The Enfolding Embrace (#jammed daily devo, day 159)

Posted on June 8, 2018

June #jammed: Under the Blanket of Grace.

Day 159: Grace gives hugs.

“So he got up and returned to his father. The father looked off in the distance and saw the young man returning. He felt compassion for his son and ran out to him, enfolded him in an embrace, and kissed him.” Luke 15:20 (VOICE)

“Sissy Patrol is ON THE ROLL!” they chanted, as they skipped happily down the sidewalk in front of us.

Arm-in-arm, smiling through sisterhood in these early childhood years, I hope they will always feel this love for each other. I sure do pray for it. After we got married, my husband and I couldn’t wait to have kids, and our sweet notion of “let’s have them close together so they can be friends,” actually came true.

They are my prodigal story, in a way. My whole little family is. I royally messed up my first marriage, and jump-started the second. Yet, here we were …a big blessed mess. When I look at my two daughters, I understand the Father’s enfolding embrace, and today’s verse, a little better. The reality of Jesus’ grace, and how it washes over me daily to erase the pain and the shame of the past, is leveling.

This type of love is not possible outside of the love of Jesus. Forgiveness, Himself, is the main miracle.

We all come back to our Father through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. The compassion of the father’s heart for his son in today’s Scripture trumped any mistake or offense. And He feels that way about us. Jesus. He prays for us. His outstretched hand pull us up into the Father’s enfolding embrace …again …and again …and again.

The sinful nature of our humanity is the toughest thing to accept about ourselves. The fact that we will always screw it up …never be able to honestly say, never again. That’s hard to come to terms with. But when we get in the habit of confessing and repenting, His enfolding embrace starts to squeeze the hard bits of our hearts into a platform of witness.

Father, Praise You for Jesus. Thank You for parables that help us understand just how great and how deep and how wide your love is for us. Please forgive us for packing guilt upon our shoulders instead of confessing and repenting to You. Guide us, and strengthen our will to grow and walk with You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace!

#greatgrace17

Happy Embracing,

Megs

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Category: Christian Living, jammed daily devo Tagged: #greatgrace17, enfolding embrace, hugs

The Little Hugs (#jammed daily devo,day 287)

Posted on October 14, 2017

October #jammed: Free Grace.

Day 287: Small but fierce.

“I took a moment to take it all in.” Proverbs 24:32

Little arms outstretched and wide-open smiles of excitement always greet me when I
substitute at the local elementary school. The feeling is mutual. There’s so much to learn from little people. It’s no wonder God tells us to have faith like a child.

It’s easy to forget the spark of Light that gave us life. The Father that knit talents and strengths into the core of who we are. We are tempted to assume accomplishment for our life’s acheivements in a jaded and entitled society.

In today’s verse, Solomon is talking about a field that he has passed. Good soil, that hasn’t been cared for to produce the potential it is capable of. We, too, become satisfied with what we can do and account for.

But, we’re sent to love …and love is a verb. It requires us to work with our gifts so that we may be in the position God purposefully placed us to be …an extension of love to the people He’s placed in our paths. What are we doing with what He’s given us?

I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw. Proverbs 24:32

There will never be a time when there’s nothing left for us to learn. God’s Living Word is endlessly teaching us, because each day brings a different challenge or triumph for Him to walk us through. Setting Him aside as if there’s nothing left to learn is like taking the groceries out of our car and throwing them right in the trash …as if there’s no use in walking out the steps in between.

He is life, and He’s given a piece of it to us so that we may love Him back and seek His presence. No matter how many meals we waste, He’ll embrace us. Jesus made that possible on the cross. It’s never too late to start working with what He’s given us. It’s never too late to open His book. It’s never to late to pray His Son into our hearts.

Father, Praise You for little people and the lessons their hugs seal in our souls. Thank You for the endless opportunities You give us to be forgiven through Jesus’ death on the cross. Forgive us for taking credit for the life You’ve woven into the threads of who we are. Bless us to get up and follow Christ, so we may see and know the good plans You promise for our lives. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.