HOPE and Grace

H ~~ Humility

O ~~ Obedience

P ~~ Perseverance

E ~~ Exaltation

Pastor George did a series for four weeks on HOPE.  Each week he worked off each of the letters as shown above.  Each Sunday, I sat in the pew thinking, oh my gosh, he is talking just to me!!  But then I realized I am probably not the only one thinking the very same thought.

So, simply put this is what I think:  If we can Humble ourselves before God, we are open to learn Obedience.  And in order to obey, we certainly need to Persevere in our walk with Him.  Then the end result is our Exaltation ~ our worship to Him.  The cost of our worship is ourselves, as we must put ourselves lower than the object of our worship, which is of course, Jesus. 

Now, the Sunday after Christmas Pastor talked on Grace, the Gift that Keeps on Giving ~~ John 1:14-18

In verse 14 it says:  “…. Who came from the Father, full of Grace and truth.

In verse 15 it says “From the fullness of his Grace we have all received one blessing after another.  

You see Grace is unmerited.  We first receive Grace from Jesus, who just happens to have an overflow supply.  Then we receive grace on top of grace, on top of grace, over and over and over again.  So, in essence, Grace is the Gift that Keeps on Giving.

This is a good time of year to take an Inventory of our Blessings.  I know that is what I am going to do.  I just bet that each and every one of us will find that by reading our personal list of blessings, we will be blessed all over again.  Which in turn will give us Hope for the new year and remind us to Humble ourselves before Him, encourage us to be Obedient to Him, and to Persevere through any and all trials in our lives which will then open our hearts to be free to show our Exaltation to Him for all that He has done for us.

From my heart to yours, I hope your New Year is full of HOPE and Grace.  

             Susan