God's Eraser

"...you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." Colossians 2:12b-14 Long ago and far away in a different chapter of my life, when I was a school kid, teachers wrote their lessons & instructions for the class on a blackboard. Once those assignments were completed, she/he would simply erase the old & replace it with the new assignments & instructions for the next day. People of my age & growing up era will recall wiping down the blackboards & cleaning erasers, sometimes as a teacher's assistant or, for some of us as a form of discipline for misbehavior. God works somewhat like that too. He is able (with our cooperation & submission) to wipe away, completely erase, the old sinful person we once were. He can take a life completely riddled with sin and seemingly going nowhere, except straight to the pits of hell itself and clean it up and make it purposeful for His Work and Kingdom. You doubt my words? Paul was Saul. One day he was killing Christians & then he had an encounter with God. After a three day period of blindness, he began being used for God instead of in opposition to Him. Maybe God used that period of blindness to take away Paul's self-dependence & focus him on his dependence on God instead. David, the King, was an adulterer and murderer--but God used him. David suffered great consequences for his sin, but he was called a man after God's own heart. Jonah ran from God & spent three days in the belly of a whale before surrendering to God's call on his life and seeing a great revival in Nineveh. Moses killed an Egyptian and argued with God, but became God's vessel to lead the people out of slavery in Egypt and to the Promised Land. The fact is, God loves you & desires a relationship with you & there's nothing you can do to change that. He wants to use you in His Kingdom Work. He doesn't care what you've done or where you've been or how many times you've failed. He want to erase the old & give you something new--a new assignment for Him, instead for working for the devil. He's already done the work. He sent His Son to be the sacrifice for your sin. He nailed all your sins (along with the sins of the entire world) to the cross."For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." John 3:16-17 NKJV If you follow the life of Christ in the Gospels, He offered forgiveness to all who would believe & receive it. He didn't condemn people for their sin, but simply told them they were forgiven & to go and sin no more. I think that's where we miss it. We think we can repent & ask forgiveness and then simply go back to our sin because we know God will forgive it again. He will. However, if we are willfully sinning, we're abusing God's grace. "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" Romans 6:1-2, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." Galatians 5:1, "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." John 8:36 So, if you're ready to experience true freedom, saved & unsaved alike, call on Him to forgive you of ALL your sins--even those little hidden, secret sins, and let Him wash the slate of your life clean and give you a fresh start. God's eraser is an awesome thing! If He can use someone like me with nothing at all to offer, He can use you. You just have to let Him erase the old & make all things new. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17 (all Scripture references from the NKJV) It's up to you, God's eraser is ready & waiting... Blessings! Tony

Seasons...

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:4 We go through seasons in life, similar to the seasons of nature. We grow and mature, physically, mentally and spiritually. It is all part of the process called life. We start out young, active, vibrant and always learning new things as we grow. We move into another season when we begin to mature into young adults. The season changes again when we take on the responsibilities of a home, a job and a family of our own. Then comes the Winter of life as we age, see our children grow & start families of their own and our physical bodies move into a mode of slow decay until death claims us & we return to dust once again. Mixed in along the way of the various seasons of life are seasons of happiness and pain, seasons of prosperity & loss, seasons of hope and hopelessness. I think of Job & how he responded to the great losses he suffered. I wish I had his faith! I mean, I have been through a lot in this life and for the most part, I think I've managed it all pretty well although some of it has been especially difficult. But I've also had times where I whined, moaned and complained to God and I've experienced a few complete meltdowns along the way as well. Let's face it, life can be hard at times. Don't get me wrong, it can be purely joyous at times as well but we (or at least I do anyway) tend to recall the negative experiences far more vividly than the positive ones. We grow weary of the pain, the sickness, the evil of this world. Our plans sometimes get completely wrecked & nothing seems to go right. Even when we know we're doing what God has called us to, we sometimes doubt the path He guides us on. Even though we walk with Him & talk with Him daily, we sometimes question if we're really in His Will. Sometimes, we just want to throw our hands up and quit, but we can't--our job isn't finished yet! I know that I long for the day I hear my Savior say, "Well done!" and I enter Heaven's rest. I'm ready for that place of peace and calm, where the troubles of this world vanish away into the beauty and worship of Heaven and Our Creator. Problem is, apparently God still has work for me to do here--which means I have to endure, I have to keep going, I have to keep sharing Him, until He returns or calls me home. I don't get to choose the time of His return or my homegoing. I have to work on & walk the path He has for me until my time here is done & He is ready for me to join Him in that heavenly home. I must faithfully follow Him and daily choose to trust Him as long as there is breath in my lungs. There's the reality of it all--it's my choice. I choose to listen to either the promises of God or the lies of the devil. I've followed Jesus for many years & while I haven't always understood why things happened as they did, He's always seen me through them. I've reached the season of life where I have more years behind me than I do ahead, but I'm not retiring from God's work and service. I can't say that I don't want to sometimes, but I know I can't. I must walk though each of life's seasons, no matter how badly I want to give up, and work til Jesus comes. After all, He's never left or forsaken me. He's blessed me more than I deserve. He allowed me to love & be loved and to have some wonderful life experiences along the way. He's never given up on me, so I can't give up on Him either... Blessings! Tony