April #jammed: Grace Studies.

Day 99: Not the same without it.

“I am the path, the truth, and the energy of life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6 (VOICE)

The organized part of my heart has the day mapped out before it begins, and part of that routine is a giant glass of water with fresh lemon squeezed in it. Always trying to be healthy, I’m sure it began as a part of that cause, but now I can’t stand the taste of water without it. It’s less refreshing …bland …boring.

Today’s verse is the squeeze of lemon in the water of life. Jesus. The Voice version says, “the energy of life.” He surely is. I don’t remember a day in my life that I didn’t believe in Jesus. The sweetest times in my life are those He was especially present in. Other times, I walked away. Never completely …but enough to make life start to taste bland and boring.

The path is not an easy one to walk. God never promised this life would be easy. But it’s harder without Him. Doubly hard. Double the pain, double the shame, double the suffered consequence for sinful nature. Bleh. That’s all pretty tough to swallow.

My struggle in Christianity has been in forgiving myself for wandering from the path, ignoring the truth, and sucking the energy right out of my own soul. Everytime I think I’ll never go down that road again, I’m scared into prayer …because I’ve done it before. I’ve turned on my heals and ran like the wind. Thinking I could figure life out, fix a mistake, reverse a bad decision, ignore a wrong choice …ignore His voice.

But when I pick up that lemon, slice it in half, and squeeze it into my glass of water …crackling with ice …I’m still here. I’m here on this earth drinking a glass of water. I kind of have to …I need water to live. It’s not a big deal unless I recognize the redemptive status of this extra glass full of flavor.

It’s still too much for me to understand. I don’t have all the answers. But I can’t do life without Him anymore. I become more relient on my sweet Jesus everyday. The more I get to know Him, the more I can’t believe I ever tried to wander without Him. The more I can’t believe He doesn’t shame me with guilt like I and the rest of the ‘free’ world would love to. My mistakes are unspeakable. I’m not ready to speak of them fully. But I’m working on it. For now, I’m just thankful for the lemon in my water, the flavor in my life, and Jesus in my heart.

Father, Praise You for the Energy of life! Thank You for Jesus. He truly does give us life to live. Forgive me for wasting time wandering. Bless all of the days of my life with the zest of lemony goodness, with His spark of energy in my step and smile. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace! 

#greatgrace17

Happy Zesting,

Megs

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