Light and Joy

"The life of the godly is full of light and joy..." (Proverbs 13:9)

Father God,

May I be godly so that I may be filled with light and joy. I know that light and joy do not necessarily mean happiness. That people of with deep joy are sometimes those who walk the hardest roads, but Lord may I radiate Your joy to this world. Replace the bitterness of my heart with joy. Bring light into the darkness.

For "Great is the LORD! He is most worth of Praise...Honor and majesty surround him; strength and beauty fill His sanctuary. O nations of the world, recognize the LORD; recognize that the LORD is glorious and strong. Give to the Lord the glory He deserves...Worship the LORD in all His holy splendor. Let all the earth tremble before Him...Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice! Let the sea and everything in it shout His praise! Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy! Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise before the Lord,

for he is coming!" (Psalm 96)

1 Corinthians 15:10

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect."

So often I feel I am just too complicated. That the notions of my heart are just too deep, just too full. Too full of the ever present knowledge of both my sinful state and the brokenness of the world. Too full of the brightness of His grace in my own life, and the beauty of His creation.

A tiresome dance of dark and light, death and life, bitterness and forgiveness, sin and grace.

Yet His word resounds, and I try desperately to live this each day - that His grace to me was not without effect. That Jesus did not die in vain, that His spirit is transforming and renewing me each day. But the kicker that speaks so deeply to my longing heart is that Paul writes "By the grace of God, I am what I am". Paul too felt this battle between who he was and who he saw God making him to be - yet also could say with confidence that where he was at was ok in the context of God's amazing grace.

In the context of His grace I am already made whole. Though the war of sin rages and my heart feels the burden of change - I am His. Hallelujah, Amen.