Mortification of any sin must be by a supply of grace. Of ourselves we cannot do it. Now, it hath pleased the Father that in Christ should all fullness dwell, Col. 1:19; that of his fullness we might receive grace for grace, John 1:16.

On your very worst, most rebellious, and most faithless day, you can run into the holy presence of your heavenly Father and he will not turn you away.

Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of My covenant with you.

When we pray, instead of trying to produce love in our souls toward God, we should be basking in God's love for us. How foolish to stay indoors in the cold, dark little room off the self, trying to turn on the light and turn up the heat, when we can just go outside into God's glorious Sonlight and receive his rays! How silly to fuss with artificial tanning salons and lotions and lights when the Son is out!

I can only advance in the kingdom if I become like that woman: trembling, humbled, without excuse, my palms open to receive God's grace.

That stance of openness to receive is what I call the "catch" to grace. It must be received, and the Christian term for that act is repentance, the doorway to grace.

Father, thank You for hearing my cry from the pit. I receive Your grace today and stand on the solid ground of Your righteousness. Every time I think of how You rescued me, my mouth can't help but sing Your praise. I love You and am so grateful for You. Let my whole life sing Your song. Amen!

If I was going to make Betsy happy, I'd have to trust that my flaws were the ways through which I would receive grace. We don't think of our flaws as the glue that binds us to the people we love, but they are. Grace only sticks to our imperfections. Those who can't accept their imperfections can't accept grace either.

You can never out-give God. Don't ever forget that.

We run at a breakneck pace to try and achieve what God simply wants us to slow down enough to receive.

Pause when you are offered beauty and make the conscious decision, I receive this grace. We open our clenched soul to let it in. To find God in it. I will often pray, Thank you for this beauty. I receive it into my soul. And with it I receive you, in it, by it, through it—your love, your goodness, your life.

Faith is two empty hands held open to receive all of the Lord