Encouraging Words from Barbara Francis

Almighty, eternal, just, and merciful God, grant us…to be inwardly cleansed, interiorly enlightened and inflamed by the fire of the Holy Spirit…able to follow in the footprints of your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
                 —Francis of Assisi

This simple, straightforward prayer resonates deeply with me. It is precisely what I want to be true of my walk with the Lord. Meditating on this simple sentence has brought freedom.

I am choosing to keep short accounts with sin—not just the obvious, outward ones, but the inner sins I can hide from others: the evil triplets of envy, jealousy, and comparison; pride, racism, and judgmental thinking. Sin has a way of taxing my spirit and robbing me of the freedom Jesus died to give. What are some of your inner sins?

Join me in this commitment: “Lord Jesus, keep me inwardly clean. Illuminate any dark corners of my heart. Flush out all that separates me from you.”

Being inwardly enlightened follows right on the heels of confession. When the foul odor of sin is cleansed by the blood, the Lord can shine his pristine light in me and through me. Jesus put it this way: “You are the light of the world…let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). People will see a difference in my life—how I love in the face of opposition, forgive when it is undeserved, serve the poor—and that is sure to have evangelistic results. Do people see Jesus in you?

- Barbara Francis

Speaker and Author
Barbara Francis
Bringing God’s message of life and hope

Why read another book on forgiveness?

This is not a dry and boring approach to a time-worn topic. The reader will be pleasantly surprised by the contemporary, conversational style of Grace & Guts and by the honest manner in which the author contends with the issues surrounding forgiveness.

The book uniquely unpacks the two sides of forgiveness-embracing it and extending it-through real-life narratives, creative paraphrases of biblical stories dealing with forgiveness, and a spot-on use of principles from the word of God.

Grace & Guts helps us delve into the dark places of unforgiveness that reside within all of us and then points a hopeful finger toward the way out.

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