There two stories that define us as we stand before God.  One story is about a fungus that exists in the Malheur National Forest in Oregon. 

       “The fungus, called the honey mushroom, started from a single microscopic spore, and spread through the roots making it the largest living organism ever found.  It’s been weaving its black shoestring filaments through the forest for an estimated 2400 years killing trees as it grows.  From the ground you don’t notice the pattern.  But these shoestring filaments stretch as much as ten feet into the soil, invading tree roots through a process of pressure and enzyme action, killing them as they produce.

         Sin— like this gigantic mushroom — has begun in a single act of disobedience and spread across the entire human race.”

         The other story is about a now, retired, world‑renowned movie star, Sophia Loren, who is quoted as saying …

     “I’m not a practitioner, but I pray.  I read the Bible.  It’s the most beautiful book ever written.  I should go to heaven; otherwise, it’s not nice.  I haven’t done anything wrong.  My conscience is very clean.  My soul is as white as those orchids over there, and I should go straight, straight to heaven.”

         Could it perhaps be, that Sophia Loren has been blinded from the sin of self-righteousness that — like the honey mushroom — is growing deeply rooted within her, and yet she’s so close to it that she can’t see that she, too, is guilty of sin and falls short of the glory of God.

         We must all come to recognize that our sins prevent us from experiencing the faith that leads to grace until we are willing to confess those sins and trust in the promises of the One by who grace and redemption are freely given.  Only in that way can we experience the faith that leads to grace.

• What are your feelings (without judgment) about people who believe they have done nothing they need to be forgiven for?
• Is there a way to help them find a faith that leads to grace that glorifies God and justifies them?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Almighty God, grant that in my life’s journey I may always be able to confess my sins so that my faith that leads to Your grace will not be impeded.

         We’re all familiar with the proverbial statement “caught between a rock and a hard place.”  Well, for those of us who seek a relationship of righteousness with God, the rock and the hard place we find ourselves sandwiched between is God’s law on one side and our disobedience (or sin) to the law on the other.  Trying to find a way out is difficult because we find ourselves unable to be obedient to very basic elements of the law.  And yet, God has provided a way out through a gracious gift of grace that came through Jesus Christ.  The beauty of the gift is that it is a transferrable gift, conferred upon one while able to touch the lives of many.  The ease by which this is done has nothing at all to do with any effort made on our part.  It is a gift divinely inspired, created, planned, developed, initiated, carried out, and fulfilled by God utilizing Jesus — God’s Son — as the instrument of divine delivery.

         Before God’s plan was put into place, we were all destined to die, being crushed by death between the rock of God’s law and the hard place of our disobedience.  But because of God’s tremendous love for us, Christ took our place between the rock (God’s law)and maintained it and the hard place (our disobedience and sin) and offered a way out while he died to save us.  Because of what Christ did, we were all allowed to escape death by faith that leads to grace through Jesus Christ.  It is our faith in God’s grace so freely given that saves us.

• Why do you believe our faith in the gift of God’s grace is so vitally important to our salvation?
• What is it about our faith that leads to God’s gift of grace that makes the gift so appealing?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Merciful creator, thank you for providing a gift that frees me from death by offering me a faith that leads to Your grace and my salvation.

         It’s often difficult to define relationships in terms of who’s really related to whom.  In my own journey into ancestral connections, I’ve discovered some familial connections that I never thought possible.  I’ve gone to school with cousins I didn’t know were my distant cousins until I found the familial connection in my search.  And upon realizing the connection, we were both pleasantly shocked, but surprised.  I’ve also discovered people that I thought were connected because of a name that showed up in the lineage, only to find out there was no connection at all.

         It is a sobering thought to imagine searching for a true family connection to God and discovering that there is none at all.  Even more sobering is the realization that this connection is not beyond our reach.  God has made a way for us to belong in God’s family through one simple act of faith — a faith that joins us to the promise first given long ago to Abraham and fulfilled in Christ.  What might seem distant or uncertain is, by God’s grace, offered freely to all who trust in God’s promise and believe it has been fulfilled in His Son, Jesus Christ.

• How does being connected to God and Christ differ from being connected to your other relatives by law or blood?
• What is the greatest benefit of being connected to God by faith rather than by obedience to the law?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving God, thank you for giving me a faith that leads to grace and including me as an heir and a part of your spiritual family through my faith in Your promise to Abraham.