Tag: Mercy

Immeasurable Riches

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Journal Entry // August 28, 2022

so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (ESV)

Ephesians 2:7

It is a far too easy process to forget the reason and motivation for God extending his rich mercy and kindness upon the “children of wrath” that once lived only in the passions of the flesh and carried out the desires of the body and mind. We are quick to lose sight of this basic understanding of who we were before the love of God took hold of us and lavished upon us the richness of God’s mercy and grace through Christ. That in his rich mercy, God made us alive together with Christ. He took what was dead and breathed the life of the Spirit into our bodies and made us alive. Awakening our hearts to the beauty and magnificence of Christ alone. Why did he do this? God extended his abundance of riches in mercy to us so that we should be a display of his immeasurable riches of grace and kindness in Christ. For all eternity, those who have received this rich and free gift of mercy will be a living testimony to the greatness, kindness, and love of Christ for us. His grace will be the ultimate picture displaying the character of God to a world filled with the “children of wrath,” which we were once considered.

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Week 16, 2022

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Week sixteen of Cultivate Delight, where we are actively planning our spiritual endeavors this coming week with the goal of a consistent time spent engaging our hearts with Christ in his word, in prayer, in reflection, and in music. Below are some starting points for reflection, and I hope you find them helpful. The goal is to not just rush through these and then get on with your day. Take your time and reflect throughout the week on these items.

This week we are focusing on sin. The practice of lawlessness in our daily lives.

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Week 15, 2022

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Week fifteen of Cultivate Delight, where we are actively planning our spiritual endeavors this coming week with the goal of a consistent time spent engaging our hearts with Christ in his word, in prayer, in reflection, and in music. Below are some starting points for reflection, and I hope you find them helpful. The goal is to not just rush through these and then get on with your day. Take your time and reflect throughout the week on these items.

This week we are focusing on the purpose of the law to reveal sin in our lives.

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Week 14, 2022

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Week fourteen of Cultivate Delight, where we are actively planning our spiritual endeavors this coming week with the goal of a consistent time spent engaging our hearts with Christ in his word, in prayer, in reflection, and in music. Below are some starting points for reflection, and I hope you find them helpful. The goal is to not just rush through these and then get on with your day. Take your time and reflect throughout the week on these items.

This week we are once again focusing on the utter sinfulness of our heart and our abject inability to obey the righteous requirements of God’s holy and perfect law.

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Week 13, 2022

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Week thirteen of Cultivate Delight, where we are actively planning our spiritual endeavors this coming week with the goal of a consistent time spent engaging our hearts with Christ in his word, in prayer, in reflection, and in music. Below are some starting points for reflection, and I hope you find them helpful. The goal is to not just rush through these and then get on with your day. Take your time and reflect throughout the week on these items.

This week we are focusing on the utter sinfulness of our heart and our abject inability to obey the righteous requirements of God’s holy and perfect law.

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Hidden Mercy

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Journal Entry // February 20, 2022

But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.

Exodus 13:18 ESV

The mercies of the Lord sometimes seem not quite so merciful when we are experiencing them, but our heavenly Father is full of ever increasing mercies in dealing with his children. On first reading, this seems a bit harsh to see that the Lord is going to lead the people on the longer route through the wilderness and toward the Red Sea. We might be tempted to question why the people had to be led through the longer harsher route. The previous verse tells us that God led them this way because if they went the shorter route through the land of the Philistines, the people were not prepared for war and would be tempted to flee back to Egypt.

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