Donny, you could not have expressed it better. Praise God I don’t have to earn my way to heaven. It is a free gift from God through his mercy and unfailing love for each one of us. I am so grateful that Jesus Christ laid it all on the cross for you, me, and all of us. The book of our sins was closed that day when Jesus paid the price and we were forgiven.
We’re all sinners and fall short of the glory of God, but we do need to confess those sins, ask to be forgiven, and repent.
I’m far from perfect and filled with flaws because of my sinful pride because I tend to put so much pressure on myself. I know I should not do that because I’m thinking I need to earn God’s respect. When that happens, I usually am brought back to my knees and ask God for his forgiveness and he always welcomes me back. Praise God he shows us so much mercy and love.
I go about each day trying to follow God’s guidance and his will for my life. I know he loves me and I know I am saved by grace. That’s the long and short of it for me. Praise God I am saved!
Thank you Donny for sharing your heart with us each week! Prayers continue for you my friend! 🙏🙂
Reading your text, I was reminded of John 1:16 when John sums up his life with Jesus and uses such a beautiful and powerful phrase "From his fullness we all received grace upon grace".
I think grace is a hard concept for people to grasp. It's not logical. It's not measurable. It doesn't seem to make sense in our human understanding of justice. By definition it means "unmerited favor" - unearned and undeserved kindness from God. As you said, it is a gift intended for and extended to everyone, not just those who try to live morally or learn the lessons or keep the commandments. I'm so grateful for grace because I know full well that I fail every day to live up to God's standard no matter how hard I try. It's a beautiful gift from a loving God. Great message on the walk today, Donny! Thank you for sharing it. Hope you get some warmer, sunnier weather for the next one!
I like to remember God's answer to Paul “my grace is sufficient for you” - 2 Corinthians 12:9. This means that Divine Grace achieves its purposes despite human weakness. This phrase reveals that the Christian is not sustained by his own ability or strength, but by the Grace of the Lord. This is wonderful! And God still says: “...my power is made perfect in weakness”, WOW!
The weaker we are, the more the power of Grace is revealed! 🙌🙌🙌
Grace is an amazing thing, but we also have to remember that it isn't a license to live any way we want. If our hearts are devoted to God, we will also want to please him in the way we live and reflect Him in the world. Romans 6 reminds us that we shouldn't go on sinning so grace may increase. However, I'm sure glad His grace is sufficient in my weakness!
It is for this reason that every day we must do what Paul says to Timothy: “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” 2 Timothy 2:1
Amen! It's so interesting that he tells us to be "strong in grace", not just sit back and wait for it to cover for us. There's action in how we are to respond to grace. Love that!
True! We can understand that "action" in this context is much more than just participating and enjoying grace, there is an act of responsibility in that... WOW! This is wonderful and requires constant attention to how we are living!
Donny, loved the story you shared about how location of the walk held special memories for you, even though it looked a bit wet and cold.
I did like you suggested, took time to contemplate your question. As a child into my teens, I believed one had to follow all the “ rules” to earn salvation. I remember thinking this is really hard, I’m not going to make it..so did a bit of rebelling. It wasn’t until I was an adult while attending a church service with message on “ grace”, that the light came on, I still remember the wonderful feeling that came over me, by acceptance of Jesus into my life. The basic “ rule of life”, I try to follow is “do unto others as you would have them do unto you and to love others. I know there are times I fail, am grateful for the grace of God at those times. With trust, faith and the grace of God, I know I will make it. Blessings on your journey and thanks for another inspiring walk!
Donny I love that you shared with us the memories from your parents . A beautiful prayer walk message , the truth is that Gods goodness doesn’t leave when our circumstances changed. He’s always the same . Yet, it’s also a word grace that we use to describe our mighty, majestic, and miraculous God. Seems odd, doesn’t it? To use a word to describe God that we’d also use to describe how we felt. We can see evidence of Gods goodness everywhere,in every day, and in every situation. Even when we’re not aware of His goodness,He’s still good. While God does do good things , His goodness is more than just what He does. It’s who he is. It’s usually in our disappointments and difficulties when we call,into question the goodness of God. But turning from God in the midst of our pain removes the only truly good thing from our sad equation-God. So when we tempted to doubt and allow our current scenario to dictate what we believe, let’s dive into Gods Word to remind our ourselves of this truth. He’s a good God. On the contrary, often I think we wouldn’t be waiting if God answered our prayers on our timetable. But I do think we have to trust that He knows us better than we know ourselves. I love this verse Micah7:7 (NLT) to be the verse I live out:” As for me , I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me.” So while I’m waiting, I will continue to seek. I will continue to trust, expectant for what He will do in the future.
I pray that you truly recognize yourself as a Daughter of God the Father and hand everything over to Him and enjoy the Power of the Holy Spirit in your life! 💚💛
Donny I love how you worded this!! Someone’s set of rules on how to live. As someone who has lived the first half of my life as a “ goody 2shoes” I lived by the morals my parents taught me, which I praise them on often. I had a “perfect” childhood we worked hard but never knew what worry was and never lacked for anything. As an adult I did try wine and I did try “A” cigarette but knew it weren’t for me. When I attended my childhood church as an adult I realized that I didn’t fit in the crowd, in the same way as you felt like I didn’t have to go to church to know the rules and to feel like I earned my way ... I know now we are worthy of Heaven we just have to accept “ HIS” Sacrifice that is given to us!!
If you allow me, I would like to participate in your reflections, first saying that I understand what you are saying about the Church! Second – lol – I will not go into the merits of relationship problems, “crowds” and rules imposed by many churches, but I would suggest verse 25 of Hebrews 10, read it and ask the Holy Spirit to tell you what the characteristics are and principles of the Church and consequently its importance for the followers of Christ.
I will be praying that God gives you the best answer and that he makes you closer to Jesus day by day, because that is the most important thing!
I think it's beautiful to follow your thirst for Jesus!
You are on the right path, reading/listening to the Bible and seeking the answers in it.
Thank you, I follow Jesus every day. I just realized that the building isn’t the church it’s the community. I listen to my scripture and have my prayer groups but I would like to find a church that doesn’t teach that “you can’t be a Christian if you don’t go to church” ! I’ve been praying for God to lead me where I need to be because I love my pastor but my daughter refuses to go to that church because of how members treated her 🙏
Your prayer walk shared this scripture a while back.
“He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?”
Micah 6:8
Sadly we take grace for granted sometimes and do not realize the true cost of that grace. I’ve extended grace to my child and she thinks I just owe it to her. It’s pure love that I give to her just like Jesus gives it to me. I don’t expect any more than to do her best. I can’t expect anymore than that and my love does not change. Only acceptance of this gift. Not too much action required. Faith without works is dead but acceptance is the only work necessary.
Another timely word this week. Thanks for helping me with my homework. My bible study group is reading The Finished Work of Christ, The Truth of Romans 1-8, by Francis A. Schaeffer. It just so happens that this weeks' chapter is Romans 3: 21-30. We are hopeless under our own power. We all fall short of the glory of God, but by grace, through faith, we have the hope of eternal life with God.
Now for grace in the here and now, a man in our community gave a sermon about grace, saying because we receive it, we must also give it to others. He used the illustration of "grace goggles", symbolizing how God looks at us, and how we need to look at others. My grace goggles get fogged up sometimes, but I keep on wiping them off with the Word.
I had a powerful reminder of this at a public meeting in my church this week. I mentioned a terrible situation in my family a couple of weeks ago, and received your prayers that God will be with us as we seek justice. Our church seats 747 and it was packed with people to listen to what law enforcement and state officials had to say about what they had done. Behind these officials was a large cross on the stage. I couldn't look at them without remembering that Jesus died for them, too. As the news media shows clips of the meeting over and over, even at the national level, I keep seeing that cross. I pray that God continues to show me the way. His way.
Thanks for sharing your inspiring and intellectual point of view. I will be thinking about this today. I just had a fast/great prayer to God for the best gift ever. Donnie, good sir you have made my day again in joining the seat of salvation by thanking and praising God. Faith, hope, and salvation are my gifts from God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Praise God!!!! Amen
Great walk, Donny! I enjoyed hearing a bit of a history where you were walking and why it was so important to you. Thank you for sharing that with us, besides the rest of the walk. it was beautiful. You have a great way of making us think concerning the questions you ask. I was saved as a child, but didn’t fully understand what all that meant, and re-dedicated my life in my early 20s. I grew up with a Christian mother and a very kind dad. And I grew up in a country church that preached the gospel. through the years, I haven’t always followed in the way that I should, but our God is a forgiving God, and has enough grace For all of us. I now believe that Jesus is enough, and for this, I am very grateful! Blessings to you for another beautiful prayer walk!
Feb 16, 2023·edited Feb 16, 2023Liked by Donny Mac
Thank you once again Donny for your inspirational walk. Discussions of grace vs works can be long complicated and often very deep. I can only relate what I believe. For me I believe grace is a gift from God. It is spoken of often in the Bible. I do not see grace being at odds with works. The Bible is full of examples of desired behaviors. We are told to love, be kind, slow to anger, feed the poor, etc. etc. Are those rules or just suggestions? We each choose our own path. I look at God’s word and Jesus’s teachings as my moral compass, my guide through life, my roadmap for a follower. For me it is my acceptance of His glorious gift. Do I fall short? I do. Does God know my heart? He does. He knows everyone’s heart. My goal is to be a good and faithful servant while on this earth; to worship God and do good for my fellow man and to be blessed to spend eternity in heaven. God bless you Donny on your journey as you continue to inspire us on our journey.
Feb 16, 2023·edited Feb 16, 2023Liked by Donny Mac
Hi Donny ~ Hang on to your hat! I hope this doesn't blow your mind.. I'm not sure I even believe in the "traditional" heaven -- so getting there is not something that drives me. Do you ever doubt its existence? I do believe in God & think my Soul, Spirit or Essence will return to be part of a Oneness when my body dies. (And I don't have to do anything for that to happen.) My passion for service to others comes from my parents who constantly told us that using our gifts to make the world a better place was one's Highest Calling -- it's why we're here. I am using my talents right now to direct a play to raise money for 3 worthy causes. I hope it makes a difference in someone's life... it has mine... Thanks for the thought-provoking walk. ~ Jan
Donny ~ we just closed with our 6th performance of M*A*S*H here in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Final numbers aren't in, but I'm pretty sure we made over $20,000 for the three groups we were raising money for. Each of them takes care of children in some way.
Hey everybody! I have been thinking about this topic since Wednesday, and it occurs to me that this really goes to the heart of our faith in Jesus Christ. Most of my life I have struggled with the dilemma of faith and works. I don’t expect to ever comprehend it fully, but I do hope to understand it more and more every day as I live it. Scripture makes it clear that we fallen human beings are incapable of earning God’s salvation. Only faith in Christ is a sure hope of salvation. On the other hand, we can’t stop there, and if we truly believe, we are unable to stop there. We will bear fruit. Yes, our faith will yield good works. If we consider this carefully, it is perhaps surprising that for centuries believers have been at odds over this supposed contradiction. In reality, there is no contradiction at all. Just a few thoughts on yet another amazing prayer walk. Thanks, Donny Mac!
Donny, you could not have expressed it better. Praise God I don’t have to earn my way to heaven. It is a free gift from God through his mercy and unfailing love for each one of us. I am so grateful that Jesus Christ laid it all on the cross for you, me, and all of us. The book of our sins was closed that day when Jesus paid the price and we were forgiven.
We’re all sinners and fall short of the glory of God, but we do need to confess those sins, ask to be forgiven, and repent.
I’m far from perfect and filled with flaws because of my sinful pride because I tend to put so much pressure on myself. I know I should not do that because I’m thinking I need to earn God’s respect. When that happens, I usually am brought back to my knees and ask God for his forgiveness and he always welcomes me back. Praise God he shows us so much mercy and love.
I go about each day trying to follow God’s guidance and his will for my life. I know he loves me and I know I am saved by grace. That’s the long and short of it for me. Praise God I am saved!
Thank you Donny for sharing your heart with us each week! Prayers continue for you my friend! 🙏🙂
Anne,
Reading your text, I was reminded of John 1:16 when John sums up his life with Jesus and uses such a beautiful and powerful phrase "From his fullness we all received grace upon grace".
Hallelujah!
Amen and Amen!
I think grace is a hard concept for people to grasp. It's not logical. It's not measurable. It doesn't seem to make sense in our human understanding of justice. By definition it means "unmerited favor" - unearned and undeserved kindness from God. As you said, it is a gift intended for and extended to everyone, not just those who try to live morally or learn the lessons or keep the commandments. I'm so grateful for grace because I know full well that I fail every day to live up to God's standard no matter how hard I try. It's a beautiful gift from a loving God. Great message on the walk today, Donny! Thank you for sharing it. Hope you get some warmer, sunnier weather for the next one!
I too am grateful for Gods grace. What a gift!
True Cathey, I agree with you!
I like to remember God's answer to Paul “my grace is sufficient for you” - 2 Corinthians 12:9. This means that Divine Grace achieves its purposes despite human weakness. This phrase reveals that the Christian is not sustained by his own ability or strength, but by the Grace of the Lord. This is wonderful! And God still says: “...my power is made perfect in weakness”, WOW!
The weaker we are, the more the power of Grace is revealed! 🙌🙌🙌
Grace is an amazing thing, but we also have to remember that it isn't a license to live any way we want. If our hearts are devoted to God, we will also want to please him in the way we live and reflect Him in the world. Romans 6 reminds us that we shouldn't go on sinning so grace may increase. However, I'm sure glad His grace is sufficient in my weakness!
Exactly Catley!
It is for this reason that every day we must do what Paul says to Timothy: “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” 2 Timothy 2:1
God help us not to use grace as a license to sin!
Amen! It's so interesting that he tells us to be "strong in grace", not just sit back and wait for it to cover for us. There's action in how we are to respond to grace. Love that!
True! We can understand that "action" in this context is much more than just participating and enjoying grace, there is an act of responsibility in that... WOW! This is wonderful and requires constant attention to how we are living!
What a great conversation to witness 🙂🙏🏼
Donny, loved the story you shared about how location of the walk held special memories for you, even though it looked a bit wet and cold.
I did like you suggested, took time to contemplate your question. As a child into my teens, I believed one had to follow all the “ rules” to earn salvation. I remember thinking this is really hard, I’m not going to make it..so did a bit of rebelling. It wasn’t until I was an adult while attending a church service with message on “ grace”, that the light came on, I still remember the wonderful feeling that came over me, by acceptance of Jesus into my life. The basic “ rule of life”, I try to follow is “do unto others as you would have them do unto you and to love others. I know there are times I fail, am grateful for the grace of God at those times. With trust, faith and the grace of God, I know I will make it. Blessings on your journey and thanks for another inspiring walk!
Wonderful. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Donny I love that you shared with us the memories from your parents . A beautiful prayer walk message , the truth is that Gods goodness doesn’t leave when our circumstances changed. He’s always the same . Yet, it’s also a word grace that we use to describe our mighty, majestic, and miraculous God. Seems odd, doesn’t it? To use a word to describe God that we’d also use to describe how we felt. We can see evidence of Gods goodness everywhere,in every day, and in every situation. Even when we’re not aware of His goodness,He’s still good. While God does do good things , His goodness is more than just what He does. It’s who he is. It’s usually in our disappointments and difficulties when we call,into question the goodness of God. But turning from God in the midst of our pain removes the only truly good thing from our sad equation-God. So when we tempted to doubt and allow our current scenario to dictate what we believe, let’s dive into Gods Word to remind our ourselves of this truth. He’s a good God. On the contrary, often I think we wouldn’t be waiting if God answered our prayers on our timetable. But I do think we have to trust that He knows us better than we know ourselves. I love this verse Micah7:7 (NLT) to be the verse I live out:” As for me , I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me.” So while I’m waiting, I will continue to seek. I will continue to trust, expectant for what He will do in the future.
well said
Donny, great prayer walk this week!
As for me I follow the rules of God because this way I know I am in good hands. He wants us to love one another. Thanks again for this 🙏🏻
Lois, Jesus loves you and you are very valuable to Him!💚💛💙🤍
Thank you Angela! I can feel that he loves me more and more every day.
With the help of Donny’s prayer walk.
Thanks again for is special gift that you gave me my friend 💛💚💙
WOW! Glory to God! 🙌🙌
I pray that you truly recognize yourself as a Daughter of God the Father and hand everything over to Him and enjoy the Power of the Holy Spirit in your life! 💚💛
Donny I love how you worded this!! Someone’s set of rules on how to live. As someone who has lived the first half of my life as a “ goody 2shoes” I lived by the morals my parents taught me, which I praise them on often. I had a “perfect” childhood we worked hard but never knew what worry was and never lacked for anything. As an adult I did try wine and I did try “A” cigarette but knew it weren’t for me. When I attended my childhood church as an adult I realized that I didn’t fit in the crowd, in the same way as you felt like I didn’t have to go to church to know the rules and to feel like I earned my way ... I know now we are worthy of Heaven we just have to accept “ HIS” Sacrifice that is given to us!!
Hi Heidi,
If you allow me, I would like to participate in your reflections, first saying that I understand what you are saying about the Church! Second – lol – I will not go into the merits of relationship problems, “crowds” and rules imposed by many churches, but I would suggest verse 25 of Hebrews 10, read it and ask the Holy Spirit to tell you what the characteristics are and principles of the Church and consequently its importance for the followers of Christ.
I will be praying that God gives you the best answer and that he makes you closer to Jesus day by day, because that is the most important thing!
I think it's beautiful to follow your thirst for Jesus!
You are on the right path, reading/listening to the Bible and seeking the answers in it.
Thank you, I follow Jesus every day. I just realized that the building isn’t the church it’s the community. I listen to my scripture and have my prayer groups but I would like to find a church that doesn’t teach that “you can’t be a Christian if you don’t go to church” ! I’ve been praying for God to lead me where I need to be because I love my pastor but my daughter refuses to go to that church because of how members treated her 🙏
I'm sad to hear that "members" aren't treating her well. I am praying into this right now.
🙏
I join you in prayer through all of this and am sorry that your daughter had a negative experience in what should be a space of love.
Your prayer walk shared this scripture a while back.
“He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?”
Micah 6:8
Sadly we take grace for granted sometimes and do not realize the true cost of that grace. I’ve extended grace to my child and she thinks I just owe it to her. It’s pure love that I give to her just like Jesus gives it to me. I don’t expect any more than to do her best. I can’t expect anymore than that and my love does not change. Only acceptance of this gift. Not too much action required. Faith without works is dead but acceptance is the only work necessary.
thank you for sharing
Another timely word this week. Thanks for helping me with my homework. My bible study group is reading The Finished Work of Christ, The Truth of Romans 1-8, by Francis A. Schaeffer. It just so happens that this weeks' chapter is Romans 3: 21-30. We are hopeless under our own power. We all fall short of the glory of God, but by grace, through faith, we have the hope of eternal life with God.
Now for grace in the here and now, a man in our community gave a sermon about grace, saying because we receive it, we must also give it to others. He used the illustration of "grace goggles", symbolizing how God looks at us, and how we need to look at others. My grace goggles get fogged up sometimes, but I keep on wiping them off with the Word.
I had a powerful reminder of this at a public meeting in my church this week. I mentioned a terrible situation in my family a couple of weeks ago, and received your prayers that God will be with us as we seek justice. Our church seats 747 and it was packed with people to listen to what law enforcement and state officials had to say about what they had done. Behind these officials was a large cross on the stage. I couldn't look at them without remembering that Jesus died for them, too. As the news media shows clips of the meeting over and over, even at the national level, I keep seeing that cross. I pray that God continues to show me the way. His way.
Thanks for sharing your inspiring and intellectual point of view. I will be thinking about this today. I just had a fast/great prayer to God for the best gift ever. Donnie, good sir you have made my day again in joining the seat of salvation by thanking and praising God. Faith, hope, and salvation are my gifts from God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Praise God!!!! Amen
Great walk, Donny! I enjoyed hearing a bit of a history where you were walking and why it was so important to you. Thank you for sharing that with us, besides the rest of the walk. it was beautiful. You have a great way of making us think concerning the questions you ask. I was saved as a child, but didn’t fully understand what all that meant, and re-dedicated my life in my early 20s. I grew up with a Christian mother and a very kind dad. And I grew up in a country church that preached the gospel. through the years, I haven’t always followed in the way that I should, but our God is a forgiving God, and has enough grace For all of us. I now believe that Jesus is enough, and for this, I am very grateful! Blessings to you for another beautiful prayer walk!
Wow Donny thank you for those words of Truth Freedom Life & Hope! Amen! May God continue to Bless you as His faithful servant!
Thank you once again Donny for your inspirational walk. Discussions of grace vs works can be long complicated and often very deep. I can only relate what I believe. For me I believe grace is a gift from God. It is spoken of often in the Bible. I do not see grace being at odds with works. The Bible is full of examples of desired behaviors. We are told to love, be kind, slow to anger, feed the poor, etc. etc. Are those rules or just suggestions? We each choose our own path. I look at God’s word and Jesus’s teachings as my moral compass, my guide through life, my roadmap for a follower. For me it is my acceptance of His glorious gift. Do I fall short? I do. Does God know my heart? He does. He knows everyone’s heart. My goal is to be a good and faithful servant while on this earth; to worship God and do good for my fellow man and to be blessed to spend eternity in heaven. God bless you Donny on your journey as you continue to inspire us on our journey.
Hi Donny ~ Hang on to your hat! I hope this doesn't blow your mind.. I'm not sure I even believe in the "traditional" heaven -- so getting there is not something that drives me. Do you ever doubt its existence? I do believe in God & think my Soul, Spirit or Essence will return to be part of a Oneness when my body dies. (And I don't have to do anything for that to happen.) My passion for service to others comes from my parents who constantly told us that using our gifts to make the world a better place was one's Highest Calling -- it's why we're here. I am using my talents right now to direct a play to raise money for 3 worthy causes. I hope it makes a difference in someone's life... it has mine... Thanks for the thought-provoking walk. ~ Jan
thank you for sharing Jan. Don't worry, my mind is in tact. 🤪
I believe in heaven but it's hard for anyone to know 'exactly' what that will look like. The bible is a great place to look though.
When will the play start and where is it playing?
Donny ~ we just closed with our 6th performance of M*A*S*H here in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Final numbers aren't in, but I'm pretty sure we made over $20,000 for the three groups we were raising money for. Each of them takes care of children in some way.
Hey everybody! I have been thinking about this topic since Wednesday, and it occurs to me that this really goes to the heart of our faith in Jesus Christ. Most of my life I have struggled with the dilemma of faith and works. I don’t expect to ever comprehend it fully, but I do hope to understand it more and more every day as I live it. Scripture makes it clear that we fallen human beings are incapable of earning God’s salvation. Only faith in Christ is a sure hope of salvation. On the other hand, we can’t stop there, and if we truly believe, we are unable to stop there. We will bear fruit. Yes, our faith will yield good works. If we consider this carefully, it is perhaps surprising that for centuries believers have been at odds over this supposed contradiction. In reality, there is no contradiction at all. Just a few thoughts on yet another amazing prayer walk. Thanks, Donny Mac!