"No Reserves. No Retreats. No Regrets."
     In 1904 William Borden graduated from a Chicago high school. As heir to the Borden Dairy estate, he was already a millionaire. For his high school graduation present, his parents gave 16-year-old Borden a trip around the world. As the young man traveled through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, he felt a growing burden for the world's hurting people. Finally, Bill Borden wrote home about his "desire to be a missionary."
     One friend expressed surprise that he was "throwing himself away as a missionary."
     In response, Bill wrote two words in the back of his Bible: "No reserves."

Encountering the Subversive Spirituality of Jesus
By Bruxy Cavey

Coming Back to the Heart of Worship
by Matt Redman

    Open the eyes of your heart and let the gut-level message of The Unquenchable Worshipper cause you, like martyred missionary Jim Elliot, to say,

     The Unquenchable Worshipper issues a passionate call for a return to an unadulterated, first-love lifestyle of worship. In his first book release, respected worship leader and songwriter Matt Redman writes: "The revelation of God is the fuel for the fire of our worship. And there is always more fuel for the fire. When we open the eyes of our heart, God's revelation comes flying at us from so many different angles."

“The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 5:20-21Have you ever had a child make a beeline to the one thing you told them they could not do? The giving of the Law to Moses predictably led to more sin. The purpose of the Law was to point people to Christ, by revealing our need for God. No one can ponder the Ten Commandments very long without realizing that they are impossible to keep! As Paul said in Galatians 3:24-25 the Law was like a schoolmaster (King James Version), or better yet, a Greco-Roman “tutor-bodyguard!” The Law would lead us to Christ by revealing our true spiritual poverty (See Matthew 5:3).

While the Law pointed out the abundance of sin, God’s provision of grace in Jesus was even more abundant. Grace “increased all the more” is actually the translation of “overflow” from verse 15 above, with “hyper” added. So we can read it this way: where sin became abundant, God’s grace “hyper-overflowed.” So no matter how much sin we have and death we deserve, Jesus totally overwhelms our darkness!

Summing up Romans Chapter 5, Paul has made it clear that our forgiveness and justification is just the beginning of God’s overflowing grace. He has made it clear that there is so much more beyond for us, because God’s grace is so plentiful and unlimited. In other words, it is way better than you think!

Pray that God would help you understand His grace. Praise his abundant generosity toward you. Pray that you would hunger for more of what God has for you. We only experience God’s blessings by faith, so ask God for an extra measure of faith, so you can “see” more of what He’s done for you, and appropriate more of His blessings into your life. Ask Jesus to “hyper-overflow” his grace into your day. Practice noticing his grace and thanking him all day for it!.

This week we remember the Cross, and the Passion of our Christ. Reflect on this amazing sacrifice Jesus made for you. What will you be most grateful for this week?