The page is turned~
2018 was either a good or not so good year
BUT
2019 is going to be a great year
because
I am going to do ___________ & I am not going to do ___________.
That sounds so good and so easy, when we are in control of our choices
BUT what happens when
you don't do or do do what you were planning to do or not do~
Where is control now?
I believed from a very young age that if
I acted perfect & looked perfect & followed the rules
then I would feel perfect enough
AND then my life would be perfect.
Seeking perfection because I wasn't.
Hmm...oh how I wish that worked.
I would make signed pacts with GOD~
"I, Joni, promise that I will follow You if You will do ____________for me."
A resolution between GOD and I, or was it just between me, myself & I?
Actually, it was giving GOD an ultimatum.
I bet GOD chuckled as HE shook HIS head,
knowing that HE would still pursue me
because
I am & you are
one of HIS creations~
and who creates something that they don't want?
GOD made more than a Resolution with me and with you,
because I am & you are so much more than a lump of clay,
asWHO will do whatever it takes to get
a me & to get a you
to
Come to HIM
while we are running in the other direction~
when we feel we are not worthy or deserving or perfect enough.
I chuckle now as I think about those pacts I used to make with
A GOD that I really didn't know then,
But now I am in awe~
as HE never left me.
GOD continued to pursue me,
even when I was pursing perfection in all the wrong places~
BUT the moment I looked up from the trenches of defeat,
GOD was still there
because
I was one of the lost sheep
that
HE sent HIS SON to save,
even though
I made those silly pacts with HIM
because
GOD knew how silly those where because
HE created me & HE created you
and
HE knows us way better than we even know ourselves...
and that is why
HE never gave up on us~
GOD gave up HIS SON instead.
I, _____________, (your name)
Promise that I will follow
YOU
and I, ___________, thank GOD for not giving up on me,
even when I break my promises with
YOU
because
JESUS IS NOT A RESOLUTION~
HE IS THE PROMISE!
Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’
I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
Luke 15:4-7