Grace Flows Down

A bridge will get us from one place to another.  Otherwise it would be more difficult to get from one place to another if a bridge was not present.  

Did you ever think how you may be a bridge?  Last night I was thinking about how God uses us as bridges.  He uses us to connect people with the Lord or to help them deepen their walk with the Lord.  We are His bridge for His GLORY.

To be able to do this we need to be in serve mode all the time.  Looking for opportunities for God to use us as bridges.  I am very blessed with many friends who I see do this on a daily basis.  They are ready to sacrifice their time to sit and listen to someone who is in need and reach out to make a phone call when they care about someone or they just share openly what Jesus has done in their life.  They share how God has answered their recent or past prayers and they pray for others on a regular basis.  Yes, I am blessed to be surrounded by a body of caring, compassionate believers.  I am very grateful and thankful to the Lord for my friends.

I came across this poem in a book I picked up at a yard sale in Florida.  I treasure this little book of prayers and reflections put together by ladies in a bible study in Atlanta, Georgia. The name of the book is called Touched by God.

 Use Me

“Dear Lord,

Use me.

Use me as an extension of Your love so that others may feel Your Presence.

Use me to accomplish the work that needs to be completed so that others will know that God never leaves a job unfinished.

Use me to be that listening ear to someone in pain so that others will know of Your gentleness.

Use me see that others cannot see so that they will know of Your empathy.

Use me to walk a troubled road so that others may learn of Your faithfulness.

Use me to carry heavy burdens so that others will understand Your steadfastness.

Use me as a good mother so that children may grow up to know You as their personal Savior.

Use me to be a better wife so that my husband will understand Your unconditional love.

Use me to be a better friend so that others will know of Your compassion.

Use me, Lord, for Your sake, under any circumstance, for as long as it takes in order for others to experience You more personally.”

by Gwynie Dennard

So are you willing to be a bridge to be used by God so others will know His love, grace and mercy?  

We need to take moments to reflect to see how God wants to use us today and everyday to be a bridge for Him.

Mary

During my daily bible reading, I was reading in Leviticus 6 yesterday about how God asked Moses to pass on this instruction to Aaron and his sons pertaining to the burnt offering for their sins. In verse 9 God said that, the burnt offering must be left on top of the altar until the next morning, and the fire on the altar must be kept burning all night.  He(God) had started the holy fire and wanted it to keep burning.  God wanted it to represent His continual presence in the sacrificial system.  Only by God’s favor, it showed the people His graciousness on them for Him to accept their sacrifices.  

Because Jesus died on the cross for our sin, we as believers today have this “God’s fire” in us.  He lights the fire with the Holy Spirit to come and live in us.  He lovingly tends to it so that we will grow in grace as we walk with Him.  When we are aware of His presence within us, we have confidence to come to Him for forgiveness and restoration.

I love the part where he lovingly tends to us (through His fire, the holy spirit)so we will grow in grace as we walk with Him.  I don’t know about you but I could handle a whole lot of tending to and grace right now if not always!  This week was not an easy week. Not because anything has happened or did not happened.  I have kept up with my daily bible reading and stayed in prayer with Him but plainly as I can say I am finding it difficult to grab a hold of my joy.  This is where the Lord comes in, I leaned on back into is loving arms today and let Him shine all that grace and love on me and love me tenderly.  As I was sitting out on the back deck in the sunshine today letting my body just soak up the warm sun as it shined down unto me, I realized I get the same feeling when I stay in constant communication with Him.  When I am still and let Him just talk to me, I feel the same kind of warmth as I soak all of Him in. It keeps my fire burning more bright.  I love the free gift He gives us in the Holy Spirit.  

So why not lean on into Him today and be quiet and still.  Wait to hear from Him, soak Him in, feel His warmth and let Him lovingly tend to your fire and grow in His grace.  Come to Him for forgiveness and restoration.  We need to take time to be with Him in order for His fire that is within us to stay burning bright.  Even when we are taking care of everyone else around us we need not forget to let the Mighty One take care of US!  I love that He is there for us and loves us so much!  Let Him tend to you today and grow in grace as you walk with HIM. 

Mary

I had the opportunity to do a tablescape for our Easter Services at church this year.  I was excited to decorate the table provided on the stage to represent the wedding feast we will one day have with our Lord.

(I see I left my car keys sit on the table while taking the pics) 

Sunday after we were done with the last service my honey and I were busy taking it all down to bring home to our house so we could set our table for Easter dinner.  So glad we were celebrating later in the day with my boys.

The floral centerpiece was donated for use at the church by Floral Design.  It looked so beautiful on the table.

It was a great afternoon celebrating with my boys and my oldest son’s girlfriend.    I will share more pictures and tell more of our time together in another post.  I hope you all had a great time celebrating Easter and had tender moments with friends and family.

Mary 

Linking to Between Naps on the Porch

Stone Gable