Thought for November 21, 2024

•  164 BC: Judas Maccabaeus recaptures Jerusalem and rededicates the Temple
• 1620: Mayflower Compact
• 1899: President McKinley meets with five clergy after the acquisition of the Philippines. He says he did not want the acquisition, but God spoke to him as he prayed on his knees. So, "There is nothing left for us to do but take them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by God's grace do the very best we could by them as our fellow-men for whom Christ died." I pray for Presidents like that.
• 1922: Rebecca Felton sworn in as first female senator [Georgia]
• 1931: "Frankenstein" with Boris Karloff released
• 1959: Nixon and Jack Benny perform a duet
• 1973: 18.5 minute gap in White House Tapes revealed
• 1977: First Concorde flight
• 1980: "Who shot JR" episode seen by 83 million
• 1980: MGM Grand fire kills 84
• 1989: Smoking on domestic flights banned
• Born: Voltaire, Stan Musial, Marlo Thomas, Tweety Pie [first appearance in a cartoon], Larry Mahan [rodeo], Harold Ramis, Goldie Hawn, Steven Curtis Chapman, Troy Aikman, Ken Griffey Jr., Michael Strahan
• Died: Mel Ott, Carl Hubbell, Bill Bixby, David Cassidy, 

Thought:

Reading 1 Corinthians 1:4-8 today. Paul is writing to the church at Corinth in Greece from Ephesus. In these verses Paul continues his greeting to the church, telling them that he regularly thanks God for what God is doing among them. What Paul says is a reminder to me of the rich, abundant and unmerited favor we have in Christ. 

• God poured out His grace upon us in Christ. [1:4] The God of creation out of His great love extended amazing grace to us in the person of Jesus. That is cause for celebration, thanksgiving, praise, worship, and service. Of course we can stop and sing Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. Or for some of us "seniors" we might sing, "Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and our gilt. Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured, there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt. Grace, grace, God's grace; grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all our sin"
• That grace included riches. [1:5-7] That marvelous, amazing grace blessed us with riches beyond measure---joint heirs with Christ. His grace gives us wisdom through the Holy Spirit, words to say in prayer and in witnessing that are not our own. And gifts especially suited for us so that we are lacking in nothing--Jesus is our sufficiency, our abundance. Reminds me again that when Jesus gives a command or places a call in my life, He provides all the resources, all the gifts, that I need to be fully obedient. So when I disobey, it is me, all me.
• That grace gives us full assurance and a guarantee of our eternal security in Him [1:8] His grace brought us from darkness to light, from death to life. Then, it provided everything we need for this life, wisdom, power, gifts. And it assures everything we need for eternity. For when He appears, we will be found blameless, not because we were perfect, but because He is perfect and we stand in Him.

So, I think I will just sing about that grace for a little while.

Blessings

Larry