Dear Father,
This week as we celebrate the Reformation it is a reminder of Your grace. Luther struggled with the weight of his sin like many of us. We know we cannot please you in our flesh. Nobody approaches God’s standard of righteousness. Bishop Moule said, “The harlot, the liar, the murderer, are short of God’s glory; but so are you. Perhaps they stand at the bottom of a mine, and you are on the crest of an Alp, but you are as little able to touch the stars as they.”

Paul reminds us,

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,…” Ephesians 2:4-6

God your everlasting desire is to keep us with you for all eternity. Thank you for knowing our weaknesses and have the love for Your creation to create a plan to rescue us from sin. A plan independent of any efforts on our part. If we were under a merit system, we would all be lost. Your grace means salvation is completely apart from any virtue we may think we have garnered. Grace means that Jesus did it all for our sake! Lord, help us focus on grace-filled lives. In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.