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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Bill Knott's GraceNotes: GETTING IT RIGHT (June 11, 2021)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: FINDING COMMUNITY (June 04, 2021)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: NO OTHER GOSPEL (May 28, 2021)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: PROOF OF LIFE (May 21, 2021)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: HELD BY GRACE (May 14, 2021)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: WHAT CAN WASH AWAY MY SIN? (May 07, 2021)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: FORGIVENESS ON A STRING (April 30, 2021)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: THE GROWING SEASON (April 23, 2021)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: THE CONFIDENCE OF GOD (April 16, 2021)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: NO TRAVELING ALONE (April 09, 2021)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: HAIL THE DAY (April 02, 2021)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: UNBROKEN LOVE (March 26, 2021)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: NOT FOR SALE (March 19, 2021)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: THE HOUSE THAT GRACE BUILDS (March 12. 2021)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: A NEW ECONOMY (March 05, 2021)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: THE FLOWERING OF GRACE (February 26, 2021)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: GETTING WHAT WE DON’T DESERVE (February 19, 2021)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: MANNA IN OUR WILDERNESS (February12, 2021)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: ASSUMED IDENTITY (February 05, 2021)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: WHY GRACE MAKES US UNCOMFORTABLE (January 29, 2021)
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