Overcoming

By Cindy Hester

My nephew posted this photo he took and his scripture thought onto my wall this morning. It struck a place deep in my heart. God has brought me so far from the place where He rescued me. I can't help but shout in thankful praise for this. 

That said, I am still a work in progress. Each day I am faced with choices, and often in my human frailty, I fail. As God's child, I know my sins were forgiven the day I submitted my life to Him as my Lord and Savior. As I have grown in my relationship with Christ, I no longer want anything coming between Him and me.

As long as we are walking in this broken world, however, we will deal with the effects and consequences of sin - both our own sin and the sins of others. This often leaves us feeling broken and useless. The picture and words Frank shared reminds me of the overcoming hope we all have. God can still take "the busted stuff I have and redeem if for something beautiful for Him."

Have a blessed Sunday.

Photo by Frank Aragon

I  pray  the Lord will take the busted stuff I have and redeem if for something beautiful for Him.
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." (Psalm 19:14 ESV)

#prayformaggie #rust #barrell #train #old#worshipleader #worship — at Pier 39, Port Of Galveston TX.

Broken Pieces

by Cindy Hester

I must admit God, I sometimes have trouble believing you could love me. After all, I'm nowhere close to perfect, and some days I struggle with tolerating my own behavior. Why is it easier to retain the negative than to accept the positive about myself? I once thought this to be equivalent to humility, but You've helped me to see this behavior is actually more equivalent to rebellion against the all-powerful, all-forgiving God you are. I am beginning to see that I must allow You to clear my heart and mind to receive Your perfect correction and Your positive instruction in order to grow. You created me. My constant rejection of Your handiwork and Your plan for me keeps me locked in chains of bondage that You never intended me to wear.

But I have so many broken pieces Lord. I walk in Your power upright in faith for a time, then out of nowhere, I divert my eyes, I'm blindsided, and I stumble and fall. You, however, wait patiently for my cry for help, then in love, You reach down and lovingly draw me to my feet, lift my head, and restore my dignity and faith.

Maybe we are all a little like the unique gifts I saw in a restaurant I recently visited while on vacation. My eyes were especially drawn to some wall hangings made from broken pieces of rock, glass, and discarded jewelry. The artist had carefully taken each one - useless on its own merit - and created a beautiful mosaic covering a piece of wood cut in the shape of a cross. Once all fragments were in place, the finished product was sealed and made whole with a clear coating to secure each piece and to give it a brilliant finish. One couldn't help but notice their beauty as they hung against the bright pink backdrop sparkling under a brilliant display light.

As I stood studying the design, Jesus gently began speaking to my heart. He reminded me to bring to Him the broken, discarded pieces of my life and allow Him, the Master Artist, to place them against the backdrop of His Son, Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross. You see, whenever we ask and accept His forgiveness and grace, He seals these pieces together through the blood of Christ into a colorful mosaic, creating a thing of beauty out of our brokenness. If we then submit ourselves to Him and allow Him to display us against the backdrop of His matchless power under the brilliance of His glory, we cannot help but draw others unto Him. 

Like these crosses cannot boast in their own power of what they have created of themselves, we must be willing to release our broken pieces to Him in order for Him to make of us a new creation. We must trust Him with the design...we must trust Him to see the beauty in the brokenness...we must trust and allow Him to work in and through us to do His good and perfect will. We are not asked to do this in and of our own power, and we are to give Him all the glory. Thank You Jesus. 

"Dear Lord, I bring to You my broken pieces. Lord, create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me. Please take the broken fragments of my life and create a thing of beauty that can be used to direct others to Your saving grace. I pray for those who are hurting today. Although the situations they are facing seem hopeless or maybe even cruel, You know the plans You have for them, plans to prosper and not to harm, plans to give a hope and a future. You alone have the power to create beauty from ashes and to give hope to the hopeless. I praise You in the storm, and I praise You in the good times. I pray that I will allow You to use me however, wherever You want to reveal Your glorious, amazing grace. I thank You for what You are already doing to bring restoration, joy, and purpose back into the lives of many who so desperately need a touch from Your loving hand today. It is not in my power I ask these things, but through the power of Your Son, Jesus Christ, that I pray. Amen."

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord  for the display of his splendor." Isaiah 61:1-3