July 13, 2010
 
DEVOTION: Our Arbiter
 
By Beth Bondurant
 
Watching the world cup soccer team players flock to the referees with each infraction they felt deemed a judgement was a reminder of how blessed we are to have our own ARBITER OF GRACE.
 
For us it's a done deal... we are all freely and unconditionally encompassed in God's "net of love".
 
Yet, life is so vividly pictured on the soccer field... on any playing arena ... day to day... in the full circle of live... and it isn't easy.
 
How many times do we collide with family and friends when it comes to our hopes... our feelings... our intentions... our motives... our individuality.
 
Can you even imagine the world cup stadium being filled up with such unique diversity... yet being "one" in God's omnific originality. The color of it all is magnificent... the DNA unmatched... the aspiration indomitable... the outcome compelling.
 
But because God was so gracious, so very generous, here I am. And I'm not about to let God's grace go to waste. Haven't I worked hard trying to do more than any of the others? Even then, my work didn't amount to all that much. It was God giving me the work to do, God giving me the energy to do it.
 
Our Arbiter of Grace made us just like we are and joined us together in love.
 
O God.. help me to rejoice today in the people I see and touch and hear and encounter. Help me to accept myself as being your special creation and understand that everyone in my path .. though they differ... are much the same. In the roar of life's disorder and difference ... develop in me your grace and peace. Hoover over us all ... in readiness to touch us with healing love. Kindle a spirit of oneness even in our confusion and disparity. Our Arbiter of grace is an urgent necessity... everyday!