The next time you’re feeling ashamed and hopeless because you’ve sinned or someone is reciting Bible verses like Jeremiah 17:9 as proof that our hearts are hopelessly corrupt, remember this: God’s word is merely describing reality, not ascribing permanence to it. Scripture interprets scripture. Jeremiah 17:9 is indeed describing the hopeless condition of the human heart in Jeremiah’s time, from his perspective. But now read Jeremiah 31:31-33. Read Ezekiel 36: 26-27. Read Ephesians 1:3-4. Last time I checked, God’s creation of the universe predates the word given to Jeremiah, not to mention even the first sin. Human beings were not conceived of, designed or created in sin but without sin. Adam and Eve walked with God in close fellowship and love for some time before they rebelled against him and broke the relationship; God deeply desires that sweet intimacy restored. So put your hope in the goodness and promises of God! He made a way through Jesus, and anyone who trusts him receives a new, clean heart and his own spirit inside! It is the catalyst of salvation, the beginning of our restoration! If you’ve felt confused or felt trapped in futility, stand up and walk out of the prison of the law and condemnation. The door is already open. Those who trust Jesus are washed clean by his blood and covered by his grace as they step into his new everlasting life! (Romans 6:3-8, 14-18; 7:4-6, 15-20; 8:1-4) All you need to do is believe and follow him. So don’t be fooled by those who prefer to stay in their familiar confines and would like you to stay as well. Leave your prison cell behind and never step back into it again!
Posts Tagged ‘trust’
Leave Your Old Prison Cell Behind
Posted in Thought for the Week, tagged clean, condemnation, faith, fellowship, freedom, futility, heart, hope, intimacy, jesus, life, new, prison, restoration, sadness, salvation, sin, trapped, trust on April 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »
The One You Long for Is Calling
Posted in Thought for the Week, tagged anxiety, believe, birth, calling, Christmas, faith, fear, God, hope, jesus, life, love, rescue, restoration, trust on December 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Jesus is calling you this Christmas season.
His announcements, his clever wisdom, his beautiful invitations are everywhere!
Stories from Israel of a prophecy of impossible royal birth, invoking the lineage of the greatest of Hebrew kings, confusing and threatening the rulers of the day as they frantically grasped their power.
Distinct light, a unique, telling star in the sky.
Love making a new way, born amidst and despite horrifyingly depraved and inhuman murder.
Mighty messengers from our Creator audibly crying out with joy to humble, tired, longing, willing, seeking shepherds.
Those same men, resigned to sin, stunned in joy, breaking free from years of shadow through revived hope, shouting light into the ears of their country with weary voices made bright.
Invitations to join the light, to be swept into its healing power and to start on the great path of restoration and life, are sounding in the middle of and through all of our worry, anxiety, questioning, duties, frustration and plans.
Jesus is calling, holding out real life, the true, full homecoming to love every one of us is longing for. Now is the only time there is to answer. A simple answer is all that is needed.
Will you finally say yes?
Novus (New) Vir (Man) 