FRESH START TODAY (Blog 30)

FRESH START TODAY... Only you can change you, but you can ask for help!

Psalms 51:10-12, Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. NIV

The history behind this Scripture is a Psalm of repentance of king David after the prophet Nathan came to him addressing his adultery with Bathsheba. We may not have committed adultery, but there may be something we have done to rebel against the Holy God. I know that there have been many times in my life I had to repent due to my rebellion or lack of faith. I may have gossiped, or lied, or been unkind to someone, so I need to repent. This goes beyond just saying that I am sorry, but asking God to “create in me a pure heart!”

There was a time that I was so angry with someone that my heart had become very cold. I would talk and repeat the situation about the offense to anyone who would listen. I have been angry like this regarding a few circumstances, but it does not change what happened in the past. My memory just relived the hurt over and over again. Other people have spoken to me like this, too. You can get tired of hearing the same complaint over and over again with no change in the other person’s heart. Do bad things happen in our life? Yes! Can we forget the hurt? Yes! Do we remember the circumstances that caused the hurt? Yes, but we can find peace in our hearts when we repent of the anger and forgive the person(s).

I was going to share one of those hurtful situations, but why? You do not need to read about a negative experience that I have had, because there is probably enough negative around your own life. People have hurt you, talked about you, and treated you unkindly because that is part of the sin nature in this world that we face on a daily basis. We live in a world that can be very dark at times. We do not seek out the light that can brighten that darkness. Our physical bodies will stumble through the darkness in the middle of the night to go the restroom, but if we have a night-light we can avoid stubbing our toe. Why do we stumble through life in the darkness? Where are the night-lights through life that could keep us from stumbling? His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. When we become a believer we will still stumble, hopefully not as often, so what is the answer? We cry out to the God that loves us! (The light) We read His Word! (Another source of light) We pray (A powerful source of light) We can begin to praise the Lord! (A regeneration of light and hope) We trust the Lord for His provision! (The light of Faith) We gather together with other believers for fellowship and encouragement. (A brighter cluster of lights where we can begin to see more clearly!) I pray that you can envision the night-lights that are provided for us as believers?

There was a movie that came out that was called the “Passion of Christ” directed by Mel Gibson. I have a copy of that movie and have seen it just a few times, but it gave me the closest description of what Jesus Christ was willing to do for me. My cry to my Savior is and will always be “Create in me a pure heart”! He will do the changing within your own heart and the pain of negative experiences seem to soften as you remember the gentle, caring love of a Savior that was first beaten, nailed to a cross and then died for you. His GRACE and PASSION are never ending for those who seek His light!