One Blessing After Another
Mike Dwyer / Executive Pastor
Do you know how sometimes you are reading through the Bible and all of a sudden you come across a verse or phrase or word that stops you dead in your tracks? You have to go back and read it over and over. Usually it’s something you have seen and skimmed over 1000 times before. Well that happened to me again a while back.
At this time of year, I often read through the Book of John. The Book of John is a great way of studying the last week of Jesus’ life leading up to the cross; and then of course culminating with the Resurrection. As I began to read it I halted at John 1:16. I invite you to spend some time there and to meditate upon this great scripture. It has become one of my new favorites. In the NIV it reads, “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.” Stop the presses! I went over this time and time again. In some versions it reads “grace after grace.” I am prone to quickly forget how much God has done for me; to gloss over all the wonderful ways He touches my life and wonder “Where are you?” How often He has been there for me! If we simply take the time to slow down and be with Him, to remember, to count our blessings, our attitude changes and we realize He has been there all along.
I have spent time these last weeks asking myself how well do I really understand God’s grace? As I start to count: my wife and marriage, check; my kids, check; my grandkids, check; my health, check; my faith, check; my employment, check; my church and church family, check. I can appreciate God’s grace a lot more than I did a few minutes ago. “One blessing after another” hmmm?
Do you know how sometimes you are reading through the Bible and all of a sudden you come across a verse or phrase or word that stops you dead in your tracks? You have to go back and read it over and over. Usually it’s something you have seen and skimmed over 1000 times before. Well that happened to me again a while back.
At this time of year, I often read through the Book of John. The Book of John is a great way of studying the last week of Jesus’ life leading up to the cross; and then of course culminating with the Resurrection. As I began to read it I halted at John 1:16. I invite you to spend some time there and to meditate upon this great scripture. It has become one of my new favorites. In the NIV it reads, “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.” Stop the presses! I went over this time and time again. In some versions it reads “grace after grace.” I am prone to quickly forget how much God has done for me; to gloss over all the wonderful ways He touches my life and wonder “Where are you?” How often He has been there for me! If we simply take the time to slow down and be with Him, to remember, to count our blessings, our attitude changes and we realize He has been there all along.
I have spent time these last weeks asking myself how well do I really understand God’s grace? As I start to count: my wife and marriage, check; my kids, check; my grandkids, check; my health, check; my faith, check; my employment, check; my church and church family, check. I can appreciate God’s grace a lot more than I did a few minutes ago. “One blessing after another” hmmm?