His Grace Is Sufficient

Today is Saturday, October 28, 2017. Day 21,779.

Three days until C’s knee-replacement surgery.

Annie Potts, who was born on this date in 1952, said, “I’ve always declined to speak about things I don’t think are anybody’s business, and what I always get from the interviewers is, ‘Well, you know, we have to ask those things.’ I say, ‘Well, maybe you do, but I don’t have to answer them.'”
BrainyQuote

The word of the day, from Dictionary.com, is guisard, pronounced [gahy-zerd], which means, “a person who wears a mask; mummer.”

Besides being Hug A Sheep Day (seriously), today is Make A Difference Day. Now, if you hug a sheep, you might make a difference, but there are many other things you can do to “make a difference.” They don’t all have to be “world-changing” things, either. Sometimes, the most simple things can make a difference in someone else’s life. So get out there and make a difference today.

I actually got off work on time, yesterday!! C had a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon, so she got home early, and picked up the ubiquitous Sonic drinks, and I stopped at Subway on the way home and picked up dinner. I was home before 6:00 PM, and by 7:00, we were pretty much finished eating. The downside of all of this is that, by 7:30, it felt like bedtime. We hung on until almost 10:00 PM, though, catching up on some TV watching.

Today, we don’t have anything planned, other than the Boo Bash at the YMCA where our church meets. This happens from 4-6 PM. C and I will be helping out. I have no clue what I will be doing. I was supposed to be playing music, but that kind of fell through. Maybe I’ll make popcorn. That could be dangerous, though, because there might not be any popcorn to hand out if I make it. Anyway, volunteering for the Boo Bash is one of the ways that we will be “making a difference” today. (See above reference to today’s “holiday.”)

The Astros battered Yu Darvish last night, and beat the Dodgers 5-3 to take a 2-1 lead in the World Series. They play again tonight. They have two games left in Houston. They could win it all if they sweep in Houston, and they just might do that. While it would be somewhat bittersweet to have the ‘Stros take the first World Series championship to Texas, at least it would still be the first World Series championship for Texas. So I’m all on board for the Astros.

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL AND PRAYERS
All Scriptures are from the ESV unless otherwise noted

(From The Divine Hours)

But I call to God, and the LORD will save me. 
Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.
He redeems my soul in safety . . . God will give ear . . ., he who is enthroned from of old, Selah.
Psalm 55:16ff
Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.
Psalm 85:7
Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!
Psalm 65:4
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
Psalm 84:5
And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”
Genesis 32:24-30
But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. 
O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.
Psalm 59:16-17
My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Psalm 84:2

(From The President’s Devotional)

Today’s reading is called, “He Knows Our Faults.”

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 12:9

“The mercies of the Lord are greater than our iniquities. He can pardon you more sins that you can commit, as your malice is finite and his mercy is infinite.” ~ Saint Theodore Guerin, Journals and Letters of Mother Theodore Guerin

Joshua DuBois writes, “God would rather have us kneeling before the throne of forgiveness every day than hiding away from him in shame.” Remember the pair in the garden? God walked around “looking for them.” (As if he didn’t already know where they were.) They hid in shame, because they knew they had disobeyed him. Or maybe they hid in sheer terror because he had said that thing about “you shall surely die.”

But it’s never too late (unless we are dead) to confess our sins to him. We are never too dirty, and “he is never too far away.” Oh, how I have learned that last thing, recently. Not only is God never too far away, he is closer than I ever imagined. “Let’s approach him now, with intimate humility. He is a God who knows our faults and loves us nonetheless.”

And that is a most magnificent thing!

Father, thank you for being so close to me and making me aware of it. I pray that sin will never come between us, and that I will always be quick to recognize my sin and deal with it immediately. Your presence with me makes that so much easier. I cannot adequately thank you.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Grace and peace, friends.