Have you thanked Him?
Have you praised Him?
Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?
Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?
1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)
The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.
Had a rare privilege this past Saturday. I was blessed to be a part of an EASTER Service at the Warren Correctional Institution outside of Monroe Ohio.
I must say that I was a little intimidated when I got there. County jail visits, to which I have had my share, including two weddings (yes that is true), didn’t truly prepare me for this night. The men here are incarcerated for some pretty tough stuff. And I will be honest, being out on the yard with them was a little sobering as well as a little disconcerting.
Yet as we traversed to the chapel, I gained a new confidence and a new perspective. For waiting for us in the chapel were over 100 men EAGER for the WORD OF GOD, 100+ men seeking for something fresh, a new hope, a different perspective.
And I was one of 7 Pastors who each were assigned one of Jesus’ last words from the cross. I was given, “My GOD my GOD why have you forsaken me?”. And I will share those thoughts in an upcoming OFH.
What I wanted to share today was that despite their circumstances, despite their plight, NONE of them were beyond the reach of GOD’s GRACE, His help, His redemption, and a bright eternity.
None of them.
And I can say with confidence that it was THIS possibility, THIS promise that was keeping many of them smiling and hopeful despite their surroundings, their uniforms, their restrictions, and their bondage.
And then, like the LORD often does, He validated my thoughts, affirmed those notions through the powerful lyric of a song shared by Pastor Anna yesterday during our EASTER EXTRAVAGANT presentation.
I see shattered, You see whole
I see broken, But You see beautiful
And You're helping me to believe
You're restoring me piece by piece
There's nothing too dirty that You can't make worthy
You wash me in mercy
I am clean
What was dead now lives again
My heart's beating, beating inside my chest
Oh I'm coming alive with joy and destiny
Cause You're restoring me piece by piece
There's nothing too dirty that You can't make worthy
You wash me in mercy
I am clean
Washed in the blood of Your sacrifice
Your blood flowed red and made me white
My dirty rags are purified
I am clean
Isn’t that a beautiful promise?
Have you ever felt that way before?
Shattered?
Dirty?
Broken?
Needing some mercy?
Now multiply that exponentially and we may begin to understand the depths of those feelings for my new inmate brothers.
And NO I am not discounting their crimes or their mistakes, nor am I saying they should not suffer consequence.
What I am saying is, like them, I TOO am grateful for grace and its cleansing.
I am grateful that despite my filthiness GOD mercy isn’t withheld, that my dirtiness is not beyond his cleaning.
And neither is yours or that of those fellas from Warren Corrections.
if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. – 1 John 1:9 (MSG)
“Our worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace.” - Bridges
So, will you join me and those fellas in thanking GOD that we truly can be clean?
I love you all!
OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE
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