Lord, how painful is my loneliness! Yet, how precious is this loneliness when it leads me to You! When loneliness lures me to seek You, moves me to let You in, entreats me to spend time with You – pushes me to pursue You in place of other pleasures – teaches me to look to You for all I lack -to let Your comforting Presence ease my pain – to feel the joy that all creation knows in Your Presence -this is the legacy my loneliness leaves to me – Your sustaining Presence filling all my empty spaces to overflowing with peace, purpose, healing, hope, joy, love – all gifts Your Presence freely gives – leaving me full to overflowing with all Your good gifts, as I realize there is no longer room for loneliness while You abide with me, making Your home where my loneliness once lived . . .

” . . . You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.” (Psalm 16:11)

“Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You.” (Psalm 73:25)

“God sets the lonely in families, He leads forth the prisoners with singing;” (Psalm 68:6)

Loneliness is a dark prison – thank You, Lord, for the light of Your Presence which sets me free from loneliness’s isolating grip –

sincerely, Grace Day

I think that’s been a military strategy for centuries – divide and conquer. I guess the thinking is that when the opponent is split up into smaller units, it is easier to overpower and defeat them. Jesus even said as much when He said,

“If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. I f a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.” (Mark 3:24-26)

But Satan doesn’t oppose himself, he opposes God and all who belong to God. Satan’s goal is to divide us from our Creator God and subsequently to divide us from each other. We are easy prey when we are isolated and alone. Just as lions and other beasts of prey separate their intended victims from their herd or flock in order to overpower and capture them, Satan also hunts his prey in the same manner. Peter warns about this very thing in his letter to believers, saying –

“Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

We first saw Satan employ this divide and conquer strategy in the Garden. Satan needed to get Eve alone in order to deceive her. When Satan succeeded in getting Eve to question God, to doubt God and to believe his lies, the result was Eve and her husband Adam became separated from God. In fact, the first thing they did was to hide from God. They also found themselves at odds with each other. The perfect peace of the Garden was gone forever.

Today we are experiencing the “wars and rumors of wars” that deception and division ultimately bring about. Interesting that those are the two tools the devil uses to accomplish his evil purposes – deception and division. He is called “the father of lies” for a reason, after all. Jesus said this about him –

“He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)

This certainly seems to be a time in history when division runs rampant and runs deep. Here in the U.S. we have been experiencing division politically, racially, by gender, by economic status, by religious beliefs, and lately by any viewpoint such as mask vs. no mask or vaccine vs. no vaccine or mandates vs. individual choice. There are so many categories and divisions (many created and artificial) that it is hard to keep up with them all. If one thing doesn’t separate me from my friends, neighbors and coworkers, something else will. All this division leads to isolation and isolation allows the enemy of our souls to defeat and destroy us one person at a time.

Deep divisions, however, are not unique to this time in history. Jesus also lived in a deeply divided culture, in a deeply divided world. Jesus came to bring unity, peace and life rather than division, strife and death. Paul wrote these words in Colossians 3:11 –

“Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”

Paul wrote basically the same thing in his letter to the Galatians, saying –

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

Interesting that Jesus is a unifier while Satan is a divider. But then, they are polar opposites in every way. Our God is a God of reconciliation, wanting us to be reconciled to Himself and to each other. When we have peace with God, that paves the way for us to have peace within ourselves and to have peace with each other. It should be no surprise that one of Jesus’s names is “the Prince of peace.”

And it is also no surprise that our enemy operates by dividing us from each other and then destroying us when we are isolated and alone. That’s his game plan – divide and conquer. But God knows we do best when connected to others because we were created to live in community.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)

Community functions best when it practices inclusion. There is much talk about inclusion today, while at the same time those in power and leadership positions, with the aid of the media, continue to create endless categories of division among us, making it more difficult for the power and possibilities of life lived with connection in community to be experienced. They have us so focused on our differences (I thought diversity was good?) that we can’t seem to come together. They know we are easier to control and to manipulate if we are divided among ourselves, rather than united by any shared purposes and values.

Jesus is the One who practices inclusion perfectly, probably because He is the original author of inclusion. We just read that in Christ there is neither “Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, . . . but we are all one in Christ Jesus.” At that time in history Jew vs. Gentile was a huge racial divide as was being a Samaritan for instance, which was another racial division. Today those words could read, “in Christ there is neither black nor white, liberal nor conservative, vaccinated nor unvaccinated, rich nor poor . . .” Well, you get the idea. While there are an infinite number of things that we can choose to let separate us from one another, in Christ all those divisions disappear. He is an all inclusive God.

“The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

Did you catch that? God wants everyone to come to Him. His gracious invitation excludes no one. God is all about inclusion – all about welcoming in the previously unwelcome, the outcasts. In Zephaniah God says this,

“At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you; I will rescue the lame and gather those who have been scattered. (those who have been exiled, the outcast) I will give them praise and honor in every land where they were put to shame.” (Zephaniah 3:19)

People talk about diversity, equity and inclusion as if it is something brand new. But our Creator God is not only an all-inclusive God, He is the author and originator of all diversity. If you doubt this, all you have to do is to look around you. The infinite diversity of all creation should make this clear as we observe nature in all its forms. And the pinnacle of God’s creation, the human race, is no exception. In our one race, the human race, we behold infinite diversity of form and personality, yet all – each one of us is created in His image.

While God is the originator of diversity and inclusion, He is the God of equality not equity. We know that although all have equal opportunity before God,

“And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved;” (Joel 2:32)

“Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12)

outcomes are not equal because those outcomes depend on the choices of the individual and people given free will are going to make different choices. Here again, Satan, the enemy of our souls, has taken what God authored, diversity, equality and inclusion – and twisted God’s truth into something unrecognizable in our current culture. The very voices that clamor for inclusion at every turn, are the same voices creating division at every opportunity. Could it be that by “inclusion” they simply mean the forced acceptance of behaviors and practices that are clearly against God’s good, perfect and pleasing will for each and every life He created?

Satan uses deception to divide us in order to conquer us, that he might destroy our lives one person, one family, one community, one country at a time. Fortunately, our Creator is a God of reconciliation, not division. Division brings conflict, reconciliation brings peace. Jesus came that we might be reconciled to God and to each other.

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)

God intended for us to experience unity through reconciliation and the peace unity brings, not the chaos and conflict that comes as a result of division. In Psalm 133:1 I read these words,

“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!”

That’s God’s desire for us – to live connected to others in peace, not divided from others and therefore isolated. To that end I read what God did in Ephesians 2:13-19,

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in His flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which He put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.”

No longer foreigners or aliens – no longer separated from God or separated from each other! That’s the Good News! And no one is excluded. Our enemy seeks to divide us and so to conquer us, but in Christ we have the protection unity provides.

“For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” (1 Corinthians 12:13)

Today, when deception and division seem to be prevailing, I am thankful that my Heavenly Father’s presence brings truth, reconciliation and peace. All things I long to experience.

“The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.” (Psalm 145:9)

sincerely, Grace Day

“For we are (I am) God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us (me) to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Again today, I find these words sticking close to me, leading me in all different directions as I wonder just what are those “good works” God prepared ahead of time specifically for me to do? Have I missed them? Was I looking the other way and passed them by? Was I too busy with or distracted by worldly things? Do these good deeds get reassigned to someone else if I mess up? (I mess up a lot) I am grieved to think that I have missed anything that my Heavenly Father has prepared especially for me to do.

I look around at what others are doing and ask myself, “Should I be doing what they are doing?” I feel pulled in so many directions. There are so many good things to be involved in and so many needs to be met – where to start? how to choose? Time to be still and listen – then I hear His words –

“stay in your lane, the lane I have prepared for you – run your race, not someone else’s race – don’t look to the right or to the left at what others are doing – keep your eyes on Me – follow Me – I have them doing other things – do your assignment from Me, not theirs. Don’t compare, don’t imitate, don’t try to fit in – listen to Me, not people (men) – I am the different drummer – don’t try to do someone else’s work that I prepared beforehand just for them – if you do, you’ll miss your calling – be still, listen for My voice – I haven’t given up on you – the Potter doesn’t abandon the clay – you are still a work in progress – I am not finished with you yet – I am preparing you for the good works that are your service to Me – even as I am preparing the people and the places where you will serve Me as I purposed for you so long ago. I know you think you have a good plan, but I have a better plan, trust Me!”

Then I recall His words in Jeremiah 29:11,

” ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ ”

And I think about what Jesus said to Peter when Peter took issue with John’s assignment – that conversation went down like this,

“When Peter saw him, he asked, ‘Lord, what about him?’ Jesus answered, ‘If I want him (John) to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You (Peter) must follow Me.’ ” (John 21:21-22)

That’s what Jesus is asking me to do – He’s asking me to follow Him. Like Abraham, I need not know the destination – it is a place He will show me. My part is to fix my eyes on Jesus and to follow where He leads – trusting He will lead me into those good works He prepared beforehand for me to do.

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.’ ” (Matthew 16:24)

if I do that, I won’t miss what my Heavenly Father prepared so long ago for me to be doing now –

sincerely, Grace Day

When they gathered in the Upper Room that night, it was for a meal. Did they know it would be their last? – the last meal they would share together with Jesus before the world was changed forever. How could they know? Only Jesus knew what the next hours were to hold in store for Him, for His followers and for all mankind. But for this moment, they had come together to share a meal.

However, it wasn’t just any meal. This was a meal that had become a ritual of remembrance. This was the Passover meal. Passover is an annual observance. When the Israelites ate the Passover meal, they remembered how their forefathers had been delivered from slavery in Egypt into the freedom of God’s Promised Land. Their deliverance from bondage into freedom turned out to be quite the long, hard, winding journey – a journey which served to prepare them for their new role as free citizens of Israel – a nation of God’s chosen people.

This particular Passover meal, which Jesus shared with His disciples that night in the Upper Room, turned out to be the Last Supper, or the Lord’s Supper, which is now Communion – our meal of remembrance today. When we participate in this meal, we remember through the bread and the wine, that we too have been set free, delivered from slavery to sin into freedom in Christ.

Like the Israelites, my journey and probably your journey, too, from bondage to freedom, is a long, hard, winding journey. Just as the Passover meal reminded the Israelites of how God miraculously freed them from the powerful Egyptians, Communion reminds you and I, each time we take it, of how God has miraculously freed us from the bondage of our sin and set us free.

When I take Communion, I am reminded that God accomplished this miracle of freeing me from sin’s bondage by Jesus’s body being broken on the cross and His blood being poured out for my sins on that cross. The bread and the wine of the Communion meal, remind me that through Jesus’s broken body and shed blood, I too have been delivered from slavery into freedom, from certain death into everlasting life.

That night in the Upper Room, the disciples didn’t know it would be their last Passover meal with Jesus or that their long-standing tradition of Passover would be replaced with a new one – Communion. Likewise, I don’t know which Communion will be my Last Supper, because I don’t know when Jesus will return or when I will leave this earth. Until that time, I will take Communion as Jesus instructed, “this do in remembrance of Me until I come again.” I know that “as often as we (I) eat this bread and drink this cup, we (I) proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes again.”

The Passover meal celebrates the physical redemption and liberation of God’s people. Communion celebrates the spiritual redemption and liberation of God’s people. Every time I participate in Communion, I remember and I celebrate. I remember that it is Christ’s broken body that heals mine and makes it whole. I remember that I have been bought with a price. The price was Jesus’s life-giving blood. And I celebrate my release from sin’s slavery and my newfound freedom in Christ.

Communion, like Passover, is a most meaningful meal. Communion connects me to my Savior and the sacrifice He made for me and for mankind that day on the cross. I will continue to remember and to celebrate with Communion until I am invited to another meal yet to come – the marriage supper of the Lamb.

“Then the angel said to me, ‘Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ ” (Revelation 19:9) What a joyous meal that will be!

sincerely, Grace Day

Yes, I know it is no longer February, the month of all things pertaining to the heart. But the heart is so important, so vital to our well-being, that I felt yet another “heart post” was justified. (besides, February is shorter than all the other months, so March can donate a day or two to the heart cause)

We know the heart is vital for keeping us physically alive, we can’t live without a functioning, healthy heart. As our heart becomes weaker or sicker, so does our physical body. But we also talk about the heart as the essence of who we are – as the determiner of what we think and feel, that place where our emotions, soul and spirit reside. We say someone is kindhearted or has a big heart or a hard heart or a heart of gold or we say their heart was in the right place or they spoke from the heart. God’s word tells us just how important our heart is. Consider these words from Proverbs,

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

My heart and your heart, dear readers, are what is important to God. I read in 1 Samuel 16:7,

“The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

God sees my heart, He knows my heart, and He wants all of my heart. My Heavenly Father desires me to be wholeheartedly devoted to Him and to wholeheartedly trust Him, follow Him and obey His commands wholeheartedly. God’s instructions leave no doubt about how much of my heart He desires be committed to Him.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5)

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;” (Proverbs 3:5)

“You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)

David’s advice and admonition to his son, Solomon, are words every parent would be wise to pass on to their children. David said,

“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve Him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.” (1 Chronicles 28:9) Then I read these words in Colossians 3:23-24,

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

I want to live this life God has graciously given me with my whole heart, as wholeheartedly as I am able, each and every day. No one wants a halfhearted effort or halfhearted attention or affection – and that includes my Heavenly Father. He wants my wholehearted surrender, belief, trust, obedience, devotion, gratitude, praise, pursuit of Him rather than other gods or other things. God desires my whole heart, that I might serve and worship Him wholeheartedly. Wholeheartedly, that is the key to the abundant life Christ came to give to me and to you. Jesus told us as much when He said,

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10) Therefore,

“I will praise You, O Lord, with all my heart; (Psalm 138:1)

sincerely, Grace Day

I felt the tears before I knew they were mine, I felt them with surprise even as I watched tears pouring from her eyes with every word she spoke. She was pouring her heart out to me as friends do, and I understood her pain, as caring friends do. My sympathies, however, ran deeper than my friend could possibly know. This was something no one could know, lest it become real in the sharing and that is something too dangerous to risk. My friend did not know that I understood her pain so perfectly, so completely, because I shared it personally, it was my own as well.

She was grieving, mourning her loss, something I hadn’t the courage to admit I felt – the daily grief caused by the absence of her child. The power of sorrow over a life mourning a death is greater than we want to acknowledge. My friend’s child was not dead however, but their relationship was. She did not see or hear from her child, so the result was the same. Grief, loss, sadness, pain, – mourning daily for the loss of her child in her life, while clinging desperately to memories of happier times.

Odd that the pain is sharper, deeper, heavier, when mourning the loss of the living than when mourning the loss of the dead – but I find this to be true. Yet even in grief there is hope. And it is hope that sustains the broken heart. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 tells us that we do not need to grieve “as those who have no hope.” Here Paul is speaking of grief for those who have died, reminding believers that we will see our loved ones again in heaven. All is not lost.

Still, loss is painful. I think of so many things I would like to do with or say to or ask my mom, now regretting that I let those opportunities pass by while she was still here. Grieving for the living can contain a different kind of hope, if I choose to focus on the hope of possibility instead of the despair of the present moment. Hope is possible because,

” . . . with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)

This is the hope that sustains during the dark days of waiting on God’s perfect timing to bestow His miracles of reconciliation and restoration of dead relationships, bringing them back to life again. I have this hope because my Heavenly Father is,

“the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.” (Romans 4:17)

I have many friends at the moment who are mourning the living every day, and it is a heavy burden to bear. Today my tears mingled with those of my friend as we shared each other’s sorrows, continuing something women have done for centuries – bearing one another’s burdens.

It is interesting that the final words in the Old Testament are these,

“He (God) will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers;” (Malachi 4:6)

Then there were four hundred years of silence until Jesus came. That’s a long time to sustain hope, but God is faithful. He was at work in the years of silence then. He is at work in the years of silence now. May God fill my heart and your hearts, dear readers, with His hope, today and everyday until He comes again.

sincerely, Grace Day

I wrote recently of my reluctance to receive the heart transplant that my Heavenly Father is willing and ready to give me. (a heartfelt confession) He knows I desperately need it. He’s just waiting on me to ask for it and make myself available to accept His gift of a new, improved heart. I find God’s promise to me in Ezekiel 36:26,

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

God’s offer has no expiration date – but I think I should take Him up on it soon – before my stony heart becomes too heavy and too hardened, keeping me from truly living. Getting a new heart is like getting a whole new life, which is what my Heavenly Father wants to give me. My new heart of flesh will be like the good soil heart in the parable of the Sower in Luke chapter eight. The good soil heart is soft and broken up and ready to receive the seed, which is the Word of God. A good soil heart is a heart of flesh, soft and penetrable, able to let God and others in, able to love God, able to love other people.

A hardened, stony heart can’t do any of those things – let God in, let His word in, let other people in, care about other people, love them, love God. A hard heart doesn’t feel much pain, but it doesn’t feel much joy either, or much of anything for that matter. That’s no way to go through life, numb and alone. No wonder my Heavenly Father wants to give me and you and everyone a heart transplant. He knows how much each one of us needs the new heart that He wants to give us, a heart that will enable us to experience the abundant life He created us to live and wants to see us live.

King David desired that new heart which he knew only God could give him. In Psalm 51:10 David cried out to God,

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

God doesn’t want to just tidy up my current soiled, rocky heart – no, this is not a clean-up job – nor a renovation. David asks God to create a new heart in him, and that means something brand-new, that means a transplant! God doesn’t just improve upon what we already have, He wants to give us new life with a new heart. This requires creating something from nothing – which just happens to be God’s specialty. Take a look around you at the universe if you have any doubts.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

This new heart that God is giving me has some great perks. One is plenty of room for storing up God’s Living Word.

“I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.” (Psalm 119:11)

Another is being soft enough to let God’s laws in – in fact, God says, “I will put My laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.” (Hebrews 8:10)

My new, God-given heart will have the ability to obey the command, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart . . .” My old heart is described in Jeremiah 17:9 like this,

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it?”

God does. God knows my heart – which is why He knows I need for Him to create a new one in me, just like David asked Him to do. I am ready – ready for a change of heart that only my Heavenly Father can give me. February, heart month, is almost over, so today is the day I will ask,

Lord, create in me a clean heart, a new heart, a good-soil heart, a heart of flesh, a heart that hides Your word within and has Your laws written on it, a heart so broken it has plenty of room for You to fill it with Your presence, and I – I will trust in You with all my heart – with all of my brand new heart!

sincerely, Grace Day

Today I find myself wondering, why is it that the thing we most desire for ourselves is the very thing we are the least willing to give to others? I am talking about mercy or forgiveness. This commodity, while in great demand, too often seems to be in short supply. Maybe this is because mercy can be quite expensive. Forgiveness is costly. Just ask Jesus.

I am reminded of the story told in Matthew 18 about a king settling accounts with his servants. One of his servants owed him ten thousand talents, an amount that could never be repaid even if he worked his entire life to pay off the debt. This servant begged the king for mercy and “The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.” (Matthew 18:27) Amazing! The servant was forgiven the debt he owed. He was free!

This makes what happens next in the story truly surprising. “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. (a few dollars) . . . ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.” (Matthew 18:28-30)

The man who had asked for mercy and received it, then turned around and refused mercy to the person who asked it of him. And to make matters worse, the debt the servant had been forgiven was huge, insurmountable actually. The debt his fellow servant owed him was so small as to be insignificant by comparison. And yet he couldn’t even show mercy for such a small debt or offense?

I think of what Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 10:8, “Freely you have received, freely give.”

Jesus has forgiven me the huge debt of my sin – “If I confess my sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive me my sins and purify me from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) Why can’t I then find it in my heart to forgive those who have sinned against, hurt, wronged or offended me?

Giving mercy isn’t optional for those of us who have received mercy. “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. . . . For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:12, 14-15)

And that’s exactly how the story in Matthew 18 ends. Remember, the forgiven servant refused to forgive his fellow servant, instead having him thrown into jail. We pick up the story there, “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” (Matthew 18:32-35)

So, there it is. We most desire to be treated mercifully by others, but we are not willing to extend that same mercy to those who have wronged us. Peter asked this question of Jesus, ” ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.’ ” (Matthew 18:21-22)

In other words, there is no limit on mercy. In Colossians 3:13, I am instructed to “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you (I) may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you (me).”

My debt has been forgiven. Jesus paid it on the cross by shedding His blood to pay my sin debt. Forgiveness is costly. Jesus paid that cost and set me free. That’s the other thing about forgiveness – it sets us free – both the forgiver and the forgiven are set free when mercy is given. I may not always feel like forgiving those who have hurt me, but simply remembering how God has forgiven me, allows me to do what I otherwise might not be able to do on my own.

I never have to worry about running out of forgiveness. My Heavenly Father’s supply of mercy is limitless. “His mercies never fail. They are new every morning;” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Lord, I so desperately desire Your mercy, may I never deny mercy to anyone.

sincerely, Grace Day

It seems I’ve been writing a lot about matters of the heart lately, but that’s understandable when you realize that it is February – the month of Valentine’s Day, the month dedicated to all things heart. So it is not surprising that I should be reflecting on these words from Ezekiel today, where God says to His people, the Israelites,

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26)

This is supposed to be a good thing – a heart of flesh. We often use the expression “soft-hearted” in describing a person and it is meant as a compliment. Conversely, we say someone is “hard-hearted” when they seem uncaring or unsympathetic to the people around them or when they are actually hurtful to others.

This would explain why God wants us to have hearts of flesh – He wants us to have the capacity to care about others. A stony heart can’t do that. A stony heart doesn’t have feelings.

My Heavenly Father wants to give me the gift of a new heart, a new and improved softer heart of flesh. However, I have to confess to you now, dear readers, that I find myself hanging on to my all too often stony heart. Why am I so reluctant to accept this free gift of a new heart, a heart more pleasing to God? Could it be that I am more comfortable with my stony heart? It does afford me a certain measure of protection. Not too much gets through a hard, stony barrier.

Pain doesn’t pierce a stony heart like it does a heart of flesh. So, my stony heart protects me in a sense, from some of life’s heartache. Maybe I don’t want to leave my heart open and vulnerable? Who will defend my heart if it is no longer stone? Do I trust that the Giver of my new heart will also be its defender, protector, holder, healer and redeemer? Or would I rather rely on the accumulated stones in my heart for protection?

Heavenly Father, sometimes it’s too painful to care, too heavy of a burden to carry. Hearts of flesh are wounded so much easier and much more deeply than hearts of stone – I guess that’s why I hang onto my stony heart so hard. It is just too hard, too painful to have a heart like Yours and to care like You care – You must be sad all the time as You watch what we do to each other – and yet You love us still.

It is a courageous calling that comes with Your gift of a new heart – am I too much a coward to accept Your new heart gift and too much a doubter to trust that You will always be there to bind up the broken-hearted wounds inevitable for all hearts of flesh? – which You know all too well, Your own heart being broken for all mankind on Calvary and breaking still till each and every wayward child of Yours finds their way home to You.

Why would You offer me a heart of flesh, knowing how deep the wounds that come with caring will be? Is it because You know a secret both true and sure? – that there are spaces created in the breaking of a heart that Your Presence occupies, filling the heart with joy and gladness, hope and healing, peace and purpose, love that lasts.

A heart of stone, intact and impenetrable, has no wounds, no holes, no broken spaces. Therefore, it has no room for Your Presence, nor room for joy to enter in and settle down. Lord, You know the heart of flesh You want to give me will suffer many wounds and often be broken. But You know this is the only kind of heart that has room for You to come in and make Yourself at home. So yes, Lord, give me the heart of flesh You promised Your people in Ezekiel. Pain must come in order to make room for joy.

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)

sincerely, Grace Day