Gladness is a gift! The Scripture: God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness. Hebrews 1:9 The Message: As I listened intently to our Pastor, Andy Lochary, my heart was opened with praise, gladness and yet sorrow for those that don’t know how to use the oil of gladness in their lives. Andy took us through the story of Tamar in 2 Samuel 13. A tormenting story, a sinful story, a story with hurt, pain and scars. I hadn’t thought much about scars of my own or others. I usually reflect on Jesus scars. I read the verses in Isaiah 53 often to remind me of Christ’s love through His wounds, stripes and the affliction He endured for me and my sin. How can it be that through those scars, I find gladness? We can only find gladness through Christ. Andy pointed out yesterday, our scars can be the prevention of our experiencing the full transforming power from God or our scars can be the evidence of God’s healing power. That is true in my life. Through the power of Christ’s pain suffering and resurrected love for me, I found healing. Now my scars are still there to remind me to have compassion for others and remember the pain, however it no longer rules over me. Andy said that scar tissue is the strongest tissue in our bodies and that scars can be a reminder of what God already accomplished. Isn’t that a wonderful comfort? If you have scars that are stopping you from experience the oil of gladness, ask God to help you use those scars, to allow the brokenness to draw you closer to Jesus Christ the healer of scars. He can replace pain with gladness when no one or nothing else can. Won’t you take the step today toward healing. Instead of allowing the hurt and trials to destroy, allow God to use them in your life and the lives of others. I learned from the story of Tamar and through the preaching of our Pastor a different perspective of my scars. I can truly say, I rejoice in my scars today. Can you? God bless. The Prayer: Heavenly Father, I thank You for trusting in me to help carry out Your mission. Through my trials help me to discover gladness in You. Teach me to use my pass as testimony for Your glory in Jesus’ name. Amen!
Posted on: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 13:16:03 +0000
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