Time and Time Again

 

Time and time again I catch myself saying ‘twenty years ago” or more and then I stop and realize that I am actually aging.  I am getting older in my body for sure if not in my mind also. What a true revelation that was for me. In my mind I am still the same person I was when I was sixteen years old. Of course there are differences. New habits, good and bad, as well as knew knowledge and experience but deep down at the core I am still “me”. I am still a day dreamer. I am still an optimist. I am still talented and intelligent. I am still determined and head strong. I am the same bowl of soup I was when I was created in my mother’s womb… I just have a few more seasonings than when I started out.

So, what’s different now that I believe in Christ…. now that I acknowledge His existence, His importance. His relevance, His dominance, His diety, His charity, His grace, His love, His compassion, His forgiveness…. what is different? And to that I say EVERYTHING!

I am, at my core, what He created me to be. I am, at my core, the exact and perfect creation of the Lord. I am, at my core, all He wanted me to become. But, now that I am living and striving to know and serve the Lord Jesus Christ everything else has changed. I am not the “hopeless” person I once was… I am not the angry person I once was,,, I am not the depressed and lost soul that once wondered aimlessly through this life. I AM a new creation! I AM a  person with boundless hope. I AM a child of God! I AM an heir to the greatest throne that ever existed! I AM saved! I AM forgiven! I AM Loved!

I am not perfect, not yet anyway, but I am not the lost and dying soul that I was in the past. The darkness of sin and the world had blinded me for years. The desease and affliction of addiction and desire had poisoned my soul and clouded my mind. The distactions of this world were detouring  me from my planned destination. I was standing on the edge of eternity for many years.

Praise God He rescued me from my self generated abyss. Praise God He never forgot His plans for me. Praise God He IS faithful to His word. I cried out to Him and He saved me. I called upon Him and He came to my rescue. He has overcome every obstacle in my life that I was willing to release to His control. He has allowed me to experience the consequences of my own actions and has always provided me with a way out. He is my strength! He is my strong tower! He is my shelter and He IS MY GOD!

What else could I possibly say?! ….Besides… AMEN!