January 21
Early in Vicki’s journey with Jesus, God’s holiness made her even more appreciative of God’s grace. This gratitude is called worship. Worship is simply a life lived in appreciation of God’s mercy. A prayerful life is a worshipful life. (Gray, Derwin, “God, Do You Hear Me?” pg 53)
Happy Friday Family! Today we are taking a brief look at Chapter 4 of Dr. Derwin Gray’s book, “God, Do You Hear Me?” I love Chapter 4. Dr. Gray shares the intimate, and beautiful, story of his wife, Vicki; how they met, a brief biography of her upbringing, their perfectly messy marriage and love, and her love for Christ. Dr. Gray has dedicated five chapters to breaking down two lines of scripture from Matthew 6:9: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Chapter 4 is a beautiful explanation of how “Our Father is Holy.” If you still have not picked up this book, click here to get your own copy. It’s a quick read, you could catch up to Chapter 4 in a few hours sitting on the porch, by the fireplace, or on the beach (for my Florida family). I skipped the prayer of Chapter 3 yesterday to share my story from the weekend. But below is the prayer Dr. Gray closes Chapter 4 with. Enjoy friends. I’ll be on here tomorrow to share my thoughts on Chapter 5 as we close out Week #2 of our 2022 reading list!
“Abba,
You are high and exalted.
Holy is your name.
Your life spans from eternity past to eternity future.
All Glory and Power belong to you.
Your holiness is infinite.
You are perfect, beautiful, and pure.
Thank you,
That in Christ Jesus
Your holiness humbles me without humiliating me
And exalts me without elevating me.
The holiness you require is the holiness you give me as a gift.
May I go into the world with my eyes constantly gazing
upon your holy beauty, holy love,
as a Holy Spirit-filled missionary.
In Jesus’ name, amen.”
-Dr. Derwin Gray, “God, Do You Hear Me?” pg. 60
I invite you to say that prayer with me today.
I also invite you to click the image below and hear the latest conversation with my friends from The Holy Post. Phil has an amazing conversation with Dr. Esau McCaulley about the current state of racism in America.
I’m not sure how long the Christian Music World will keep knocking their new releases out of the park, but they have delivered again this week. Last week was so strong it’s hard to pick a final song to share with y’all. I mean you had a full length album (“Dominion”) released by Skillet, new music (“Desert Road”) from legendary Casting Crowns, a short EP (“See Me Through It”) by Brandon Heath, another amazing song(“Sunday Sermons”) from the explosive, emerging artist Anne Wilson, and so much more. But when I saw one of our favorites released a new song, where the lyrics truly sing to my soul, and a music video that demonstrates the truth of God’s glory, I had to share this new one from Love & The Outcome.
Common Sense Reborn 