blame God, and accuse Him of not caring, not being just, not acting in a loving manner, not having our best interests in mind. We must come back to the truth that while God is in absolute control of all life, He is not the cause of all life's mishaps. Rather, His plan allows those mishaps for the great purpose of raising up "many brethren conformed to the image of C

Even now I have one who speaks for me in heaven; the one who is on my side is high above. The one who speaks for me is my friend. -Job 17:19-20

I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed , yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes - I and not another. How my heart yearns within me. -Job 19:25-27

The life of every creature and the breath of all people are in God's hand. -Job 12:10 We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him. -Romans 8:28a Suffering is never easy to understand. Because he assumed that suffering resulted from sin, Eliphaz could not comfort his friend (Job). Some people see sin in every sickness. They make their friends miserable by probing for hidden sins whenever suffering enters their lives. Although there may be truth in their questioning, it also could be a cruel response to another's time of pain. They are like Job's so-called friends who pointed out all of his wrongs. Job called them "miserable comforters.". . . It is unkind to attribute every accident, every illness and sorrow to God's punishment for wrong behavior. It is appalling how many Christians approach suffering friends with that principle. They visit first with words of comfort, and then leave a load of guilt behind ("What could yo

Here’s our news for 2013. . . The best news is that Dennis’ regular blood work and “anniversary” CT-scan show he continues to be cancer free. We are not without regular reminders that he has walked the cancer road, but we are grateful for his continued health, ability to work, and the time we have to enjoy him. This year we celebrated Dennis’ 50th birthday weekend with a Beatles themed party at Carolyn’s parents’ house, a Quakes baseball game and dinner at Red Robin. Dennis continues to teach at ACA in Redlands and was pleased to be given the same classes as last year - Economics, US History, Government and AP Government. Carolyn is in her 4th year of homeschooling the kids, It remains a challenge and a joy. She was a first time team mom for Ellie’s basketball team. Once again she coordinated the crafts for summer VBS and has started helping out with special children’s ministry events at church. Carolyn is also very happy to be back in a women’s Bible study after having been away f