My Boo-Boo

Just over a week ago, I did something stupid. I slammed my finger in the door to my pickup. It really isn't that bad, although, I don't care to repeat the experience anytime soon. As it has healed, I have been able to watch God's magic happen. Each day I can feel the finger get better, I am literally regaining the sense of touch in the tip of my finger where just a few days ago, it was numb. God is a master of restoration. He takes that which is wounded and useless and transforms it into something that is well and valuable.

The awesome thing is that God doesn't just stop at slammed fingers and cuts and bruises. He is a mender of broken, wounded lives. He gives us new lives...

"Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin." (Romans 6:4-7)

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. (Isaiah 53:4-6)

Thank you, Lord for my little "boo-boo" that reminded me of how you have healed all my big "boo-boos!"

Drink Deeply

I am somewhat addicted to a television show on one of the science channels. It is called "Survivor Man." The basic gist of this show is that this survival expert equipped with only camera gear (with which he alone records his expedition), a multi-tool and a few odds and ends, is dropped off in the wilds of everything from the frozen tundra north of the arctic circle to a barren desert to survive for 7 days. He is forced to find shelter, food, and clean water. His ingenuity facinates me as he creatively turns ordinary items into things which keeps him alive. Often, he is compelled to purify his own water when little or none is available. However, one of the things that I noticed is that whenever he comes upon a source of pure flowing water, he always does the same thing. He plunges his face into the surface of the water and drinks deeply of the sustaining life giving flow.

I still have been unable to get used to is God's mercy on me. The Apostle John in his first letter speaks of God lavishing His love on us. Having been introduced to His grace at an early age, like the people of Israel, I prostituted my heart to the things of the world. And even still, I chase after that which is stagnant and does not satisfy the deep longing of my heart. Scripture is filled with descriptions of God's mercy that pours out on His beloved.

Isaiah 55 is one great example. The whole chapter is fraught with invitations to come to Him and find refreshing. Verse 1 begins this theme, "Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters;" and continues through the chapter with much of the same. But of course, as we read God's word, the best way to interpret it is to keep it in context. Who is He talking to in these verses? He is extending this invitation to a people who are about to come out of 70 years of Babylonian exile having been disciplined for prostituting their hearts in idolatry and immorality. They didn't deserve His mercy, they deserved to be forgotten. But instead, He tells them that He is about to restore them to Himself. "Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him, And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." (vs. 7)

Perhaps you find yourself wandering in the wilderness just trying to survive. He calls to you and longs to give you that which deeply quenches your soul, His mercy. Will you try to continue satisfying yourself with stagnated water that the world has to offer and cannot satisfy? Instead, drink deeply of His mercy, for it alone can satisfy.

Start Fresh

We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it. God's purpose is not limited by your past. He turned a murderer named Moses into a leader and a coward named Gideon in to a courageous hero, and he can do amazing things with the rest of your life, too. God specializes in giving people a fresh start.

-- Rick Warren

Let it Go

Yesterday I got a surprise phone call from an old mentor of mine. This gentleman I had the privilege of crossing paths with first when I was a senior in high school and he was my sponsor at a state choir week, then almost a decade later when I was serving in my second staff position where wemet again and began meeting together regularly. I owe much of what I know about leading worship to this man. Our paths parted, and we kept in touch only on occasion-- I was usually the one doing the calling.

When I came to Mineral Wells after coming back into vocational ministry, I had reestablished contact with him several months ago which was only a few weeks before he suddenly left the staff position he had had for the past 16 months. During my last conversation with him, the wounds of a bad experience were still tender. My heart broke for him as I too had been burned before. That was 6 months ago. Since I was usually the one who called, when I heard from him, it actually shocked me.

He quickly regaled me of his last few months employed as a permanent substitute at a high school. He then told me he was interviewing for a position he felt confident about at a church in central Texas. As our conversation progressed, I quickly discerned that he was still bitter over his bad experience. Hanging up with him, my memory still echoes with the cutting remarks and names to which he attached to the pastor he served with in his previous position. I hurt for my former mentor, knowing that his pain is real. But even more so, I hurt that he has allowed the enemy to get a foothold in his life and that he is missing out on the joy of releasing someone who has sinned against him.

When we hate and choose to withhold forgiveness, we are hurting no one but ourselves. I watched my own mother stew in her seething hatred for those who wronged her. But the only thing that her bitterness did, I believe, was intensify her physical pain that she had in her last decade of life. Bitterness is a cancer that will eat you up. The sad thing is that those who wronged us usually are completely oblivious and unscathed by the wrath we pour out on them in our hearts. We have to let it go.

I walked through this process a couple years ago where I forgive someone who had wronged me and my family. Never negating what was done nor excusing it, I followed Paul's counsel of Roman 12:14-21. Christ himself said that we forfeit forgiveness of our own sin when we withhold forgiveness of those who wrong us. If you have been wronged, begin to pray for that person. Some people say, "I have forgiven, I just haven't forgotten." I once heard that the true test of forgiveness of your enemy is that you can pray for their blessings. This is amazingly hard to do, nay impossible-- apart from the strength of the Holy Spirit. But with God all things are possible. Let it go brothers and sisters! Be free!