V.O.D.: Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.—James 4:7
M.O.M.: Ephesians 4:31
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.(English Standard Version)
Today's reading: DANIEL 3-4 1 JOHN 5
The Story
One man is arrested for beating a child. His story was that he had been beaten as a child and had taken that rage into adulthood. The policeman who had arrested him listened to the story at the station and then locked him away to await the judge.
The policeman finished his shift and went home to his family with a heavy heart. He remembered the beatings he had taken as a child from a man like the one he had just arrested.
Everyone has a story. We have been given a life by God-from birth to death-to live as we choose and some of our stories have not turned out so well and some have.
If you are still young, you have time to allow God to change your story for the better if that is not already the case. My experience is that life does not have to be as hard as we make it but it takes some of us a lifetime to realize that fact.
If your story is not now what God wants it to be, can you change? Of course you can. No matter what your age, you can still make the right choices.
You cannot, however, do this on your own. You can try. But try as you might, the power of God being absent from your decisions will not end well. You might very well live a good life and be the king of whatever area you live. You may help many up out of the mud and you may deliver physical help by the truckloads. But, at the end of the day, there will always be planning for the next big thing that will keep your name on top.
But what happens when you can no longer carry on due to physical challenges or other circumstances?
Life in Christ always has Him at the center and foundation. The Holy Spirit keeps us alert to the needs around us and always lets us know we are never alone. We are meant to be one with Him. Our needs become less and less. When the lights go out at night and our heads hit the pillow, we are held in His grace and the earthly void that once was there is always full if we have continued to choose that He is first in our lives.
Before some of you get loaded up with guilt because you fall short, just remember: The entire New Testament is written to the believer and is written to tell us how to live as Christ did. God has had this recorded for us because He created us and knows each one of us better than we know ourselves. His lovs endures forever and His mercies are new every morning.
If we are falling short, God has seen it before it happened and that is why 1 John 1:9 says that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
God knows it all and still loves us and continues to watch us and guide us and His mercy never stops. God's grace never goes away.
God's hand is always extended to us to lift us up from our depression or our guilt or both. The Holy Spirit has never left you alone and never will for a second.
Everyone has a story. What is yours? None of us can do one thing to change what has already happened in our lives. But-we can certainly reach for God's hand and He will always certainly lift us up when we humble ourselves under His mighty hand.
God wants it to end well. Jesus died so your story and mine could end well. God has had the scripture preserved so we can know His heart and mind and use all of it to make sure our story ends well.
It will end well if we love Him and love our neighbor.
...because He loves us...
Father in Heaven,
I confess I carry guilt from my past. Forgive me and lead me into Your freedom as I learn more of Your heart. Help me to love my neighbor and love You with all that I am.
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