Thoughts of Grace

Fourth of July, I think, is the name of this happy rose.

Good Morning

Hebrews 10:22-24 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

You can do everything right
and still not feel at peace in your heart
about your relationship with God.
Eighteenth-century giant, John Wesley,
came to America as a missionary,
ministered to prisoners,
and preached throughout the English countryside
in open-air revival services.
He read his Bible and prayed everyday.
But despite all those efforts,
he still felt insecure and unsure of his salvation.

What he discovered was that peace of heart,
assurance of our relationship with God
can only come from God Himself,
not our efforts.
While someone read from Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to Romans
at a prayer meeting,
he had an experience that changed his life forever:
“While he was describing the change
which God works in the heart trough faith in Christ,
I felt my heart strangely warmed.
I felt I did trust Christ.
Christ alone for salvation;
and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins,”

If you’re lacking assurance,
turn to Christ alone,
and your heart, too, can be “strangely warmed.”

from A Daybook of Grace

Turn . . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie