Grace Thoughts

  Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint.  Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Psalm 61:1‭-‬3   Life is like the sea---shifting and changing from moment to moment. The waves rise up and crash to unknown depths. Stillness hushes the raging, murky waters till they sparkle like polished glass stretching out to the heavens. Beauty and terror meet in the swirling, ever-changing tides of life. I find myself swept up in this sea of life, and here I am just as changeable as the waters that toss me about mercilessly. To face this alone is to sink into the bottomless depths of despair, yet to face it as I clutch and grab for the equally shifting and changeable things around me is to hold on to impending doom. Where shall I find help to keep from sinking underneath the pounding waves of my struggles and sorrows? Where shall I find hope in the midst o...

 By God's FAITHFUL GRACE , we stand,  Together hand in hand. The years have passed, But this love we share remains steadfast. The storms may come, as storms will do; The seas may rage as we sail through This life together side by side But we have a refuge, a place to hide: The mighty name of our Lord,  Our strong tower; His Word our sword To fight the battles, not of flesh or bone To stand firm in faith, in righteousness not our own. Many waters cannot quench this love, That binds our hearts in life to God above. Rivers cannot wash it away For it is a mighty flame that burns night and day. It is a picture for all to see--- A picture of Christ's love at Calvary, Loving His bride in life and death; Washing her clean with His blood and breath. Sacrificing His all, for her gain; Enduring God's wrath through agonizing pain. Resting lifeless and cold in the grave, Raised to life with power to save, Ascended to Heaven and seated on High, Coming again on clouds in the sky. This i...

  “My soul magnifies the Lord,  And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,  For he has looked on the HUMBLE ESTATE of his servant.     For behold, from now on all generations will call me BLESSED; For he who is mighty has done great things for me,     And holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him     From generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm;     He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; He has brought down the mighty from their thrones     And exalted those of humble estate; He has filled the hungry with good things,     And the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel,     In remembrance of his mercy,  As he spoke to our fathers,     To Abraham and to his offspring forever.” (Luke 1:46-55) Sisters, these are the words of a young woman whose heart was filled with awe and wonder at God's amazing GRACE. This is Ma...

 

Love is a pathway etched in the heart Carved by the hands scarred to impart, The message of mercy in acts and in words; The good news of grace that no one deserves. •    •    •    •    • Love is the choice of one heart to draw near To another without living in dread of any fear, For the cost of the closeness is willingly paid With the joy of Heaven's coming being the trade. •    •    •    •    • Love is obedience to take up one's cross To walk in the steps of sacrifice and loss, For the sake of pointing one broken soul To the Savior who alone can heal and make whole. • • • • • Love is the whispered prayers through the day That yield no seen fruit but are whispered anyway Like seeds that are planted in darkness and death So each prayer that is spoken is love's abiding breath. • • • • • Love is the road that leads to the joy Of knowing the One who came as a boy The boy in the manger tha...

  Power unmeasured and beauty untold; Infinite wisdom and grace. Do you not know? And have you not heard? The Almighty God died in our place. •   •   • He sat enthroned in Heaven above; He called all the stars by name. Yet in wondrous meekness and powerful love, To the world He created, He came. •   •   • Hidden in darkness in Mary's womb, He was holding the world by His might. Born to give life through death and the tomb, To the darkness He came as the Light. •   •   • The Alpha and Omega; the Beginning and End; The Son of Righteousness with healing in His wings. Born in a stable as the Lamb of God, This was Jesus the King of kings. •   •   • The Sovereign Ruler---the Creator of all The God who is mighty to save, Came to the shepherds with good news of great joy, For Jesus came to earth to conquer the grave. •   •   • Glorious majesty! Wrapped in wondrous humility! In the manger,...

Precious Jesus, Your love is streaming From Your wounds that bled for me. Your blood was shed to buy my pardon; Your love endures and sets me free. •   •   •   • For long was I chained in death's dark prison Serving sin and Satan's cause Till mercy reached down to me in Jesus Transformed my heart by grace's matchless laws. Only Jesus! Now and forever! Only Jesus fills my soul! Only Jesus by grace has saved me! Only Jesus has made me whole! •   •   •   • Only Jesus! His name my anthem! Only Jesus! My sinful heart's cure! Only Jesus! My light in darkness! Only Jesus! My hope secure! Precious Jesus, Your glory's shining Brilliantly from wounds of grace As You stand in glorious splendor You plead for me and sustain my faith. •   •   •   • From death's dark prison You rose the Victor ALIVE! Now death has lost its sting! A...

 Another year has passed behind My dusty feet into the sunset sky, And I pause from walking further on To gaze back on days forever gone. •  •  • And the question echos in my mind: What have I to show for all the steps I've climbed? For all the days I've lived this past year? For all the sorrows bathed in bitter tears? •  •  • What have I to hold on to from where I've come? From what I've learned; from all I've done? For the joy and sadness mingling in my heart? What have I to show as a new year starts? •  •  • And I realize afresh with new born eyes That all I have to show is Christ. In all the days that I passed through A million ways God whispered "I love you" •  •  • He used the sorrows, the joys, the sin To point my eyes back to Him He stood strong when I was weak When I was lost, He came to seek My trembling, broken, sinful soul He raised me up and makes me whole  •  •...

Weaving mysteries to life in holy repose: The golden, glint thread that moments enclose; Shining light on the deep-crimson binding cord; Leaving questions behind like scraps to be stored. • • • • Intricate beauty designed above is seen In ugly, knotted tangles when viewed underneath. The pattern is hidden in mystery's pain; This paradox echoes life's unending refrain. • • • • Dark threads of sorrow are passed through the loom The empty silence of sadness, cold like a tomb, Sharpens the senses for the bright threads of joy; The intertwining story that darkness cannot destroy. • • • • Tears may exist in this tangled world's mess Sense may be the disguise for only a guess Peace shall be found in leaving the mysteries to be--- All that a mystery is before eyes of faith see: • • • • Wisdom beheld in the golden thread's mystery, Grace bestowed in the crimson cord's history, Mercy transforming the dark threa...

In a moment all my dreams dissolved As the slow and steady tide revolved To wash my castles in the sand Erasing the work of my own hand. ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ My salty tears mingled with the foaming wave That engulfed my work in a watery grave And took all my sandy treasures out to sea And forced my feet to surrender and flee. ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ On higher ground, I found a place To stand secure and see the grace Of the Maker seen in His timeless story That His work alone receives all the glory. ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ For in my grain of time, I sought to make A work of art for my name's sake Yet in faithfulness the Almighty proclaimed The Eternal glory of His great name. ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ So now upon the Rock I stand And watch the work of God's own hand. He stirs the waters with His breath And raises dead souls up from death. ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ He blossoms trees in desert sand And causes rocks to water barren land. He sends bread from Heaven for men to eat An...

Broken silence cut in the sea of time Filled with the whisper of the Divine For when my life breaks like a crashing wave Your still small voice has power to save. 🌼🌼🌼 Painful moments designed for my cure Filled with fire to make me pure For when my steps lead through the fiercest flames Your still small voice, still whispers my name. 🌺🌺🌺 Wounded soul, broken and bleeding Filled with the pain of following Your leading For when my will kneels in Gethemene's garden Your still small voice echos the blood bought pardon. 🌸🌸🌸 Shattered Hope crushed in Love's embrace Filled with true beauty; transformed by Heaven's grace For when my eyes are fixed on the Son Your still small voice reminds me that the battle is won. 🌹🌹🌹 And so I take... One small step in the path of surrender Filled with obedience to a Shepherd so tender For when my heart trembles in fear on the way Your still small voice tells me Yo...

Ripping, wrecking waves of current Dashing, crashing the humble servant--- The lowly sea creature's watery dwelling--- Crushed in pieces from the water's swelling. •  •  • Burning, turning grave of fragments Filling, spilling in pools so stagnant Swept in windy, wisps of changing Tides that come to go in time's raging. •  •  • All that's left in the wake is broken Hopes and dreams now lost unspoken Shells with cracked and jagged edges Sink beneath the skin cloaked dredges. •  •  • Years could pass and none would bother To search the land, the sand, the water For the broken pieces that remain That the fierce tides of time have forever changed. •  •  • Yet One stands true above indifference And bends down low to touch the bitterness. His wounded hands---broken to heal The pieces He finds as with the broken He kneels.