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Journal Notes
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I actually keep
two journals–one is a day-by-day journal (as the name
journal indicates), the other is what I call a “periodic
journal,” in which I write some things about passages or
spiritual meditations. May I share a few of the latter with
you?
February 27, 2007–“Being confident of this
very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians
1:6).
“To consider that we could be classed as those in whom God
has Himself begun a good work is a high thought indeed. Who
can describe the joy that comes from the knowledge that such a
connection exists? It is too high for me.
“Our transformation is the work of His grace. We could never
have merited such, but we are bound to cooperate with that
grace by the exercise of ourselves in all those things that
relate to His provisions. Our free-will participation brings
to fruition the plan that is the essence of His grace.”
“The completion of that work begun is us will be realized at
‘the day of Jesus Christ,’ that is, at the final
resurrection of the saints at His coming. May God preserve me
till that day shall come.”
May 2, 2007–“and of his fulness have we all
received and grace for grace” (John 1:16).
“Grace is more than just unmerited favor. Grace is God’s
attitude toward man, no matter his condition.”
“No matter how steeped in sin, man is never out of God’s
sight. No matter how long sin had dominated his life, God is
still near, and still cares.”
“The fulness of that grace is shown in Jesus Christ, the
only begotten God. He is grace personified, illustrated, and
practicalized. Without Him no realization of God’s grace
would be possible.”
“ Likewise, Jesus is the expression of truth in both His
life and His teachings.” Grace and truth are inseparable;
there cannot be one without the other.
“Thanks be to God for His unspeakable grace.”
January 2, 2007–“For the eyes of the Lord are
over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their
prayers” (I Peter 3:12).
“The new year has come suddenly upon me. It arrives with a
kind of freshness, and with a multitude of promises. What it
will deliver no one knows, however, and we, if we are wise at
all, will put our confidence in the Lord and sue Him for the
guidance we will need to make this new year all that it can,
in His good providence, become.”
“One thing is certain: ‘the eyes of the Lord are over the
righteous.’ That is, He sees our every need, and that
clearly. We need have no doubt that He watches over His own.
And, ‘His ears are open to their prayers.’ He never turns
from our petitions nor is He ever away from hearing us.”
“Oh, blessed thought that He is ever near and ever cognizant
of our needs.”
May 23, 2007–“And we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
“The providence of God is a fact affirmed in the Scriptures.
However, we are not told how He acts, or when and why; we only
know that He does.”
“Providence, if it can be viewed at all, must be viewed
retrospectively; no other way is possible. Even then, it is
only suspicion, not a discernable fact. That does not mean
that He hasn’t acted in some matter, and that so obviously
that we are strongly suspicious of His involvement. In such
instances we are caused to rejoice on account of His
participation in our lives.”
Prayer and providence are connected. There must ever exist a
constant communication between the Almighty and His saints, or
those, ‘who are called according to His purpose.’”
“I once heard Paul Earnhart say, ‘God acts, He does not
always tell us why.’”
December 1, 2008–“For the Lord is good; his
mercy is everlasting: and his truth endureth to all
generations” (Psalm 100:5).
“I have been ill. There are lessons to be learned from
illnesses, lessons that scarcely can be learned any other
way.”
“Life is fragile. We live it like it’s never going to end.
Sickness defeats such confidence and cause us to take a
serious look at how impermanent, how temporary life really is.
Add to this the involvement of age and you come to the stark
reality of how little time is left.”
“Life is more than just living. Life is the means for
service–service to Him who gave it, service to others who
have it. It will never satisfy until it is lived as it was
meant to be.”
“Life without love is meaningless. Without love, life
becomes shallow, bland, meaningless. With love in it it can
endure almost anything, including periods of sickness.”
Now I hope that didn’t bore you too much. If you like it
maybe I’ll do it again sometime.
Dee Bowman
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Copyright (C)
2008
Southside Church of Christ
All rights reserved.
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