At our most recent Sunday evening parking lot worship service, I mentioned the hymn that has the line in the chorus, “count your blessings, name them one by one, count your many blessings and see what God has done.”  I know that I can be focused on tasks that I believe will address a perceived or real problem.  I can be consumed by what I feel is missing for the folks at St. John’s.  I can make time for conversations that are centered on planning and visioning for programs and events.  Rarely do I pause to count the blessings that are around me, even in the midst of leading during a pandemic.  I need to do a better job of daily counting the blessings of God.  God is my shepherd who leads and guides me each day.  God makes me to lie down in the comfort of my world.  God calms the rumblings in my heart, mind, and soul.  No matter what is going on, God is with me and is making me to prosper.  I work to do my part in ushering in God’s kingdom.  I have my daily bread.  But most of all, I am forgiven through God’s loving act of mercy and grace.

Of all the blessings that I can count, the one I count dearest is the blessing of God’s limitless grace.  Not that I am a horrible sinner in constant need of forgiveness of my sins (although there are times when God’s justifying grace is necessary).  What I count as a continual blessing is the presence of God’s grace that is sanctifying or transforming me.  I expect that God’s grace be present making me newer each day.  I expect that God’s grace will be at work in my heart, mind, and life.  I revel in knowing that God’s grace has unlimited potential in my life.  This is the Good News for me and it is the Good News for the world.  I pray that daily my life might be a sign of God’s limitless grace.

I invite you to take time and read each of the scriptures above as you move to reflect on the questions below.  I encourage you to think about God’s limitless grace in your life and the invitation to share grace with the world around you.  I also pray that God bless the reading of God’s Word and the meditations of your heart.