Within the castle of our fears, inside the moat well-filled with pride, we wonder why this life we chose seems lonely and unhappy. Our citadel seems much more like a prison. We wanted strength, we said, so we built battlements and gates to keep our painful secrets safe. We rarely let the drawbridge down, for we have much to guard. But from the turret we can see a joyous life we long to live—a liberated life, well-filled with love, with kindly people laughing, caring, trusting and forgiving. Grace always builds for us communities of hope. It brings companions who, like us, once lived behind grim castle walls. We learn, in time, the undefended life, where broken people are made whole, where we admit how much we need the healing freely ours in Jesus. We trade our fears for faithful friends: we drain the moat; we plant peace lilies on the walls. “For freedom Christ has set us free” (Gal 5:1). And so we find the life we crave—where we are neither lonely in our sins nor alone in our salvation. The grace we’re given gradually becomes the grace we share with those still trapped behind dark castle walls. “Come down; come out,” we chorus at the stones. “Come live the shared, abundant life Christ promises to prisoners.” And all who do can stay in grace. -Bill Knott
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HELD BY GRACE (May 14, 2021)
WHAT CAN WASH AWAY MY SIN? (May 07, 2021)
FORGIVENESS ON A STRING (April 30, 2021)
THE GROWING SEASON (April 23, 2021)
THE CONFIDENCE OF GOD (April 16, 2021)
NO TRAVELING ALONE (April 09, 2021)
HAIL THE DAY (April 02, 2021)
UNBROKEN LOVE (March 26, 2021)
NOT FOR SALE (March 19, 2021)
THE HOUSE THAT GRACE BUILDS (March 12, 2021)
A NEW ECONOMY (March 05, 2021)
GETTING WHAT WE DON’T DESERVE (February 19, 2021)
MANNA IN OUR WILDERNESS (February12, 2021)
ASSUMED IDENTITY (February 05, 2021)
WHY GRACE MAKES US UNCOMFORTABLE (January 29, 2021)
REASSURING RHYTHMS (January 22. 2021)
RECLAIMING OUR IDENTITY (January 15, 2021)
LOVE THAT WON’T LET GO (January 08, 2021)
RENEWAL IN THE RUINS (January 01, 2021)
LOVE CAME DOWN (December 24, 2020)
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