And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

(Colossians 1:21-23 ESV)

The truth and gratitude and what is it that you need? Grace for today, hope for tomorrow and mercy to be. Just be.  Yesterday I was being by basking in The Presence of the LORD at the beach.  Not concerning myself with the time or the text or the email, just relaxing and resting at the Atlantic, it is where I experience the Almighty hand of God in creation and recognize my own smallness, how incredibly dependent I really am on God. And in less than 24 hours time, I find myself tangled up in the web of self-centered fear and can't fight my way out of it, drag my family into it and wonder why I can't seem to carry the love, rest, peace, joy, clarity, kindness and confidence I had in the LORD yesterday into today?

Identity Crisis: It breaks in to steal and kill and destroy because if I really knew that I "once was" and now "I am reconciled" then I would rise and walk in the midst of this day in the same spirit that I walked upon the sand and through the shallow water. So, I have fallen, and crawled and cried and been tripped up by my sinful response to my day and the way that it has unfolded. So, I find myself in an interesting place, another opportunity to preach the Gospel to myself, another day to look at My Rescuer in the face (in His Word because I hold onto the hope of One day meeting Him face to face) and there is where I am to behold my Identity. It is IN Christ, that I am reconciled by the Blood and Righteousness of Christ that HE may present me holy and blameless and above reproach because in and of myself, I can NOT cut it. And it is only when I realize that I am nothing without HIM that I can begin to taste the sweetness of light when I am basking in the LIGHT of the TRUTH which is available each and every day.

This morning I read: "Do not let your hearts be troubled....." from the Gospel of John. I started over, out loud, "Let not your heart be troubled, Catherine, believe in God, believe also in me...." Jesus goes on to say a few verses later, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Jesus is preparing his disciples for his departure, his return to the Father but that He will not leave them orphans and He has not left us orphaned. He has sent His Holy Spirit who is also called the Helper. Where does my help come from? Where is my hope? One in the same, My LORD and my God who is with me. As Paul David Tripp tweeted 2 days ago: "No need to like feel like your alone today because if you're God's child, Emmanuel has moved in and isn't leaving."

Mine is to believe that Jesus is who He says HE is and that as His Child, I am who he says I am, loved, delivered, transferred, adopted, forgiven, being made new, kept, sealed, a sinner once enslaved and now bought by the Blood of Jesus Christ my Lord and I have been set free to live in the LIGHT of His grace and truth.