Living a life that Matters

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Romans 5:1-11

I have plenty to be thankful for. But today I am thankful for the peace God has given me. The peace and hope I have in Christ and the access I have to God and His grace. I am thankful for the Holy Spirit and his guidance. God has poured his love into my heart and I no longer have to be a slave to sin. He has transported me into his marvelous light and I want to share that with others.

Thank you God for good friends and family to share and live my life with. Thank you for the many blessings they have given me.

Thank you God for my church and the community I have with them. I appreciate the openness and the warmth that they give. They are a community who are living out the story of God and provide an environment for people to grow in.

Thank you God for my Missional community. Thank you for providing people who get the gospel and have enriched my life with it. I am thankful to have people I can be transparent with and view me no different from themselves.

Thank you God for my friend Scott whose friendship I didn’t understand until now. You have used the most unlikely of all people to help me wrestle through life and together we are both drawing closer to you. His unconditional love toward me is a model of Christ who loves us despite our sins.

Thank you God for my kids and the bond that I have with them. I love the opportunities I get to minister to them through my own life. Through the many heartaches and tears we have shed,  I get to display my confidence to them and tell them it is because I love Jesus and he is on our side.

Thank you God for my wife. In the time I have known her, my faith has grown so much through the heart she has for you and the many trials and struggles we have endured together. In doing life with her, God has used her to be a mirror into my own heart and the issues I need to change so I can be an instrument in your hands. I love you CJ and I don’t tell you enough.

Thank you Jesus Christ for being my Redeemer and Savior and loving me despite my shortcomings.