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TRUST JESUS TODAY

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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: FRESH START (01/05/17)
I stirred the large pot of chicken rice soup with anticipation. Today, the kids and I would be joining our friends to feed the homeless after church services.

One must wonder which is more of a service to the Lord---- mingling with people Who need Him most, need His love, His care, His tenderness---- or sitting through another service of beautiful truth. Surely Christ served more than He was served. Today, though, I get to do both.

They trailed in, and I saw the face of the elderly gentleman who shared his life with me before. He didn't like the program provided in town because he didn't want the discipline. Even at his age, he didn't want the fresh start as much as he wanted to live by what he felt was the easiest way.

My heart broke for him. And I didn't return because I wanted to coddle him in his place--- I returned because I know we all need grace in our weakness; we all need help; we all need Someone to lift us from the places we like to hang in.

How would they receive that help if no one hangs out with them? I want to lift them with love and grace, in the same manner Christ lifted me when I was hanging in my pit.

I take my bowl of soup and sit with her, the young girl starved for food and a whole lot more. She looks at me and I know I must win her trust before I get to show her love like I desire.

The elderly gentleman didn't grasp what we all sometimes don't get, that, as JR.VanProyen says, “God never asks us to give something up just for the sake of giving something up.”

We are loathe to begin afresh because we don't see how much better we will be a year from now if we start today. We don't see that when God asks us to begin new, He wants to give us something much more valuable than the old we've had. That if we begin today, we could have radical change for the better in a year from now--- but we must begin.

Healthy eating habits, though difficult to begin, may well increase both the span and quality of our lives. We may be loathe to resist the foods we crave because we don't see ahead to the clear mind, healthy body, and rejuvenated spirit we will have in a year from now if we take the plunge.

God sees the result of saying yes; we may only see the denial and hard work. But we will never go wrong with a 'yes'. We will grow old with apathy if we turn away from new beginnings He offers to us.

We may begin fresh whether we are twenty years old, or seventy. God's heart for us stands whether we've dared follow Him or not, and taking fresh steps to the better as an elderly person still refutes the enemy's plan to destroy us. Even if we're late, we honor God by choosing 'yes.' Beginning late is all the more reason to begin because we don't want Satan to have the final say in our lives.

The brand new baby has a fresh beginning of life here on earth, while the elderly friend I visited a few months ago faces a brand new beginning in heaven. Both are new; both are God ordained, because in Christ, nothing is ever old.

Our body may grow old, but our inner man is made new every single day. In fact, the older our body becomes, the more we are aware of the glory in our souls, and Christ says we pass from glory to glory. This is His heart toward us when He asks us to take a fresh start, away from the old into something new.

Let's follow Him with a 'yes'!

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
{Romans 12:1, ESV}
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This article has been read 456 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
C D Swanson 
01/14/17
Yes! Loved the message and the way you presented it!
Well done,
God bless~
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
01/20/17
I loved the beginning. I felt like I was right there with you and my heart ached for those in that position. You made me think of someone who could be a perfect match for your gentleman. When you switched to saying how it can be scary to change, I agreed with every word, but the tone changed a bit for me. It felt more like a sermon than the delightful testimony you shared in the beginning. Perhaps if you had shared your lesson with dialog and body language wouldn't have felt the sudden switch. It may just be me though. Your message is certainly spot on and your passion is quite apparent. Congratulations on ranking 2nd in your level and 16 overall. The highest rankings can be found on the message boards.
Sherry Brock
01/21/17
Congrats on your 2nd place ranking in your level. Your message was clear on the whole, but I got lost a couple times as you switched from the soup kitchen stories to various other thought paths. It's often easy to want to put too much into one article. I know- I've done it! . Over all you had a great message that was well written, but just needed a little more focus. Can't wait to read what you do next.