Christ Church Bromley

There are two things that continue to amaze me, and will probably continue to do so as long as I have breath in me.

The first is just how I continually fail to live out the life of fulness and freedom in Christ. Take my regular Bible and prayer time, for instance. I love spending time every morning being fed from God's word and I really value the opportunity to bring praises and requests to my Lord God at the start of each new day. However, guess what part of my morning routine I consistently leave out in favour of significantly less important tasks? My great and saving God permits me to have access to his word of truth whilst also allowing time to hear my prayers and requests... and what do I do? Read my emails, make a coffee, prepare a talk... anything but look at the Bible and pray.

Thankfully, the second thing that always amazes me is that I am saved - and this not by any doing of my own but is a gift of his wonderful grace. Ephesians 2:8-10 is such a brilliant reminder that we are saved by God's grace first, in order to do God's good work second. Our actions do not lead to salvation. Instead, they flow out from it.

So as I battle with the usual morning distractions tomorrow and strive to meet with God in his word and in prayer, I can do so knowing that whatever the outcome I am still loved by God because of Jesus' perfect obedience to his Father, ultimately on the cross. All I need to do is keep persevering and remember it is by grace I am saved.