Corona Devo 1878
I thought I was being ingenuitive the other day. Resourceful, savvy, and even "green" were characteristics that I was attaching to myself like badges, as I recycled our drinking cups from a recent party and loaded them into the top drawer of our dishwasher.
"We can use these again!", I declared to myself in triumph.
But when the dishwasher cycle had finished, the cups were not true-to-form anymore. Warped and wavy, they could not stand well on their own, and their rims were all flattened and rippled and wide, making it (most likely) impossible for anyone to drink from them again.
I ruined them.
Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, you forgive them all. ~Psalm 65:3
It was slightly uncanny, but I realized in that moment that the melted cups were like a show-and-tell prop for my spirit.
I was feeling (and now had a visual aid) that my sin and shortcoming had warped and waved me. I (also) was not standing well on my own, and I felt flattened and rippled and wide. In that hard-spot, we feel that it is (most likely) impossible for anyone (and God) to use us again.
Are you (like me): a bent-out-of-shape and warped vessel today?
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. ~Ephesians 2:8
It's hard sometimes and some days to imagine that God's forgiveness and love of us is that big...but He says that it is.
For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. ~Hebrews 8:12
We're warped. We're broken. We try, and yet, we fail. But God says to try again today, this time with His Holy help. He'll even hold our hand.
Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. ~Isaiah 41:10
The path from useless and warped to useful and fulfilled is paved with prayer, humility, and sincerity. And if we are ready to walk it today, the Lord is patiently awaiting us:
If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. ~II Chronicles 7:14
Heal us today, Lord. You (alone) know the depths of our brokenness and the waves of our warpings. But You alone can reshape the pieces of us that have fallen away and have fallen apart. We admit our frailty and we reach out for Your strength. Fill our hearts, our minds, and our spirits with Your perfect Truth, and reshape us in Your image once again. Amen.
I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. ~Isaiah 43:25
How can we be sure that we are forgiven (again)? Because--in that dark place, in that lonely place, in that guilt-ridden and self-deprecating place...we wonder, we doubt, and we can't imagine that God would dream of forgiving us...but: Let the Bible speak life into our dark (Mental/physical/spiritual/intellectual) corners today.
My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. (2) He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
(3) And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. (4) If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. (5) But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. (6) Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. ~I John 2:1-6
Yes, our cup gets warped and bent sometimes. We fail and we fall and we can get misshapen and almost unrecognizable from who and what God created us to be. We feel disconnected and un-usable by our Holy God.
But if we have forgotten what we should look like, we can look no further than Jesus Christ. His image, His heart, His ways, His words, His thinking, and His love for us and for others never loses its shape or luster. God is unchanging and unwavering in His holiness and His Law, and so is His Word. We can come back to Jesus over and over again to be re-shaped back into His image.
Regardless of how we feel today or what words the evil one whispers into our ear...we are never deemed unusable by our Heavenly Father, as long as we are willing to love and obey Him.
And so, how can we be sure that we are forgiven (again), and that this misshaped cup can still be used?
And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. (4) If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. (5) But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. (6) Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. ~I John 2:3-6
And so..it's okay if life (and sin) has warped us a bit, or caused bubbles in our surface. God is not done with us and He is not put-off by our imperfect condition. In truth, He came to earth specifically to remedy these imperfections that we have incurred. Let Him.
My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. (2) He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. ~I John 2:1-2
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