Reviewing The Week

As I look back over my thoughts concerning the week of reading, what strikes me is the Transforming Presence of Jesus. It is Jesus who turns sinners into saints...both through salvation and sanctification. It is Jesus who draws me out of the darkness into the light. He exposes my hidden motives and wrongful actions, not simply to convict me of guilt, but to move me from what I was to what He wants to create within me. It is Jesus who welcomes me into His presence, and thus calls me to welcome others into my presence. This welcome is a result of grace as we accept people...warts and all...just as Jesus embraces us even though He knows our faults and failures. And it is Jesus who gets me beyond "me and my ministry" to "Him and His kingdom." In all this, the key is to submit myself to Jesus so that His Spirit can convict me of error, convince me of truth, and draw me out of darkness and into His marvelous light. May all of us take this journey, and discover the amazing grace and love of God that is available through Jesus.