Week 1 of Mega Memory Month is over...is anyone besides Sara joining me? How is it going? It's not too late to jump in!Thanks to MMM, I'm lots closer to finishing my gospel memory project than I would otherwise be. The accountability has kept me on track despite being out of my normal routine, so that Thursday, Lord willing, I should be able to finish the poetic narrative from Milton Vincent's A Gospel Primer for Christians. I'll be honest, it's been really difficult to be diligent, and I haven't been able to spend the time really meditating and reflecting on the words like I need to. But that's the beauty of memorization--even if it is just rote learning now, it will be in my head and I can then steep in the truths for weeks/months/years to come.
Two lines have been coming to mind over and over ever since I worked on them on July 1--I can't get past them. Here they are in context:
I can't stop thinking about that sentence: "He gives them a pardon and then makes them blessed." For God to have mercy on me, to cancel the death sentence I deserve and release me, would be an unimaginably precious gift. It could end there--He could grant me NOTHING else--and I would have to praise Him, to call Him incredibly merciful. But He didn't stop there. He doesn't simply give mercy. He opens the floodgates of grace!At God's own right hand
Christ now reigns from on high
A Friend in high places
to sinners who cry
To Him for forgiveness,
their evils confessed.
He gives them a pardon
and then makes them blessed.
Once I am pardoned, He then pours out glorious riches on me. As the song says:
[Pardon for sin AND...]
a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence
to cheer and to guide
Strength for today
and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine,
with ten thousand beside!
God richly provides me with countless temporary, earthly blessings--thousands upon thousands of gifts (both big and small) each day. And then, He generously grants blessings that will last forever--an inheritance in Heaven that will never perish, spoil or fade; most notably, a relationship with Him, the opportunity to enjoy and exult in Him eternally!
"He gives them a pardon"--for this I am eternally grateful. But that's not all!--"...and then makes them blessed." May He give us eyes to see the blessings He pours out each day, especially the blessings of the gospel, purchased by the death of His Son.
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4 comments:
Your Gospel Primer is almost like a beautifully composed catechism or creed. How wonderful to have that tucked away to share as needed, when someone asks "What must I do to be saved?"
yes, Ann--but it's so much more than that, too. the first half of the book, before the prose and poetic narratives, explains 31 reasons why we as believers need to preach the gospel to ourselves daily! so I'm memorizing these truths not just to be able to share them with unbelievers, but to be able to speak the power of the gospel into the lives of my Christian friends and to preach it to myself. we ALL need to hear the gospel again and again, no matter how long we've known the Lord!
Sweet thoughts, precious to me. I never tire of being reminded of my pardon. It wasn't just a stay of execution for me. It was death by execution for Jesus that pardoned me. Do you get teary-eyed just saying this? I do.
That is beautiful. Thank you for sharing Amy. I will keep that thought with me.
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