Graced Again (and again)

Do you ever wonder about what God thinks of us as we try to do things of our own accord? This seems to be an issue that God has been dealing with me about.

I have felt the call on my life to ministry and am in lay ministry in our current church, but know that the Lord has called me to preach. I know that I'm supposed to attend school and I have been trying everything in my earthly power to do just that.

Did you get that? "I have been trying everything in my earthly power..."

Yesterday the Holy Spirit spoke to me through a broadcast by Adrian Rogers about Joshua and Jericho. An intersting aspect is that I normally wouldn't have heard Dr. Rogers at that time, but I was running late in getting home from work.

This morning, I was running late in leaving my house for work (see a pattern?) and heard a message on Gideon and doing things according to God's power and for His glory.

This morning in my e-mail inbox was a message from Graced Again stating:

I'm convinced that if the gospel of grace (that God in Christ has forgiven you of all your debt with Him and that He has given you all His 'rightness') doesn't take your breath away, something else will. And this world has lots of 'something else's.' I used to think that what God wanted for me to do was try harder, get more committed, deny myself and keep my sin under control and then I would begin to see change. But I am learning that the fight in the Christian life is the fight of faith; to believe the Gospel of grace really is true; to get the Wow of the Gospel.

~Tom Wood

It takes me a while because I'm thick-headded, but I'm starting to see a pattern of faith and depending on God.

This is not to say that I don't depend on God, but I think a lot of times I try to push and "help", when I should just "trust and obey"