Another Day of Grace

January 24, 2014January 24, 2014 / Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

Let’s see where I stand currently.

I don’t have a job or a lot of money in my checking account, but . . .

I did wake up this morning. I didn’t go hungry today and I had a place to escape from the bitter cold outside. I still have all ten fingers and all ten toes, my health, and most of my coordination skills.

I have a good God and a good future ahead of me.

I still love grace because I still need it. In fact, as I’ve grown older I can definitely say that my need for grace has increased rather than decreased. Or maybe my awareness of my need has increased.

There’s a line from Amazing Grace that I love about how grace will lead me home. That means I won’t ever outgrow my need for it no matter how I mature in my faith. I will always always need grace.

I still love the definition of grace as “God’s riches at Christ’s expense.” It sums it up quite neatly as well as forming an acrostic of the word grace. Also, I love the definition as “God’s unmerited favor.”

Unmerited. As in undeserved. Unearned. Not a reward for the good I’ve done. Not bonus points I earn for living right and eating all my veggies. It’s all in God’s generous and merciful goodness to me.

I think on that note I’ll call it a night. I started my day off with grace and will end it that way.

Good night, dear friends. May you bask in the grace of this great God we serve and never get tired of how it carries and sustains you through all your years.

Amen.

Giving Thanks In Every Circumstance

November 24, 2013November 24, 2013 / Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

I know you’re not supposed to give thanks FOR everything. That would be just plain weird. I mean who gives thanks for losing a loved one or getting fired from a job or for finding out you have a terminal illness?

But you can give thanks in the midst of those things, if for nothing more than God’s promise to work all things, even those things, together for good for those who love Him.

I’ve learned a few places where you can give thanks that don’t really seem to be places where gratitude is naturally found:

I can give thanks when my job involves long hours and tedious moments because I remember what it was like to not have a job and to not have money and to not feel productive or useful.

I can give thanks when a friend gives up on me or withdraws from me because it makes me not take for granted those who have stuck with me through dark days and low moments.

I can give thanks for delayed pay checks and not having a lot in the ol’ checking account because my eyes are opened once more to true riches of relationships and health and life and contentment and I find that I am wealthy in what really matters.

I can give thanks when the people I care about move away or simply disappear because I learn to treasure the time I am given with the people I am given and to be a blessing to the people in my life while it’s still called today because tomorrow is never guaranteed.

I can give thanks that bad days make the good days better, that rainy days make me appreciate sunshine more, that bitterly cold weather makes me love wool coats and fleece scarfs all the more, and that the meds keep me reminded that am not perfect or normal or self-sufficient but that I am always loved in spite of all these things. No, because of these things.

Gratitude is a habit that is learned one day at a time and joy is an lifestyle of slowing down and opening your eyes to see the small daily miracles all around you called blessings.

Don’t forget to be thankful for those small furry babies who love you unconditionally (even when you step on their tails for forget to feed them periodically or accidentally shut them in garages or closets). I just thought I’d throw that one in for free.

PS I am thankful every day that Jesus never gave up on me until He found me, rescued me, and brought me into His family. I am thankful that my weaknesses prove His strength, my sin shows the power of His grace and forgiveness, and my failures showcase His ability to make masterpieces out of messes.

Things I Love 17: It Was a Very Good Year

June 28, 2013July 31, 2013 / Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

For some reason, I feel the need lately to throw in a reference to a popular song. Be thankful, it was going to be “Ode to Kip Winger” until this Frank Sinatra ditty popped in my head at the last moment. These subtitles really have nothing to do with anything. They’re just fun to think up and keep my blog titles from being completely repetitive and boring. That being said, we kick off today’s list with #412.

412) That the prayers of a righteous person, i.e. someone God has declared in right standing because of and only because of Jesus, is still something powerful to be reckoned with (according to the Message version of James 5:17).

413) Homemade ice cream like the kind I had at Mike’s Ice Cream Factory in downtown Nashville tonight.

414) Dinner with friends.

415) Water with lemon and lime that tastes like Sprite, only without the carbonation and calories.

416) That it’s been 14 months today since my last carbonated beverage.

417) People watching in downtown Nashville (and feeling a lot more normal after seeing the strangeness there).

418) The serenity that comes while driving home at night.

419) That every time someone takes a selfie, an angel has to listen to a Kenny G album.

420) Having joy in the midst of uncertainty and peace in the midst of turmoil.

421) Being able to blog on my iPhone while I’m sitting on the porch at The Frothy Monkey.

422) Seeing old movies and realizing that I posses better technology than what was ahead of its time at that time.

423) Pasta of just about any kind.

424) My sins being cast from me as far as the east is from the west.

425) Only having a slightly crooked pinky as a result of being hit by a car.

426) Not having to set my alarm to wake me up at an ungodly hour tomorrow morning.

427) Salvation by grace through faith.

428) That whosoever will includes me.

429) The combination of chocolate and peanut butter (whoever thought of it first should have his–or her– own national holiday).

430) The French Onion soup from Panera Bread.

431) The Green Hills Community Group (and everybody in it).

432) Not having to work Quality Control at Johnson & Johnson testing rectal thermometers.

433) Whenever I find someone who shares my love of music and movies and good books.

434) The smell of freshly baked rolls coming out of the oven.

435) Having lots of different Bible translations that each shed a different light on the meaning of a given passage of Scripture.

436) Laying in a hammock on a breezy summer day.

437) Only being 563 away from having 1,000 things I love.

438) Balancing my checkbook to the penny.

439) Having more money than I thought I did in my checking account.

440) Not being broke.

441) Knowing that people are praying for me.

442) Waking up with a hot shower in the morning.

443) Still knowing all the words to the Rubber Ducky song from Sesame Street.

444) Warm blankets on a cold night.

445) Making people laugh.

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Another Day of Grace

Giving Thanks In Every Circumstance

Things I Love 17: It Was a Very Good Year