Images of Redemption
holy spirit inspired encouragement
“Leaving the Storeroom” was my first post, because it was about the beginning of a journey (or perhaps, a starting over – again!) with Christ. If you are just beginning your own walk with Christ, I hope this story and these images encourage you.
If, on the other hand, you’ve journeyed with the Lord for years, I trust God will use them still; you may have discovered, like me, that He really wants all of you – not just portions – and, as such, the journey sometimes requires stops along the way, so that he can address the things which are hindering you.
This story is about one such stop.
What are you looking for?
Do you ever feel lost, deep down in your soul, uncertain of where to go, what to do, where to begin?
Or feel like you’re looking for something, but you don’t know what?
Do you keep hurrying about, anyway, because you don’t know what else to do?
Or have you become stuck and numb?
I recall sitting at my computer once, during a time of grief and loneliness, and actually typing in the Google search “What am I looking for?”
I don’t recall the suggestions it gave, but I know none of them helped!
Psalm 107 describes four different groups of people who got lost, for four different reasons.
The psalmist, writing about the first group, says, “Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty and their lives ebbed away.”
I can relate. I lived in the wastelands for many years. But one day I read these words from Psalm 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”
Wow! What a gift to imagine, to know, that God himself will instruct me and teach me the right direction to take, will counsel me, and that his loving eye is on me.
He wants to lead you as well. He has so much hope to give you.
Keep reading for more good news!
What do you want?
Do you sometimes feel trapped on the inside?
Do you feel like you’re hiding your true self from most people?
Do you think you have to perform for them?
Do you strive to keep the status quo, keep everyone at peace, or keep everyone in line?
This is a type of bondage.
And this was how I lived for most of my life.
And when the time was right, in a painful season when I was feeling rejected, I believe God put his finger on what I was doing.
I had no name for it; all I knew was that there was a confusing mixture of thoughts and emotions which occasionally erupted onto other people. But this particular summer afternoon, as I sat in my car at the laundromat, I somehow broke out of my “performance” and said aloud, “God, I just want to be free.”
Do you struggle with people-pleasing, performance, dishonesty, fear of rejection, resentment of others?
I have good news. There is someone who wants to set you free!
Keep reading!
Who is it you want?
In the book of John, Chapter 18, the Roman soldiers and temple officials are approaching Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane in order to arrest him.
He goes out to them and asks, “Who is it you want?” When they replied “Jesus of Nazareth”, he answered, “I am he.”
One translation states that he says simply, “I am.”
The text then says that these hardened soldiers and officials, who were out to do the grim work of arresting Jesus, actually “drew back and fell to the ground.”
Now that’s power!
Later, in Chapter 20, we find Mary Magdalene at Jesus’s tomb, crying as she discovers that his body is missing. Jesus himself then appears to her, though she didn’t recognize him at the time, and asks her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she asks him where the body has been taken. Then Jesus simply said to her, “Mary.” She immediately knew who he was.
Friend, what are you looking for?
What do you want?
I can attest that the answer is found in a “who”: Jesus Christ, the living God.
He calls us by name.
He specializes in finding lost sheep like us.
He died a miserable death in order to set us free.
All the pain and ugliness we carry inside is the very reason he came and died – to cleanse us from it and give us, in exchange, a new identity.
Have you accepted his gift?
Have you surrendered the hurt and your whole self to him?
As you do, he will guide and instruct you in the way you should go. His loving eye is on you.
I’m so glad you’re here.
Let’s walk this journey together.
Inspiring Words for you...
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A few weeks after returning from the Middle East, I felt ill-at-ease. Anxiety was trying to creep in, somewhat to my surprise. I was familiar with the feelings of sadness after leaving family so far behind, but why this? Why would returning to the comfort and...
Leaving the Storeroom
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. — John 10:10 For most of my life, I have believed in God and in Jesus Christ as my savior. I knew I was forgiven...