Thankfully, this only lasted a few seconds. That's growth! That's progress! That's Jesus! Regret has been a weak spot in my mind for a very long time. But this time around it was different. As soon as those thoughts popped in my head, the Word stepped up to meet them and toss them out!
My first thought went to the woman in Mark 5:24-34. She had been sick for many, many years and thought if she only touched Jesus' garment she would be healed. She did and she was. Years of illness passed away to give birth to a new life of peace and wholeness. Then onto the demon possessed man of Mark 5:1-20. Years of bondage, years of pain and living with the dead....and then freedom and purpose found in Jesus.
Peter, denier of Jesus, repented and restored to service. David, adulterer, murderer....God's greatest king, a "man after His own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14). Matthew and Zacchaeus, corrupt, hated tax collectors... turned their lives around to follow Jesus, Matthew even writing one of the Gospels! God uses the broken! Our heavenly Father specializes in what the world would see as hopeless and useless makes them beautiful and fruitful. What an awesome God we serve. We are never too far gone or to lost for Him to not find us. We are never beyond His reach or His healing.
Ephesians 1:4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. Before the world began God knew us, knew all about us and chose us to be called His own. Awesome!
Lord, thank You. I know we all need to be reminded of these truths sometimes. I am grateful that You have chosen me to let people know that. And I am grateful that You have done it for me as well! Thank You for the growth I saw last night. Please bring healing and hope to the hearts that read this message today...You are never done with us! We are never beyond Your love. Oh, what a wonderful thought. Whatever are problems are, whatever their source, wherever our choices have led us...You are there, we are still in Your hands and You bring beauty from ashes. Help us all to believe this and hold onto to it. What an awesome God we serve!
Psalm 139
1 O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!
7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave,[a] you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
17 How precious are your thoughts about me,[b] O God.
They cannot be numbered!
18 I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!
19 O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!
Get out of my life, you murderers!
20 They blaspheme you;
your enemies misuse your name.
21 O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?
Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?
22 Yes, I hate them with total hatred,
for your enemies are my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
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