Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ... Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and song from Laura Story singing her song … Grace Abounds … poignantly singing of how God’s grace abounds to those who love the Lord and seek His mercies, which are new every morning.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Micah 7:19 [ESV] ... 19 He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
… God’s promise to His people to forgive our sins and remember them no more.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Micah 7:18-20 [ESV] ... USE THIS LINK ...
… God, thru Micah, expresses His willingness to cast our sins into His sea of forgetfulness.
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Reference Passage : … Psalm 103:11-13 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… The Psalmist sings of God’s willingness to cast our sins as far as the east is from the west.
Reference Passage : … Lamentations 3:22-23 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… In God’s faithfulness to His people, His promise is to have His mercies (and grace) available to His children every morning.
Reference Passage : … 2 Corinthians 9:8 [ESV] … 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
… God, thru Paul, shows us that God’s all sufficient grace will ALWAYS abound to those who love Him.
Reference Passage : … 2 Corinthians 12:9 [ESV] … 9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” …
… Jesus promises to us, thru Paul, that His grace is ALWAYS sufficient to cover our human weaknesses.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Amy Boucher Pye, uses a story about forgiveness and God’s grace to illustrate how we can, as Christians extend God’s grace to others rather than seeking revenge. … The ODB author wrote: “In moments where tragedy happens or even hurt, there are opportunities to demonstrate grace or to exact vengeance,” the recently bereaved man remarked. “I chose to demonstrate grace.” Pastor Erik Fitzgerald’s wife had been killed in a car accident caused by an exhausted firefighter who fell asleep while driving home, and legal prosecutors wanted to know whether he would seek the maximum sentence. The pastor chose to practice the forgiveness he often preached about. To the surprise of both him and the firefighter, the men eventually became friends.
I think we’d all agree that our human nature would seek revenge or legal justification if we lost a loved one to negligence as in the ODB story above. But in this instance the person who lost a loved one was willing to forgive and extend the very grace of God to the one who was at fault.
I would hope - and pray (even today) - that we, as disciples of Christ, could - and would - do the same thing. Certainly I know that my humanity would not have the grace - in my human frailty - to extend God’s grace is such a scenario. But I could - and hopefully would - if I could yield to God’s mercy/grace in which He has given me God’s empowering grace to forgive, … if not forget, … the loss caused by another [see the Scriptures above].
Who do we need to forgive to be able to move on sharing God’s love as we move into 2020? Certainly Laura Story sings about that grace which abounds in God’s love; and I pray we can - and will - extend it to others moving forward today.
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My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, … for giving us Your grace so that we can forgive and extend Your love to others who need it.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... I pray, Lord, that all reading here will join me today, to forgive anyone who needs Your mercy, love, and grace. Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.</ span>
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