O To Grace How Great A Debtor...

...DAILY I'm constrained to be...

Grace. One of the most powerful words in the human language. In it we find forgiveness, love, and redemption, all equally undeserved, yet lavishly given by a Father who loves us dearly. Through grace we are called and sustained to persevere till the end. Praise God for this kind of grace...

Yesterday I found myself becoming more and more exasperated as the day went on. The littlest things started bothering me, and having three girls under the age of 7 depending on you for care only seemed to magnify the root of selfishness in my heart. I didn't even know it was there, until I began getting frustrated by things that normally don't upset me. As I found myself getting more and more irritated throughout the afternoon, I knew that I needed to turn to the Lord to change my unforgiving heart. I wish I could report that immediately after praying I was the most loving, caring, selfless human alive, but that wasn't the case. I was still frustrated and irritated, but more aware of the fact that it was my own sin--not anything the girls were doing, which allowed me to internalize the frustration rather than take it out on them. Not the best solution to the problem, but definitely better than the alternative.

Here's an excerpt from Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan that really spoke to me this morning...(you should read the whole book if you haven't already!) (Ps...It's in Old English...)

"he led him into a place where was a Fire burning against a Wall, and one standing by it always, casting much Water upon it to quench it: Yet did the Fire burn higher and hotter.
Then said Christian, What means this?
The Interpreter answered, This fire is the work of Grace that is wrought in the heart; he that casts water upon it, to extinguish and put it out is the Devil: but in that thou seest the fire, notwithstanding, burn higher and hotter, thou shalt also see the reason of that: So he had him about to the back side of the Wall, where he saw a Man with a Vessel of Oyl [oil] in his hand, of the which he did also continually cast, but secretly, into the fire. Then said Christian, What means this? The Interpreter answered, This is Christ, who continually with the Oyl of his Grace, maintains the work already begun in the heart; by the means of which, not withstanding what the Devil can do, the souls of his people prove gracious still. And in that thou sawest, that the Man stood behind the Wall to maintain the fire; this is to teach thee, that it is hard for the tempted to see how this work of Grace is maintained in the soul."

Praise God for the "Oil of Grace" that continually works to keep our hearts saturated in grace!