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GLEANINGS FROM THE WORD Experiencing an extraordinary God in ordinary life Issue #923 October 2, 2003 Touch Ups When I visited my grandmother last (before she passed away this summer) she gave me a delightful photo of my eldest sister Jean-Anne and I. According to the note on the picture, I'm 20 1/2 months and she's eleven weeks. The photo has some rips and is in need of some restoration work. I scanned the picture onto disk and I've been playing with my photo-editing software in effort to restore the picture. I've learned that it's harder than it looks to do a good job. I'm sure with time and effort I'll eventually get it figured out, at least I hope so. As I played with the picture, I marveled at how quick it was (in some ways) to move a snippet here, change the shading there or completely change the look with special effects editing. I think we often wish we could put our lives into an editor. We'd snip off the mistakes, shade the bad decisions and manipulate the circumstances so that we'd end up looking our best. If you don't believe that look at someone's resume or check out the latest in plastic surgery and surgery-free alternatives. We're constantly nipping, tucking, manipulating, shading and even forgetting. All in an effort to seem better than our hearts tell us we are. The truth is that all that manipulating, maneuvering and touch up doesn't really change anything other than perhaps a superficial impression. Fortunately for us, God sees through all of that. There's no deceiving Him. He has a better plan. He doesn't want us superficially touched up. He doesn't want a spin doctor to gloss over our mistakes. He wants to make us new. He wants us to be born again. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. " "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, `You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." John 3:1-8 NIV With Him, we're born again. The world might see all the warts and wrinkles, but God sees us as His newborn children. Like any other newborn, we'll fall and make mistakes, but we'll be under the vigilant eye of a heavenly Father who is molding the new us. With our faith comes transformation, not simple restoration of the old rickety foundation with it's falling plaster and creaking boards. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV Ignore Satan when he rails about your past mistakes. Don't worry about those who can only see the "old" you. Don't try and repair the old foundation or touch up the appearance of the fallen house. Instead rejoice that He has made you new with the new birth. No touch ups needed. Until next time, rejoice, if you have Jesus you've been reconciled to God and made new. Be blessed Hallelu Yah (Praise God)! Kevin YOU ARE Once you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour you are a new creation. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. You have value in the eyes of God so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that heaven will not be complete without you. HELP FOR THE HURTING You've messed up big time and made more mistakes than you can remember. You've tried to start over and failed. You've tried to touch up the past but the reality bleeds through. That makes you a perfect candidate for the love of Jesus. He wants to make you into a new creation, to be born again as His child. He's prepared to do His part, you simply need to say yes. You can simply begin the relationship by honestly and completely opening your heart, admitting you need God's help, and saying a prayer along the lines of: Jesus: I have made many mistakes in my life and done things I am not proud of. I have sinned. I need your love and forgiveness. I believe that you came into this world and gave your life on a cross to pay for my sins and that you defeated death and rose again. Please forgive me, and be the Lord of my life. I give my life to you Lord. Amen If you pray this prayer for the first time let me know so I can rejoice with you. Did you know that at Gleanings, we have a dedicated team of prayer warriors and all prayer concerns are kept strictly confidential? Your comments, your questions and your joys are shared with the prayer team, to keep me accountable as the head of the ministry and to encourage them as they see God at work in your life. As with prayer all these things are kept confidential within the Gleanings team. To share your questions, comments, thoughts, prayer concerns and praise reports email us If you enjoyed this issue of Gleanings From The Word, email it, in its entirety, to a friend. For information on use of Gleanings in your church newsletter or other situations please visit the permissions page . You can write to us at Gleanings From The Word Ministries International 114 Oak St Sherwood Park, AB Canada T8A 0V8 © 2003 K.F. "Kevin" Corbin Gleanings From The Word Minististries International - All Rights Reserved
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