I have had a terrible summer. There I said it, it's 'out there'. I won't go into the gory details so please just take my word it was horrid.

To cope I have lost myself in a TV series on DVD. Is it Christian? Not by a long shot. In fact some of it I almost get up and turn off and don't. I am curious how it is going to end, or rather how it continues, either way I don't shut it off. Oh it's not horrible by any means it just doesn't reinforce anything that has to do with Christianity and in fact sometimes takes cheap shots at Christians. A point I will come back to in a minute.

I know I need to be praying more, but you know what? I am prayed out. I don't even know where to begin. God help us all is about all that I can manage right now.

The other day I thought "I really need to pray. But I have distanced myself from the daily devotions, prayer, Bible reading etc and have so lost myself in this TV series that I don't deserve to come to the throne of God, I am not worthy to have Him help.'

HIS immediate compassionate reply? "You never were worthy, you never did deserve to come."

We sang a song in church today an old hymn At Calvary the chorus says:

MERCY there was great and GRACE was free
Pardoned there was multiplied to me
There my BURDENED SOUL found LIBERTY
At Calvary

The light bulb came on! I can not earn, nor do I deserve Mercy, Grace, or Liberty they are a precious gift lavished on me by a Gracious God. (Another song we sang called Him Gracious One.)

Now back to that previous point I was going to make.

That TV series that I love? Where they portray Christians as rigid uncaring people? Maybe we deserve that.

May I lavish the Mercy and Grace God has so freely given me onto others around me.