Graceful Rewrite part 2
Grace can rewrite your story. It's kind of what we mean when we say God can turn your mess into a message. And I believe there is something very powerful about ministering out of your weakness. Out of your loss, and your hurt, and your pain. I think sometimes in order to reach people where THEY'RE at, they need to know where we've been. Common ground. Being all things to all people. But, at the same time, you can't get past what you can't get past. I mean, really, how could you? So in some cases you need to take care of yourself--in a sense--by letting Jesus take care of you. By letting God forgive you and forget what you've done... and forgiving yourself and forgetting what you've done! I always thought it was funny when people are like, "God knows everything." Because while it's true that at one time He may have known everything... God has the uncanny ability to forget things. Purposefully. Look at Hebrews 10:16-17, "This the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." The foundation of the New Covenant is God forgetting about the things that have come before and writing His laws (the perfect law of liberty... the New Commandment) IN our hearts and minds. So that everything is internal instead of external. So that instead of judging us according to appearance, or judging us (good and evil) by what we've done... He can judge righteous judgment. Because God DOES know the heart. And He knows that it's HIS heart beating with love in our chests. That's why He circumcized our hearts. He cut away the flesh of human effort. The exterior, surface stuff. So that the real stuff, the deep down inside hidden man of the heart stuff, could come out. Naturally. When God wrote His laws into our hearts and minds He rewrote our story. He brought us out of the Egypt--out of the bondage of sin and death--and into the Promised Land--the land that flows with milk and honey, the rest that comes from Jesus finishing the work on the cross. See, before the cross our story was "try really hard and get what we deserve." Earn our bread by the sweat of our brow. But then Jesus sweated great drops of blood and redeemed us from that story. He was lifted up on the cross and He drew us all into Himself. He finished the work both for us and as us. He gave His life both for us and to us. He brought us out of "our" story and into HIStory! So now we can find ourselves in Him, because now we can find Him in us. Everytime we look in the mirror we see Him. Every time we look INTO each other--seeing the heart--and not AT each other--seeing the surface stuff--we see Him. Our story is history. And our story is His story. Our true identity is being revealed to us, and in us, and through us, and as us! Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. That's the truth. And the way. And the life. That's the only story we need to be concerned with. That's the only story that matters. Forget about the other one. It's gone. It happened, and it's over. Learn from it, but don't let it hold you back or get you down. God forgot about it... you can too. Just let it go. "Let go and let God!" He's the author and finisher of our faith. He knows the best ending. And He knows the best way to get there. So stop trying so hard and just let it go. Let it flow!