God will do whatever it takes, including killing our mortal bodies, to bring us into a right relationship with Himself.
~ Makala Doulos
So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame. Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the Lord your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame. And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
~ Joel 2:25-32
This writer was falling off a cliff a few years ago… And he landed on his feet, on solid ground.
How can it be that we humans can crash our lives so hard that there should be no wreckage left – and yet end up blessed, alive, and even more ready to serve Him than before the avalanche caused by the sins of our past?
Him.
“And since then, O Kings and Ladies, I have been wandering to find him and my happiness is so great that it even weakens me like a wound. And this is the marvel of marvels, that he called me, Beloved, me who am but as a dog.”
~ Emeth, “The Last Battle” by C.S. Lewis
This dog got to share the gospel with 112 kids in Indonesia a few days ago. And he will get to preach a similar message of Absolute Surrender and Love to over 400 in less than two weeks. And less than two years ago, this dog was just beginning to wake up and crawl out of the train-wreck of his past.
And while so enigmatic to say, it is most surely true that eternity is different, and better, because of my wretchedness. Because the G_d of the impossible took the very worst possible scenario in one person’s life and decided that He would get glory out of it. And for the simple price of the death of one’s self and a surrender to the great Love of a great G_d, one man is now being propelled into ministry opportunities he never though he would ever see again.
He is Mighty to Save.
Beloved, it is true. No one is beyond His reach. Simply lay down and let Him overtake you dear reader. This writer swears with the simple strength of a yes being yes that He will restore you, if you but simply turn and ask Him.
Sin is like ice in our pipes—our spiritual lives have been “frozen.” There is only one solution, and that is repentance to clear the blockage and restore the flow of the Holy Spirit.
~Billy Graham (1918- )
