In desert canyons, ferns will flourish, sprouting from the bone-dry walls. None of them is kept alive by current rainfall: little ever reaches them. But rain that cooled the mesa 500 feet above 20 years ago seeps down through sedimentary rock to deliver needed moisture. The source is slow, no doubt, but savingly it keeps the green things growing. So it is with grace in us. The saving wrought by Jesus’ sacrifice began a flow that still is watering whatever’s dry in us. We may have been “saved” in a moment, but the slow water of deep holiness seeps down to the stony layers of relationships and attitudes and deserts we’ve never even hoped to water. One day, we give up grudges, half-surprising ourselves—and certainly surprising those who wounded us. Weeks later, we begin to reach beyond our comfort zone to love the unloved and the graceless. Our most important relationships—our friendships and our marriages—begin to shift: we hold our tongues; we listen more; we offer comfort where we once doled out our wit or scorn. The grace that saves us always changes us—sometimes at once; more often slowly,imperceptibly. This is as fully Jesus’ work as blazing, noonday turnarounds. “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6). Allow what’s dry to grow toward green. And stay in grace. -Bill Knott
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SLEEP LIKE A CHILD (July 29, 2022)
SPEAK QUIETLY TO ME (July 22, 2022)
AFTER THE FALL (July 15, 2022)
NET WORTH (July 08, 2022)
GRACE AWAKENINGS (July 01, 2022)
THE LIFE YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED (June 24, 2022)
THE LEDGER OF YOUR LIFE (June 17, 2022)
A HYMN TO GRACE (June 10, 2022)
IN QUIETNESS AND GRACE (June 03, 2022)
FEELING GUILTY, LEARNING GRACE (May 27, 2022)
WHY GRACE ENDURES (May 20, 2022)
BETTER THAN WE KNOW (May 13, 2022)
GRACE AND CHANGE (May 06, 2022)
GRACE AND LIGHT (April 29, 2022)
THE FOLLOWING WEEK (April 22, 2022)
CONSIDERING THE LILIES (April 15, 2022)
GROWING WEALTH (April 08, 2022)
HERO TO THE RESCUE (April 01, 2022)
AUDACIOUS GRACE (March 25, 2022)
THE JOY TO JOURNEY ON (March 18, 2022)
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