Ragamuffin Grace

“And Grace calls out, ‘You are not just a disillusioned old man who may die soon, a middle-aged woman stuck in a job and desperately wanting to get out, a young person feeling the fire in the belly begin to grow cold. You may be insecure, inadequate, mistaken or potbellied. Death, panic, depression, and disillusionment may be near you. But you are not just that. You are accepted.’ Never confuse your perception of yourself with the mystery that you really are accepted.” – Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel

~~~

Oh, the Sweet Grace of Jesus. I can never say it enough that with all I have done & seen, all I have subjected myself & others to – I have done nothing to earn it. Not one iota. Not in the least.

His Mercy & Loving kindness towards me is all that carries me. Through each loss, each fall & fail & every single triumph. It is certainly not by my might or power at all. I am tired. I need my Savior.

He stands on the pinnacles beside me & in the valleys He shoulders me & gives me rest when I can find none at all on my own. When I thirst for something bigger than me, He is all that truly satisfies. I am nothing. Without Him.

Hallelujah Lord.
You are so good to us, in spite of us.

Please touch every heart today that reads these words. May they seep down into the caverns in our ragamuffin souls. Into the hollowed out places where we have made our homes & fill them with Your Goodness & Light.

In Jesus’ precious name,
Amen.

Much love y’all,
Bonnie

(image courtesy of Mark Nixon from ‘Much Loved’ – a photo collection of beloved teddy bears)