Coat
"...But where sin increased, grace increased all the more."
Romans 5:20
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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. II Corinthians 12: 9
Seasons greetings fellow believers,
Amazing Grace - how sweet the sound. Amazing love - now flowing down. From hands and feet that were nailed to the tree His grace flows down and covers me.
I love snow do you love snow? What is it that fascinates people about snow? Perhaps it is the scientific definition of snow, or maybe its the rareness of it, or maybe just maybe its not the snow they love so much but what it covers. Snow is so beautiful to me when it first falls. It covers the streets, the trees, everything it touches. Its so pure and clean when it first falls. I mean I used to get in trouble for eating it all the time when I was a kid. I loved it. (still do) But soon after it falls, after I play in it for hours, and the school buses and plow trucks drive over it, and the dogs choose to take care of their business in it, it suddenly becomes much less appealing than it had been before.Piles of filthy snow sit next to the roads and now I even have to watch where I go in it, making sure not to find the seemingly always present yellow sun.
That beautiful sheet of heavenly rain is now disgusting and only a nuisance. The beauty of one of my favorite things in life is now ugly. So what happens next, Well there only seems to be two options. Either more snow comes and covers that snow stained with our carelessness or the Son's rays take that once pure coat that has been destroyed and melts it away leaving no trace of it behind.
Do you remember the time you told Jesus you were willing to commit your entire life to him? Or maybe a time you were worshiping him with no distractions and no worries. Just you and him. Complete peace and joy. I have had moments like that many times but then ( theres always a but ) I have to go back into the world. And suddenly that joy and peace seems to quickly disappear. I start looking for a place in the snow that is still pure, that hasn't been trampled on but I realize there is none. So sometimes I even move over to my neighbors yard but the same thing happens there. I'm stuck there's nothing left. All I wanted to do was play and now everything that was beautiful is gone. Gone. What do I do?
Well luckily I know where that happiness came from. Above the heavens. Where else could something that beautiful come from? Nowhere. I know I don't deserve another chance but yet it snows again or is taken away by the Sons rays, without a trace of the dirt I had left behind. So what do I do now? I start with a fresh new coat. Hoping and praying that this time I will try to preserve it a little better. Knowing that the beauty was in its purity not its essence. Life is the same way. We are called to be Holy ( Lev 11: 44\ I Pe 1:15-16). To seek purity in all areas of our lives. You've had that moment when a fresh coat of Gods grace and mercy has fallen on you. It was great, beautiful, and worth everything. Don't let the worldly things deceive you into playing and destroying it. Sometimes others began to destroy our snow but God is faithful and willing to send a new coat. Pure and White.
Snow is beautiful when it falls and the Son's rays reflect off of it. It sparkles like crystals. If you need a new coat just ask and he will send it. Than let the Son shine on it making it truly beautiful. ...wash me and I will be whiter than snow." Psalm 51: 7
Amazing grace - how sweet the sound. Amazing love - now flowing down. From hands and feet nailed to the tree. His grace flows down and covers me.
Inside-Out Youth Ministries,
His humble servant,
James Laker