Grace
My heart is torn within me,
and my compassion overflows.
No, I will not unleash my fierce anger...
for I am God and not a mere mortal.
I am the Holy One living among you... ~ Hosea 11:8b-9 (NLT/parts)
... the increase in the amount of sin could not outpace the flow of God's incredible grace... ~ Romans 5:20 (ABP/part)
KEY IDEA:
God's grace is always greater than our sin.
PRAYER:
God, you are gracious in a way that is beyond what we can possibly understand. Perhaps that is why I doubt that you could continue to love me in spite of my many failures. Help me to move beyond doubting your grace and into fully embracing the magnitude of what Christ has done for me -- even though I will never fully understand his love. Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
