Grace Awakening

However, the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing " So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. 

Jim Elliot  (More)

Strength is gone.  Hope seems to have vanished.  All that is left is a deep and abiding darkness that settles coldly across the aching heart and constricts what life is left to ebb from the wounded heart.  Often times, the wounds are self inflicted, caused by some sinful act or proud thought.  In the agony of distress the wounded, battered soul will cry out to the only One who can help.  How is it that we can only look to God in the darkest moments of our lives?  Still, there is something to learn from the crushing darkness – a truth that is just as precious in the light.  In spite of all our failings and wanderings God is faithful.  God will never abandon those promises that He made to us.  We see this truth ever so clearly in the Lamentations of the prophet Jeremiah.  So great was the agony of his soul that he described it as being pierced through with arrows, having his teeth broken by gravel, and being thrown to the dust of the ground.  He states, “My soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten happiness.  So I say, ‘My strength has perished, and so has my hope from the LORD’.”  (Lam 3:17 - 18, NAS).

I was out walking the other night on what is called the Rail Trail.  It is a former rail line that has been asphalted over to make a nice place for people to walk, run, bike, rollerblade, and any other form of non – motorized transportation.  It is a beautiful place to walk with all the trees and wooded land that it runs through.  For me, it is becoming a place to go and let out the hurt and pain of this world.  It is becoming a place for me to walk with God.

But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them 

Acts 16:25 

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As the intensity of the Crucible fades to memory the lessons that have been learned remain to be sorted and taken to heart.  Over the last three weeks I have been impressed with one amazing concept that is the imperative of every Christian.

I was and currently am listening to the song by Gordon Mote “Don’t Let Me Miss the Glory.”  I believe that this is one of those songs that comes along once in a while that truly takes the listener to the heart of true worship.

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Frank Sinatra sang the song, “I Did it My Way.”  Burger King has popularized the saying, “Have it Your Way.”  In general, our society today practices the philosophy of “My Way is Best.”

I do a lot of driving for my job:  5 – 6 hours a day as a matter of fact.  In recent days, I’ve turned off the radio and started to do a lot of thinking.  It has really been a time that God has used to work in me, and an opportunity to mull over some of the lessons God has taught me and is still teaching me.

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Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

Genesis 32:24 

I used to work in a lumber yard.  I was strong then.  I used to be able to carry 80# bags of Redi Mix and stacks of lumber on my shoulder without a second thought.  Just about everyone I worked with there in the yard was strong.  One day, as my team closed up the yard for the evening, two of the guys decided to wrestle during the last half hour of our day (we had very few customers at that time of day).  So, these two started wrestling.  They grappled and squeezed and wrestled, trying to gain the advantage over the other.  It was funny to watch them as they neared the end of the match.  The two men leaned on each other with their arms resting on each others shoulders.  It ended up a draw, and the two wrestlers limped to a stack of lumber and collapsed in exhaustion.  And that was just about a half hour match.