13-Aug-14

Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes. Psalm 37:5-7The verbs in the previous three verses say it all.  COMMIT, TRUST,  BE STILL, WAIT PATIENTLY, DO NOT FRET.  These are admonishments to us.  Commit – to have no other gods before you.  Trust – to not question God’s ways, but accept His Will.  Be Still – to listen for His Voice.  Wait Patiently – to not hurry God, whine, or complain.  Do Not Fret – to not worry about tomorrow, or even the rest of today and keep your eyes on God, not on others.  And right in the middle of this list of ‘to-do’s’ is a promise that brings light into our lives and our hearts — Our righteous reward shines like the dawn – the beginning of the new day.  The light doesn’t sputter and go out.  But our vindication shines like the full light of the noonday sun.Just what is God’s plan for us?  Why can we live unafraid.  There is a free gift in it for us.  Grace, wrapped in Salvation, is our free gift.  Look in the mirror.  You are looking at God’s masterpiece.  And you shake your head in wonder, that is a masterpiece?  But wait, we can be created anew.  How we try to improve on what we see in the mirror with make-up and fashions.  Even then, the reflection we see is covered with cracks of anger and lost-ness.  How can this facade of a masterpiece be salvaged?Long ago God planned to create us anew.  In Christ Jesus we are made new.  In Christ Jesus we are made sinless.  With any gift, we must accept it first and then unwrap the gloriousness of grace that God gives us through Christ Jesus.God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:8-10