As I Enter His Temple in Meeting Mr. Jesus Christ

"The Lord has promised good to me. His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures." is tooled into my Bible cover. For me this was a reminder that my generosity makes God's grace overflow to me. The lesson in Sunday school was about how God loves a generous giver, and what that might look like here, as I give I receive. I count on God enabling me to excel in the good works He calls me to. As much as that could sound like doing for intentionally expected reward it doesn't work out that way. Instead the reward is inherent and often when least expected, often disconnected from what I have done and always the Holy Spirit's presence is felt in delivering this grace. My goodness today was an emotional one for me in church.

Pastor didn't really give a sermon this morning. Instead he did something I've not witnessed before and I was very moved by this. We celebrated the Lord's Supper this morning, but not just taking communion. Pastor alone spoke dramatically, (not preached) the entire Lord's Supper from the time Judas betrayed Jesus for a mere thirty silver coins through His crucifixion. That itself isn't too unusual, but what I found intensely interesting and moving was pastor tied this to the story of the veil of the temple being torn. In doing so he pressed (cautiously to not just blurt out the obvious connection between Christ's final words and the veil being torn) how the temple would never again be off limits to anyone. This knocked my heart to my knees. I learned something new and deeply important about God through this message.

I'm going to make time to meditate further on this, return to the scriptures and review this again. I've walked a step or three closer to God today and feel blessed by the grace of His great sacrifice. Christian maturity comes in burst and dribbles for me. I truly believe this is the first time my heart, mind and soul all melded to grasp John 3:16 beyond words. Praise God!