Change

Haggai 2:9 (New International Version)
9 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty."

This is God's way, isn't it?

He completely accepts us where he finds us--but to know him is to engage in a dynamic process of ongoing change that won't end until we graduate from earth to Heaven.

One of my favourite contemporary gospel songs is Nicle Nordeman's "Brave."

The gate is wide
The road is paved in moderation
The crowd is kind and quick to pull you in
Welcome to the middle ground
You're safe and sound and
Until now it's where I've been

'Cause it's been fear that ties me down to everything
But it's been love,
Your love, that cuts the strings

So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me want to be brave
The way it always was
Is no longer good enough
You make me want to be brave

This morning, in Amy Carmichael's Edges of His Ways, she wrote:

"...each act of obedience opens a window in Heaven, and light pours through the soul that obeys, and it walks on in that Heavenly light."

Ephesians 5:8 (New Living Translation)
8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!

2 Corinthians 4:17 (New Living Translation)
17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!

Prayer: Dear Lord, change and growth are painful sometimes, but oh, so worth it. Have your way in me--that's my prayer. Change me more and more into your likeness.

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