Day 11: From Turmoil To Testimony
I hear the words
IT IS FINISHED,
and I see a huge STOP sign
that STOPS me in my tracks.
There is nothing moreand nothing less,
for
IT IS FINISHED
means
IT IS FINISHED.
I think of the caterpillar
when it emerges as a
BUTTERFLY.
It's caterpillar days are
FINISHED.
No matter how hard a BUTTERFLY strives to be a
caterpillar,
it will die doing so.
At times I feel like that BUTTERFLY
who has been given wings to FLY,
yet who is not using her wings
FULLY to do what
I was created to do.
To not only FLY but to SOAR~
"But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint" (Isaiah 40:13).
So what keeps me on the ground,
living like a "caterfly"?
When I dress myself in the labels
that other's have defined me as.
And then I live as a victim.
A victim
becomes a prisoner in its own skin.
Never moving beyond what was,
because UNWORTHINESS dresses her,
because that is who she was labeled to be.
But if JESUS dresses you with
HIS ROBE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,
that removes all the dirtiness that sin puts on you,
HE gives you PERMISSION to
SOAR
as
HIS.
So what do you do
when you still wear the labels that brand you.
You do what JESUS did.
You FORGIVE.
You ask for FORGIVENESS
and you give FORGIVENESS.
There is nothing left beyond FORGIVENESS.
A victim still can't FORGIVE himself.
Oh I remember when I was living as a VICTIM.
When I was forgetting whose I am.
Hmm...and at times I still do forget.
I remember when I was having a pity party.
BUT GOD ALWAYS SHOWS UP!
For I "stumbled" upon these words of a devotional
by Ron Hutchcraft*~
"'If anyone is in CHRIST, he is a new creation;
the old has gone, the new has come!'
(2 Corinthians 5:17).
There's an amazing transformation
that takes place when a person gives themselves to JESUS CHRIST.
From that moment on they have the right~
they have the spiritual power-to live as a new person!
So if you belong to JESUS CHRIST,
the real you is a
new person in JESUS CHRIST!
You don't have to be identified by your past pain.
You don't have to be defined by your past sin. You are now defined by your relationship with JESUS CHRIST, the SON OF GOD.
You're a child of GOD.
You're a servant of CHRIST.
You're a make-a-difference person because you are forgiven,
you are clean, and you are free from the shackles and the shame of the past. You're about your future now, not your past!
Don't forget who you really are!
It's time for the real you to stand up!"*
So yes, I was having a pity party that morning,
and oh how pity loves to be invited to a party.
But so does JESUS.
For JESUS never says NO to an invitation.
What if all it takes
is to INVITE JESUS into
whatever you are feeling and whatever you are experiencing,
being totally honest with HIM?
WHAT IF?
Try it.
INVITE JESUS
into your pain,
into your hurts,
into your past,
into your present,
and
into your future,
and then
SOAR AS A NEW CREATION.
For JESUS takes a pity party
and turns it into a party of
PRAISE~
"HE changed my weeping to rejoicing.
And my guilty into grace.
Changed the list of wrongs behind me.
.Into a past erased.
HE changed my wounded into healing.
And my broken into praise.
It's a miracle of mercy.
That I'm standing here today"*
IT IS FINISHED!
I am and you are
"CHANGED"
*(listen to the song below)
\
Comments