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We should always remember that no matter what our sins or shortfalls, God
is the one who can forgive and make clean again. Many times when we fall
short and sin before God, we run away from Him thinking that we are beyond
redemption. This is a falsity that the enemy has used for generations
convincing people that they are too bad for God to love. I want you to
know that there is no sin so deep that God's grace and love is not deeper
still. If you have fallen away from Him, I encourage you to call upon the
name of the Lord, confess your sins, repent, which means to turn away and
ask God to forgive you and make you a new creation in Christ. He is
faithful to hear and forgive your heartfelt prayer. Trust Him and your
life will change forever. (Isaiah 1:18-19) (Joel 2:12-13) (2 Corinthians 5:17)
I hope this message encourages your heart to return to God if you have
fallen away and to come to God if you have never done so before. He loves
you and wishes for you to spend Eternity with Him in heaven.
ARE YOU HIDING FROM GOD?
I remember the hot summer when we discovered ice cream sandwiches in the
bottom of the cooler at the corner store. They were ten cents apiece, a
lot of money back then. I don't remember how we came to buy one and taste
the sweet chocolate graham crust and the melting vanilla ice cream, but we
were mad for them after that. Of course, none of us had any money,
allowances being unheard of on our side of town. Whether we rode our bikes,
or played ball, or sat and played marbles, we talked and dreamed about
those soft, creamy sandwiches. Within a week we had tapped out our sources
of money: mooching and pop bottles for 2 cents each.
My dad worked nights, coming home to join us for breakfast, and then
sleeping till late afternoon. When he came home one morning I heard the
jingle of change in his pants and something ugly crept into my mind. That
change was just what we needed, what I had to have. All day long I kept
coming into the house and listening at his door. Sleeping sounds: slow,
even snoring. I cracked the door, and there hanging at the foot of the bed
were those pants, that change, those ice cream sandwiches; my chance to be
the big man in the neighborhood. I slipped in and took a handful of change.
We ate like greedy pigs, and I was a hero to my band of friends as we sat
in the shade of the corner store. They thought I was rich. I told them it
was birthday money I'd saved. I felt satisfied before I ever ate them
sandwiches. I was somebody.
That went on every day for about two weeks and what a time it was! I had
gotten good at slipping in and slipping out, and then ran to my buddies
and we headed to the store. One day there was no change in dad's pocket so
I felt for his wallet, hesitated a moment, then took out two whole dollars.
I had been okay with taking the change, but those dollars made my face feel
hot. Even before we began gorging ourselves on ice cream, my stomach felt
sick. The importance and joy I had felt buying for my friends was gone that
afternoon. I realized I was in pretty deep. If dad knew, he'd kill me, but
worse, he'd have that look in his eye, that disappointment he would get
when I'd miss catching a ball or get a bad grade. Now, I had stolen from my
dad. I couldn't face him, and didn't know what to do.
Early that afternoon, the sun high and hot, I grabbed my fishing pole and
walked down the tracks to the reservoir, wishing my stomach would quit
aching, and praying nobody would see me crying.
As I sat hurting that day, knowing there was no way to get right with my
dad, I saw him walking along the tracks. He was big man who sort of
swaggered like a sailor in a roiling sea, his arms swinging to the sides
as he went. But now he was walking slow and deliberate, looking somehow as
heavy as I felt. I couldn't run. I just sat there, watching him come to me,
my pole motionless in my hands, barely breathing. I don't remember being
afraid. No, it was more so feeling deeply sorrowful at hurting him. My eyes
were watery when he came up. He just quietly sat alongside me and stared in
the water with me.
After what seemed a very long time he asked, "How're they biting son?
I couldn't speak. I was too near crying, and he deserved me acting with
some dignity I thought. We sat quietly, a bird singing nearby, and I stuck
out my chin as best I could, willing to take whatever beating he thought I
needed, if he would only take me back.
In a moment I will never forget, he said, "Son, I've known since the first
day you took the money. I watched out the window as you and your friends
ate ice cream. I didn't say anything, because I wanted to let you come and
tell me yourself. It hurt me that you were stealing from me, but it hurt
more you didn't come and tell me. Son, you can always come to me when
you've done wrong. I love you son." And with that, his hand reached out,
not to strike me, but to pull me to his chest, where I cried. As I cried,
my dad told me he trusted me, and that everything he had would be mine some
day. Because I couldn't go to him, he came to me.
God is coming to you. It isn't so much your sin that hurts Him, as your
reluctance to face Him and trust Him even in your failings. He is your
Father. His calling is unchanging. His love, unfailing. He has come seeking
you, true Shepherd that He is. Bury your head in His chest, accept His
embrace, and begin again, as at the first, to follow Him. There, in His
grace, you will find a firm foundation for serving others, your own needs
met. Jesus has work for you still.
Author Unknown
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
Romans 10:9-11 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture
saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.”
Isaiah 55:6-7 “Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon Him
while He is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man
his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon
him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”
Romans 8:14-17 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the
sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;
but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children
of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified
together.”
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today’s Selected Poem: IT IS FINISHED
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem158.htm
Today’s Selected Testimony: GOD SAVED MY DAD
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony144.htm
In Christ’s Service,
Dwayne Savaya
God’s Work Ministry |
