Grace like rain…

Matthew 5:43-45 NKJV — “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

God gives us direction in His Word for life and how to live.

Here He instructs us on how to love and give grace.

It’s like the rain, it should fall on everyone.

God makes it clear, we are to remember His grace for us and to extend it to others.

Psalm 145:9 KJV — The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

Of course, like all things God calls us to do, it comes with wisdom and discernment.

Matthew 7:6 NKJV — “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

Therefore, while walking in God’s grace and mercy, we treasure it for what it is, not trampling or shredding the priceless gift of God: salvation through Jesus Christ.

We also have the privilege to extend the same grace we enjoy to those around us, not exposing others or ourselves to evil and passing it off as good, but instead calling out evil and loving the sinner whose life is being strangled by that same evil.

Because true love, as exampled in Christ Jesus, reaches out to the sinner.

Romans 5:8 KJV — But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Talk about amazing, costly grace!

Jesus paid a high price to extend it to us.

For those of us who enjoy this grace, may we be quick to share it.

God’s grace showered upon us is truly a wonderful blessing.

John 1:17 KJV — For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You so much for Your awesome gift of grace and mercy. How small is my understanding of what a costly gift it is, but I humbly thank You for it. Lord Jesus, please help me to remain humble before You and to remember that mankind does not see the heart, only You can. It is against the pride ridden nature of my sinful heart to want to extend grace to others, but You call me to love the same as You do. Please, Lord, help me to walk in this and continue to teach my heart Your ways. Lord, thank You for Your faithfulness and love. Thank You for this new day in which to learn more about loving as You do. I love You, Jesus. Amen.

Raining

I awoke to the sound of thunder.

I dashed out in my nightgown, robe, and Anne’s flip-flops.

I’d neglected bringing in a few things last night and rain wouldn’t do them any good.

Thankfully, it had just begun to sprinkle.

By the time I was back in my bedroom it was raining hard.

I opened the curtains to watch it come down.

I love the rain.

Something has mixed inside of me.

My childhood spent in the desert, my experiences of little or no water, and my love of plants has created a deep appreciation for rain.

An appreciation for both the physical benefits and the Biblical lessons.

It reminds me of what Jesus has done for me.

First, He cleansed me from sin with His sacrifice.

Second, He is continually washing away the stain of sin upon my heart and mind. He renews my soul through His Word and His truths.

Third, He is constantly growing me. His presence in my life has been more than just a “regular watering” plants need to thrive. He has poured into me so much that I natural want to pour out into others.

Truly, a well of life.

John 4:14 NKJV — “but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

I praise God for He reigns in my life.

His faithfulness is everlasting and His truth is endures to all generations.

“Thank You, Jesus, for rain.”

Spring rain

Isaiah 61:11
For as the earth brings forth it’s bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Every day this week I’ve read this verse.

It’s almost like I can’t fully understand what it is saying.

To imagine the buds on the trees and flowers, to watch the tiny heads of seeds break from the soil is all something I understand.

Yet to see righteousness and praise bud and bloom from the nations of the Earth seems almost unheard of.

Until I flipped open a magazine.

Page after page held the faces of people around the world making a difference for Christ.

I smiled.

And prayed for a member of our church who is currently on a mission trip.

This afternoon I walked out into the gentle spring rain and allowed the Lord to refresh my perspective.

If His Word says something it is truth, even when I can’t see it.

Just as the rain nourishes the ground so God’s Word fills my heart and mind with exactly what I’m lacking.

As the damp earth grows subtle and pliable so should my attitude towards the events around me.

Things might seem dead.
The pain of sin still grips one like frost in winter.
Yet as the rain washes off
the old
the dead
the dry
So the promises in God’s Word can wash off the pessimistic and bitter attitude which can come from the sad broken affects of sin.

Rain

Growing up in the desert,
means I love the rain.

Even though we have lived in places where it rains almost daily.

I still love the rain.

There used to be a country song I owned talking about the singer “falling” for his girl like the rain.

It could be included that my family has had to live many times without enough water to wash clothes or take showers and rain means water.

However, I no longer focus on these things when the rain begins.

Lev. 26:4
“then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield it’s produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.”

Rain waters, refreshes, revives.

Job 5:10
“He (God) gives rain on the earth and sends water on the fields, ”

Rain is a part of the water cycle but God is the One who created it. He understands His creation and gives us a beautiful picture of Himself through something as common as rain.

Even Solomon used the lack of rain to be a proverb.

“Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of his gifts falsely.”  Prov. 25:14

As the rain waters the flowers and soaks the skin, I look up (with my eyes closed) and think of the Father.

I thank Him for the rain.
I ask Him to cleanse my heart of bitterness or sin or jealousy.
I remember that God sends the rain and it can remind me of my dependence on Him.