Here are some scriptures that have become especially meaningful to us and speak to the heart of what we are about at Grace to Glory:
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8
Our dream is to see people, represented by the trees in the logo…
1) Grow in their trust in the Lord, trusting first of all that His heart is always good towards us. Did you ever stop to think about the fact that when everything was as God intended, we as a human race had no concept of evil or the absence of God and good. And what was the one thing that God commanded us not to do? Don’t eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Our Father is so good, so loving, so protective that He didn’t even want us to know the existence of evil or that there could be an absence of good. Whoa.
2) Develop roots that tap into Him as the only source of life. Worship is not about singing songs, although that’s one way we can actively turn our hearts to God. Worship is what we bow down to when we are looking to be filled, to feel alive. There is only one source that satisfies, and that is the everflowing, unfailing love of our Father, represented by the river, and the limitlless grace extended through Jesus Christ.
3) Become disciples who know Christ, not only as Savior, but as Life. As each of us begin to embrace the reality that we are broken and unable to bear fruit that lasts when we rely on our own strength, and then surrender to Christ’s limitless ability to establish the Kingdom of God through us, our lives will always bear fruit even in our most difficult days. This reality is represented by the Cross in the tree that sits next to the river and stretches out its roots by the stream of God’s love and provision.
The second passage is the first one Jesus read when he began his public ministry. It describes his mission, and now ours…
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righeousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.” Isaiah 61:1-3
Jesus announced a ministry of RESTORATION, taking us, broken and dead and making us beautiful, alive and fruitful. It is by embracing Him as Life and trusting His unlimited ability to work in us and through us that allows Him to heal us and to show off how good our Father is through our lives.
