"And again"

Saturday, February 9, 2013 (8:01 a.m.)

Blessed Father God,

Thank You! Thank You that so often my very first thoughts of the morning are of you. It didn't use to be that way. Too many times my mind would immediately jump to thinking of people, places or things.

Sunday, February 10, 2013 (7:46 a.m.)

Again I say thank You!

Monday, February 11, 2013 (7:36 a.m.)

And again. Father, I come to You eager. Excited. Wanting to learn. And again I confess how easily I get distracted. I want to be here with You. I long to grow in obedience to Your will and to Your way.

And again I am never ceased to be amazed by Your goodness and Your grace. All these days I've come here, gotten distracted and left. This morning two words have led me deep into Your Word.

“And again”. They are mentioned together often throughout Scipture but it is in Paul's letter to the Romans that I am hanging onto his every word.

The Life Recovery Bible tells me that Paul explained four major points to the Romans: “First, God makes no distinction between us as individuals – we are all guilty, and we are all offered His free gift of salvation (1:17-4:25). Second, we can all be freed from sin's power through God's grace and the Holy Spirit inside us (5:1-8:39). Third, we are all 'in recovery,' and therefore have no grounds for arrogance (9:1-11:3). And fourth, because of God's mercy we all must respect one another, despite the differences between us (12:1-15:13).”

Romans 15:11 is the verse that brought me here this morning. “And again: People of all nations, celebrate God! All colors and races, give hearty praise!”

Verse thirteen keeps bringing me back. “Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!”

Father, how I thank You for such magnificent word pictures. Me being filled up with Your joy and peace. Life-giving energy because of the Holy Spirit. Brimming over with hope. Wow! All because of Your great love for each of us.

The Scripture Paul was quoting refers back to Psalm 117:1. “Praise the Lord, all nations everywhere. Praise Him, all the peoples of the earth.” And again, in verse two, comes Your all encompassing Truth. “For He loves us very dearly, and His truth endures. Praise the Lord.”

Praise You indeed! Again. And again! Thank You Father. Thank You for loving us so perfectly. Empower us to love You and each other in kind.

Thank You. I love You. Amen.

(448 words ~ 9:14 a.m.)