Holy Father,
Our sin is far greater than we admit,
but Your grace is far greater than we expect.
Thank You for the forgiveness we have in Christ,
because of Christ.
That forgiveness is total and complete,
free and effective,
instant and eternal.
When we think of what Jesus did,
what He suffered,
how humbly He did so,
how freely,
willingly, tenderly, and full of love
for people who were so deserving of none of it,
we are astonished.
What a Savior! What a king! What a friend we have in Jesus!
Jesus, You should be the singular love and devotion of our hearts.
We should love You with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
That is what we want.
That is what we long for.
That is what we strive for…
or what we know we should be striving for.
The reality is we often find our love fickle, cold, and splintered.
We are like Peter:
his love was evidenced by the call to come to You on the water;
his devotion was proved by his obedience in stepping out of the boat and on to the water;
You were clearly visible,
not only spiritually but physically,
You empowered him to walk on water;
yet in spite of all this,
he was distracted by the wind and sank.
Our own experience is so similar.
But as weak and imperfect as our love is,
You are there to grab our hand as You did Peter’s and lift us back up.
Your grace is greater than all our sin.
Spirit, we need Your grace,
Your power,
Your life.
We praise You for always being there.
For always reminding us of the Father’s love for us.
We thank You that as You continue to reveal our need of grace by showing us our sin, that You do so to humble us and make us tender, not to leave us hopeless.
That for every sin You reveal and convict us of,
You point to Christ and the cross and say
“See, it was dealt with there, do not be afraid!”
Father in that confidence of grace we come to You
with all our hopes and fears,
our joys and our sorrows,
our public blessings and private pain.
Keep our blessings from making us so comfortable that we do not desire to move on; keep our trails from making us so fearful and anxious that we stop the work You have given us to do.
Grant us faith to trust You in all things,
with all things,
for all things.
Grant us trust that looks to You,
leans into You,
and rests in You.
Help us Father, to take our profession to action. May our confession of love and devotion to You, to Christ, and to Your Spirit be proven in our obedience, in our love for one another.
Learning To Be Full Of Grace And Truth. 