Acts 20:32 - Devotional Commentary

Acts 20:32 (NIV)  "Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace,
which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are
sanctified.

By His Grace - so essential to the human heart and still so little time
spent in the shelter of His Word.   In the blur of today's frantic pace,
many find themselves without this comfort because time and circumstances do
not 'allow' it.  I am always amazed when those who have spent so little time
with the Bible, criticize its 'place' in 'modern' society.   They fail to
understand that Jesus, God with us, knew well the human heart, and whether
he was speaking to the peasant farmers, tax collectors, priests, and
soldiers of the Middle East, or blue collar workers, government employees,
politicians, rabbis & ministers, or servicemen of today, the human condition
would remain the same. He knew us then - and he knows us now.  And so the
parables have perhaps, even more relevance now in a more 'enlightened' age
when even science has begun to recognize the Truth of His Word.   People are
who they are, and then as now, it is only by His Saving Grace that we might
begin to see the legacy left for all who care to listen.  But, for all time,
'freedom' has been the cry - to be released from all authority except 'thine
own'.  And thus, though His blessings are encamped all around us, we prefer
the sound of our own voice, and pray, that if there be a God, He will
understand.  Trespassing on the human heart has always been a feat beyond
man's capabilities - only by His Saving Grace will we ever live that life of
'freedom' so desperately desired  - and so freely given.
Dear God,
Please make of my life
what you would have it be.
Time and fate have twisted things
I cannot straighten out - alone.
Dear God, may I begin again.
My body, my mind, my spirit, my love,
my hate, my pain, my sorrows, my joy,
my questions, my fears, my hopes,
my visions,
I give them all to You.   Amen
(from Marianne Williamson - Illuminated Prayers)
rita marie