"Trust defines the meaning of living by grace rather than works. Trust is like climbing a fifty-foot ladder, reaching the top, and hearing someone down below yell, "Jump!" The trusting disciple has this childlike confidence in a loving Father. Trust says, in effect, "Abba, just on the basis of what You have shown me in Your son, Jesus, I believe You love me. You have forgiven me. You will hold me and never let me go. Therefore, I trust You with my life."

"...Because we never lay hold of our nothingness before God, and consequently, we never enter into the deepest reality of our relationship with Him. But when we accept ownership of our powerlessness and helplessness, when we acknowledge that we are paupers at the door of God's mercy, then God can make something beautiful out of us."

--Ragamuffin Gospel

I was struck last night and this morning by these two paragraphs as well as a plethora of other ideas from Brennan Manning. I wish everyone could get this book and read this one chapter at the least. It paints a picture of who we are before Christ and if we can only accept that and live in the grace He offers, then we can truly be something beautiful. The last time I read this book the first paragraph stuck out to me and I asked myself the question, "If I never got another gift from God, would He be enough for me?" It's a sobering question. But the fact is that He should be enough for us. My kids called Him the "life giver". I think this means more than eternal life...I think this means life in the present...living life to the full in His grace and for His glory. Living in His joy that His name may be praised because of us. I think we all want to be something beautiful...but the only way to truly be so is to realize that without Christ, we are nothing...to realize we are "paupers at the door of God's mercy". Joy is such a gift. To live in it daily requires us to realize what God has given us in this life. Just my thought for the day. I hope that I can live up to it.