All In A Days Grace

  We might have heard the saying “If God closes a door, he opens a window.” That isn’t a biblical statement, but it is an understanding that has roots in scripture. Closed doors actually come up quite a bit in the bible. We actually see closed doors as a topic in the resurrection narrative. Jesus’ disciples were hiding behind closed, locked doors in an upper room for fear of death. Jesus enters this locked up room to speak to his disciples and his first words are “peace be with you”. He’s speaking in direct contrast to the actually emotion they're feeling. The opposite of peace is fear. And what we realize is that the door in no way impeded Jesus’ entry into their lives. On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” – John 20:19   We like doors when we can close them, but not so much when they get closed on us. ...

  Did you ever avoid a conversation because you didn’t want to hear what someone had to say? Maybe we can remember avoiding a conversation with our parents when we were young because we knew they were going to point out something we did that wasn’t right. Maybe we let a friendship grow stale because we didn’t want to hear a friend speak truth into our lives. Maybe we fill our lives with “noise” so that we can’t hear the convicting words of our very own hearts. The art of noise in our lives is as simple as the fact that we carry the world in our pocket. In an instant we can scroll our way to distraction and click our way to avoidance. How often do we stop to be quiet? Silence can be a scary thing to be alone with. It’s in the quiet that we sometimes realize shortcomings.  Its in the silence that truth rises above deceiving emotions.  It’s in the silence that the Spirit speaks to our hearts. Quietness defies self-reliance.  Quietness overpowers certainty....

  Have you ever Googled your symptoms when you weren’t feeling well? We type in a few questions and in a matter of moments we either come to the conclusion that all is well, or….we’re dying. “I felt so much better after I Googled my symptoms” , said no one ever. Even if there is a less worrisome conclusion to be found, we usually gravitate towards the worst-case scenario that we clicked on. While we open the door wide for worry to enter, we clammer to try and figure things out on our own. This causes us to wind up battling with not only our ailment but with our imaginations that begin to run wild. It isn’t usually until we’ve exhausted ourselves with fear and uncertainty that we decide to talk to someone who knows more than we…or our Google search can answer. We finally make an appointment. Many times, when we eventually get ourselves to the doctor, our greatest fear is replaced by a great deal of relief. The diagnosis on the computer wasn’t ours. We were trying to fix so...

  Is devotional time important for a Christian? Is it really something we should take time to do each day? The answer is, yes. Psalms 42:1 paints a beautiful picture of how our spirits “pant” for God as a deer pants for streams of water.  Not only does Jesus speak of the importance of time with the Father, but we see repeatedly in scripture Jesus going off to a place of quiet to be alone with God. Perhaps before we ask if devotional time is important we should remember that God promised us, that if we seek him with all our heart and soul, we would find him. (Deuteronomy 4:29). Jesus himself said in Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”. We are given a personal invitation to sit at the feet of God. So why wouldn’t we? There are a host of reasons I hear as people sheepishly admit to their lack of “God time” in their lives. “I’m just so busy”, “I don’t know where to begin”, “I forget to”….. Paul compares personal ...