Ignoring Grace

Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. —Matthew 7:14

 In the hectic downtown of one of Asia’s great cities, I marveled at the busy sidewalks filled with people. There seemed to be no room to move in the crush of humanity, yet it also seemed that everyone was moving at top speed.

My attention was drawn to the soft, almost mournful sound of a single trumpeter playing “Amazing Grace.” The crowds appeared oblivious to both the musician and the music. Still, he played—sending a musical message of the love of God out to whoever knew the song and would think about the words as he played.

I thought of this experience as a parable. The music seemed to be an invitation to the masses to follow Christ. As with the gospel message, some believe in God’s amazing grace and choose the narrow way. Others ignore His grace, which is the broad way that leads to everlasting destruction. Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matt. 7:13-14).

Jesus died so that “whoever calls” on His name (Rom. 10:13) can find forgiveness in His grace. —Bill Crowder

Amazing grace—how sweet the sound—
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind but now I see. —Newton

Christ believed is salvation received.

Our Daily Bread Devotional

Freedom

Galatians 5:1

Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.

The Message

Give Thanks

Psalm 136:26

"Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven! For His mercy endures forever."

What do you have to be thankful for??

Faith Always Pleases God

It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.

Hebrews 11:6
The Message

Sowing Seeds of Peace

This is from one of my favorite authors, Max Lucado (The Applause of Heaven).

Plant goodness, harvest the fruit of loyalty, plow the new ground of knowledge. —Hos_10:12

"Want to see a miracle? Plant a word of love heartdeep in a person's life. Nurture it with a smile and a prayer, and watch what happens.

An employee gets a compliment. A wife receives a bouquet of flowers. A cake is baked and carried next door. A widow is hugged. A gas-station attendant is honored. A preacher is praised.

Sowing seeds of peace is like sowing beans. You don't know why it works; you just know it does. Seeds are planted, and topsoils of hurt are shoved away.

Don't forget the principle. Never underestimate the power of a seed."

Call It Good

I have trusted in Your mercy. —Psalm 13:5

Can we really know whether to label life’s circumstances as good or bad?

For instance, your car breaks down right before you are to take a family road trip. But when you take the car to the shop, the mechanic says, “Good thing you didn’t take this out on the road. It could have caught fire.” Is that bad because of the inconvenience, or good because of God’s protection?

Or perhaps your child decides to pursue interests that aren’t all that interesting to you. You wanted her to play basketball and run track in high school. But she wanted to sing and play the oboe. You feel frustrated, but she excels and ends up with a music scholarship. Is that bad because your dreams weren’t fulfilled, or good because God directed her in ways you could not have predicted?

Sometimes it’s hard to see how God is working. His mysteries don’t always reveal their secrets to us, and our journey is often redirected by uncontrollable detours. Perhaps God is showing us a better route.

To make sure we benefit from what might seem bad, we must recognize and trust God’s “unfailing love” (Ps. 13:5 NIV). In the end, we’ll be able to say, “I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me” (v.6 NIV). —Dave Branon

The circumstances in our lives
Seem random and unplanned;
But someday we will surely see
The order of God’s hand. —Sper

We may not be able to control events, but we can control our attitude toward them.

Our Daily Bread Devotions

Our Daily Bread

Daily devotional online.

Our Daily Bread

Snow in North Carolina

We had some decent snowfall this week... I love winter only when it snows like this.

Happy New Year!

Praying everyone has a wonderful 2011!

Thanks for your support last year and I hope you'll continue to follow me.

God Bless!!