{"id":21794,"date":"2017-11-29T00:05:36","date_gmt":"2017-11-29T08:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=21794"},"modified":"2017-11-28T16:06:01","modified_gmt":"2017-11-29T00:06:01","slug":"november-29-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2017\/11\/29\/november-29-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"November 29, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cBut when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.\u201d<\/i> Titus 3:4-7<\/p>\n

Good Works<\/b><\/h2>\n

I woke up this morning and asked God where to go in His Word, and He said, \u201cTitus.\u201d As I read these verses, I felt a peace settle over me\u2014there\u2019s been a ton of work going on in our household lately: my husband\u2019s been very busy with a variety of projects at his job, as I\u2019ve been at mine, and we\u2019ve had a family member staying with us for a couple of weeks requiring multiple trips out of town for medical procedures\/appointments. I found out I\u2019ll need to make two trips out of town this week instead of one, because in the middle of this family member\u2019s last procedure I need to be back in town to go to a doctor\u2019s appointment with one of my kids. It feels overwhelming at times. My attitude hasn\u2019t always been what it should be\u2014with our home routine disrupted, I confess I haven\u2019t been in the Word nearly as often as I usually am, nor have I gone to church as regularly. It shows.<\/p>\n

I tried to fit something else in\u2014a national yearly event put on by a wonderful Christian organization\u2014a project I\u2019ve participated in multiple times, but I had to take a deep breath and ask myself if I was really supposed to be involved this year. Had I prepared for it earlier, it would\u2019ve been very simple, but since I\u2019d put it off until the last minute and had other commitments, it would now mean involving my husband. What would\u2019ve been a joy to contribute to would turn into a stressful event not only for me, but him as well.<\/p>\n

Paul writes about good works in Titus 3:8 and 3:14: \u201cAnd let our <\/i>people also learn to maintain good works, to <\/i>meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

That last thing I wanted to do is a good work, meets urgent needs, and bears fruit, but I have to remember: God doesn\u2019t love me less if I don\u2019t do this; I\u2019m no less filled with the Holy Spirit; no less justified or less of an heir. His Son\u2019s sacrifice did those things, not my works. In His supreme grace and mercy, God reminded me of another project I\u2019ve been involved in locally for years which is just as good, meets needs, bears fruit, and is happening next month. God is so good.<\/p>\n

\u201cFather God, may we desire to do good works because of Your love, not to earn the love You have freely given us through Your Son, Jesus. Amen.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>

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