Corona Devo 1820

On a recent road trip, a friend and I chattered for (literally) hours about life, our past (flagrant) liberties, and our current (and continued) pursuit of God and happiness.  The conversation was wild and it was wonderful. 

I was almost surprised at the honesty and anecdotes that we shared as the miles passed.  In reviewing our lives, we all have high points and low points that surface.  Some are nice to share and some, well, hindsight reveals the folly and ignorance (and even danger) in them.  These were the things that we talked and mused about...and everything in between.  It was wild, and it was wonderful.  

Have you ever done that?  

  • Do I mean have we had conversations about our life, and our mistakes, and our sin, and God's grace, and His current blessings? 
  • Do I mean have we acknowledged some of our sins to someone else? 
  • Do I mean have we realized (in review) that God has literally been with us through every nook and cranny and positive and negative decision in our life?  

Yes, to all of these questions: they are all what I mean.  Do we ever engage in unguarded conversations and process our falls/our forgiveness/and our faith? 

It is wild, and it is wonderful to do so.  And it is what God (through His Word) is inviting us to engage with Him about today.  

Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. (4) But—  ... ~Titus 3:3

~~~

"But—"...What?  

But--What could follow this verse?  What could trail the acknowledgement (past and current) of our foolishness and disobedience (sin)?  

What would we want to come next in Scripture, and from God?  (After our realization and admittance of falling short before our Heavenly King?)

"But—"...What?  

We know what....don't we?  Any of us who have gotten honest with God about our past, our falls, our sins, and our failures....we know what our Heavenly Father's response is to our wildness.  

...He brings His wonderful.

Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. (4) But— 

When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, (5) he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.  (6) He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. (7) Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.

We were wild.  (Foolish/disobedient/misled/slaves to many lusts and pleasures/lives full of evil and envy).  Yes, before having God in our hearts...we were wild.  

But— 

Our God is wonderful.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  ~Romans 5:8

Even when we were (are!) wild...God brings His wonderful to us.  He washes away our sins.  

And He doesn't hit us over the head.  He doesn't demand our devotion.  He won't threaten us to honor Him.  None of that.

He is wonderful.  Even in our wild, God our Savior reveals his kindness and love.  Our wonderful Savior loves us into relationship with Him.

Even after all that we've done and said and thought and sinned...  

And even though we are foolish and disobedient.  

In spite of us being misled and slaves to many lusts and pleasures.  

Even though our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other... (Titus 3:3)

He is wonderful.

He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. 

He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.  

(6) He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. 

(7) Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.  ~Titus 3:5-7

Isn't our Lord wonderful?

Talk to Him today.  He's inviting us.  He already knows all about our wild...and yet, He (still) wants to bring us His wonderful.

Let's let Him.  

Lay it all out to the Lord today.  Get honest.  Say it and spill it.  Chatter with God about our life, our past (flagrant) liberties, and our current (and continued) pursuit of Him and happiness.  Let's let our conversation with Him be wild...and wonderful. 

Surprise yourself with your honesty with Him.  (He knows all of the gory details anyway!).

Talk, muse, confess...and everything in between.  Engage in unguarded conversation with our Creator today.  Process (and request forgiveness) for our falls.  Receive His forgiveness.  Live out our faith.

Engaging with our Savior is wild, and it is wonderful...and it is life changing. 

Blessings,  

sarah  

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com 

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