Laced With Grace

“And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.””
(Luke 5:29-32 ESV)

This past weekend we watched the Food Network show “The Big Waste”. Four of the network’s cooks were sent on a mission to create a multi course banquet. The twist of the assignment: create the courses with food that was on the way to the trash.

The show was very informative and eye-opening. The cooks went to grocery stores, farmers, wholesalers, and restaurants to see what was on the way out. What was interesting was that many farmers and grocery store owners throw out perfectly good food. However, consumers (you and me) do not want blemished or bruised fruit and vegetables. You should have seen the amounts of food thrown out…so sad.

The show also reminded me of people who think that they cannot be blemished or bruised to come into the presence of God. They believe they are completely lost and God does not want anything to do with them.

But if we read through the Gospels, we see that Jesus came to save the blemished and bruised. He did not come for the righteous! They had no need for Him. They were already righteous and their heritage would save them…

We all have been blemished and bruised. We knew we needed a Savior. Let us then ‘pick-up’ the blemished and bruised, and show them the way to the cross.

And next time you are at the grocery store, pick up the not so perfect tomatoes; they are always good for making pico de gallo .

Lord of Heaven and Earth. Help us to share Your grace with all the blemished and bruised. You are looking for the sick, not the healthy. No one is beyond Your incredible love. In the precious name of Jesus ~ Amen.

Photo & Content Copyright © Iris Nelson

Today’s devotion is written by Jenny Smith from ‘Keeping it Real, Keeping in Stride‘. Jenny will be joining our team in the 4th quarter of 2011 as a permanent contributor. We are very excited that Jenny is joining the team – God is Good!!!

My living room is making me sigh. Do you know that sound you make when you feel a bit sad, tired, on the verge of aggravation and it escapes? Well that’s my feeling when I walk in the living room. Sitting on the couch I started wondering what I could do, and then I remembered the last time I sighed over the same room.

A couple of years ago my mom called to tell me she was getting new living room furniture. My first instinct was to tell her we would take her old one. Chad was less than thrilled to hear we were going to be getting a new (old) couch from my mom. Now the couch is very comfy, but the color at one time had been white. My walls happen to be a neutral light grey. The couch blends into the wall looking almost ugly.

Not quite, but you know where you shake your head, wondering is this a lousy decorating decision??

The only reason I even considered putting it in my living room was for Bible Study. Our group had grown, and the kitchen chairs were hard. So, in my mind I was thinking well at least it is comfy. I was always happy with the couch on Wednesday when someone was sitting on it, but Thursday mornings I would shake my head and sigh.

Chad went fishing that next weekend after we got the couch, and I ended up at TJMax. I found some cute things for the living room coffee table with a yellowy gold pattern. Not my normal decorating color, but they were in my price range. I got home and cleaned the living room, added the new items and basked in the difference they made.

Until I looked at the love seat which looked decidedly sad on the wall. A few minutes later Chad called from the Walmart, he had noticed some slip covers marked “clearance”. From $79 to $20…only two colors brown or GOLD! I couldn’t believe it, I wish I had taken a picture of the couch before but here is the new couch!

You just can’t even imagine the smile this brought into my heart! First, that Chad even noticed slipcovers. Second, that God was putting my living room together!

As I sat looking around remembering how God had put my living room together, I realized instead of fretting over what I was going to do, I needed to remember what I learned last time. God knows what we are sighing over, and even in the little, daily things God is able to show up! My part is to rest in the knowledge that He cares for every aspect of my life. Keeping my eyes open to see what God will do!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Phil 4:6

Blessings,

Jenny

Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
(Psalm 24:3-6 ESV)

Every night I lift my little 3lb weights to keep my arms in shape. The other night as I was facing the window in our bedroom, I noticed little white flakes on the curtains. After close examination I realized that the ‘flakes’ were actually dust (yikes!!!). I told myself that I would get the curtains down on Saturday; and I so did. Little did I know that not only the bedroom needed cleaning, but also my heart.

After I pulled off the curtains to throw in the wash machine, I noticed a lot more dust. So out came my little duster to go over the door-frames, the walls and every nook and cranny that I noticed needed cleaning. Although I dust on a regular basis, I don’t do a deep clean as I did on Saturday. I even pulled all my stuffed animals from the dresser to throw in the wash so that no dust would be left in the room.

As I was moving around the room on my hands and knees, I started to think about how we too let things (grudge/emotional pain/unforgivingness) get in every nook and cranny of our heart and soul. But once the Light shines on us, we notice how yucky we really are. We show little white and gray flakes that are not very attractive in the Light.

To tell you the truth, I was humbled by my white and gray flakes. I had some unforgivingness and emotional pain settled in my heart that I had buried deep down and didn’t want to confront.

Sometimes it takes a little house-cleaning to get to the heart of emotional pain. As I was getting the dust out of every corner in the bedroom, so did God get to the bottom of my heart. It was all-in-all a wonderful cleaning; a clean room and a clean heart before God. How about you? Do you need a deep cleaning from God?

Lord of Heaven and Earth. Thank You for the time You spent with me on Saturday morning getting into every nook and cranny of my heart. Lord, I needed the deep cleaning You performed on my heart as much as our bedroom needed to have the dust removed. Your love is amazing and gives peace to my heart. In the precious name of Jesus ~ Amen.

Photo & Content Copyright © Iris Nelson