Our guest blogger is Donna Newton. Donna is an inspiration to all as she shares her love for Christ and her heart for others in her daily walk.
At five years of age, I prayed to receive Jesus as my Savior. In the years after, there was ‘a whole lot of strivin’ going on’ aimed at pleasing God, ending, however, in frustration and failure. Grace fit into the category of the moment of salvation, but didn’t appear on the daily scenes of life.
Isaiah apparently associated with kings and priests and had opportunity to speak to affairs of the world. As humans go, Isaiah was a good man, seeking God and good for people. On a particular day, he viewed the throne room of God. His response was not, “How cool!” or “So glad I came” or “Hey guys look at this!” Rather, the veil of his humanity lifted to show him how far removed he was from God. The angels were crying out, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Isaiah saw that he was lost, undone, unclean. This man who had been seeking God for many years saw that God’s holiness required grace and cleansing every day, because no human being can attain such holiness.
What do we have that God has not given us? We receive every breath as a gift to empower us to put one step in front of the other. What have we done that God does not know? Our deeds, good or bad, all wither before a holy God. So to embrace grace for every day, every hour, and every moment keeps our focus on God’s mercy and love, steering us away from the self-focus of pride and condemnation.
“Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
Isaiah 6:5 ESV
Donna is a wife, mother, and grandmother. She spends her days in Bible Study, quilting, and gardening. She holds a B.S. in Education and an M.A. in Counseling. Donna authored Prayer Steps to Serenity Daily Quiet Time Edition Workbook & Journal, a companion study to L. G. Parkhurst’s Prayer Steps to Serenity Daily Quiet Time Edition devotional book. Donna and her husband reside in Fayetteville, Tennessee.
