Because I See thy Gift of Grace

By Effie Darlene Barba

A pilgrim’s journey through this land

Through meadow’s soft and desert sand

Beside the gentle bubbling streams

With flowers kissed by sunlit beams

Or rushing, roaring water falls

Whose beauty gasps and danger calls

Twinkling stars in the dark of the night

That guide my way and shed their light

The gentle breeze across my face

Whispering words of God’s sweet Grace

Creator Lord with all You do

What else on earth could I pursue

For all I have and all I am

Is due to You—Oh precious lamb

Who chose to die and pay my price

That I find in You, my paradise

And now I see through different eyes

This course on earth no more disguise

Its beauties shine, your glory clear

I feel the warmth your breath is cheer

To warm the chill within my soul

Like fireplace lit in winter’s snow

You blessed my life with love’s sweet kiss

That hope and joy arise amidst

The darkest trials I may face

Because I see thy Gift of Grace

 

© 2014 Effie Darlene Barba

Artwork is used with written permission of Ronald Barba who owns the copyright. His work can be found at: http://fineartamerica.com/art/all/ronald+barba/all

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to any brands, products or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides regarding the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Swept Away by Grace-A Study of I Peter Part 1—Blessed, Chosen Pilgrims

When wondering where we should travel next in our studies, I suddenly this morning began reading I Peter and was swept away by Grace. I wanted to run ahead and include every verse of I Peter at once; yet, I realized that we need to savor every word of this letter. So, I have determined that we shall go through this book; one part at a time. At the same time we must also see the whole without forgetting to view it within the context. Thus I urge you to go and to read I Peter Chapter one in its entirety with prayer for understanding.

Artwork by permission of Ronald Barba, please click on picture for more information on how to obtain.

If ever along this journey you have felt like a weary pilgrim, rise up and be swept away by God’s Grace to the mountaintops of Love and Joy that He has planned for you.

Let us begin with verses 1-2.

Continue reading Swept Away by Grace-A Study of I Peter Part 1—Blessed, Chosen Pilgrims →

C.S. Lewis wrote “There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven, but more often I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, we have ever desired anything else .. . All the things that have ever deeply possessed your soul have been but hints of it – tantalising glimpses, promises never quite fulfilled, echoes that died away just as they caught your ear.

but if it should really become manifest – if there ever came an echo that did not die away but swelled into the sound itself – you would know it. Beyond all possibility of doubt you would say ‘here at last is the thing i was made for.’ …it is the secret signature of each soul, the incommunicable and unappeasable want, the thing we desired before we met our wives or made our friends or chose our work, and which we shall still desire on our deathbeds, when the mind no longer knows wife or friend or work. While we are, this is. If we lose this, we lose all." C.S.Lewis The Problem of Pain (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1962), 145-146.

Used by written permission of Ronald Barba © 2012,  for more information please click on photo

Yesterday morning after much thought and prayer, I decided to add the SSL certificate to my website so all who come might feel safe. I don’t sell anything or receive money at my website so perhaps it wasn’t necessary; however, with so much evil on the web it was a layer of safety for my readers that I chose to add. Then it happened, the site seemed to

Continue reading Echoes of Hope →

  We just finished the study through Joshua and before that Proverbs. I wanted to pause today and reflect on where this site began.   I started this website February 10, 2010 with the following blog.  Little did I know then where this journey would take us.  I chose the name for the website to be myglorytoglory.com because I wanted to point you to realize that little by little, one glory by glory God is transforming you and me into the sanctified, glorified joint-heir with Christ that we have been called and justified to become.  Every detail of our life as a Christian is leading us to being changed into that image.  If you do not Know Him as your Savior, I urge you to seek Him.  How to be Saved is a page I developed to help you find Him.  Feel free to email me or comment to ask me if you need guidance or if you wish to pray together. 

Artwork used by written permission of the Artist Ronald Barba

2 Corinthians 3: 17Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.¹⁸But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

AT which point did this truth come forth with all its magnitude? It seems that this truth was so newly found although it has been a part of my Christian journey these last 50 years. I wish to start this website to Glorify My Precious Savior and feel so inadequate to tell you of His great and wondrous love. Perhaps in the words of David Ring, I should just tell my story. It has been a story filled with great pain and great triumph in Christ. It includes my great failures and His great faithfulness. It has led me through great valleys where the night seemed too dark to ever find light; yet, in the midst of it all—He has provided His Hope. It reaches to the greatest depth of a broken heart restored to life by His Love. It is the gradual transformation of this undeserving –wicked heart into His likeness. This endeavor will take us through months so I hope you join with me as I try to tell this story and in the telling I hope that I may point you to an All SUFFICIENT SAVIOR who is so worthy of my praise that even if He never gave me anything; even if salvation were not His Gift; I would still fall at His feet in praise. Still this is the miracle of all times; He took my sin and offered me His righteousness instead. He saw me before ever the universe was formed and knew everything about me; every evil word that would be spoken, each rebellious moment; every tear that would fall, every moment of faithlessness, and chose to die for me that I might share in His glory one day. He reaches out to allow me to share in His inheritance and gives me the right to be a child of God . This He has done in spite of me. This gift of salvation has come from Him—there is nothing I could do if I worked each day that would be good enough to deserve even one second in His presence; yet, He has established me to spend an eternity with Him. I fall in humility before Him, so overwhelming in love with My Savior and Friend that I ask Him to please use me. Let me die to all these selfish desires and hopes that He might live through me. Bring whatever pain or suffering necessary to remove the chafe that I might come to know Him and savor Him more. If by my telling this, my story of transformation gradually into His likeness (though far from complete) can help one soul or change the eternity of one; then this endeavor will be worth it all.

Through these years since 2010, I have tried to be fully honest (brutally at times) telling you of my life—good and bad.  I have tried to point to victory in Christ to guide you along this journey.  Feel free to use the search button to help you find the message you need today.  May God guide your heart today to seek Him with all your heart, your mind and your soul.  With love, Effie Darlene Barba

 

© 2014 Effie Darlene Barba

Artwork is used with written permission of Ronald Barba who owns the copyright. His work can be found at: http://fineartamerica.com/art/all/ronald+barba/all

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to any brands, products or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides regarding the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Victory in Christ is Mine

By Effie Darlene Barba

 

Victory in Christ is mine

Found in Christ my joy sublime

In Christ my hope eternity

Forgiven, redeemed in Christ I be

Beauty and Grace in Christ I found

Glory and Love in Christ abound

 

In this world, I’ve faced such pain and grief

How deep I plunged with no relief

From battles fought and battles lost

Man’s search for joys whate’er the cost

I could not bear my weight of shame

My own heart’s voice “I am to blame”

 

Then in the deepest darkest hour

A glorious light of greatest power

It was the truth of God’s dear word

The whispering sound of grace I heard

Glory great did then abound

Love’s rays enwrapped me all around

 

I gazed upon a cross of pain

While tears fell down like pouring rain

His hand reached out to set me free

As sorrow turned to joy filled glee

I realized in God’s dear Son

The greatest treasure I had won

 

And herein lies the mystery

The one the world doth shun to see

That in the midst of sorrows here

I learn to see His Glory clear

I lay all else as loss behind

The one true source of joy I find

 

His Glory shining brighter still

As I conforming to His will

Rejoice amidst my darkness hour

Weakness now revealing power

While drenched beneath torrential rain

Continue singing this refrain:

 

Victory in Christ is mine

Found in Christ my joy sublime

In Christ my hope eternity

Forgiven, redeemed in Christ I be

Beauty and Grace in Christ I found

Glory and Love in Christ abound

©2014 Effie Darlene Barba

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post.  I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.