"He Makes a Way!"

 "A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;" (Ecclesiastes 3:7 KJV)

  "But now, O Jacob, listen to the LORD who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through the deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom; I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Others were given in exchange for you. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you."" (Isaiah 43:1-4 NLT)

 I guess there is a way to make this simple, but it would not give it much justice, because there is so much that God does, to make a way for us to have a second chance, over and over again! I have a tendency to mess things up! Making it harder on myself to be the person God has chosen me for; but God has a way to make the crooked road straight, the barriers disappear, and doubt become a living hope! 

 Why does He do it? Who am I that He should even care? These are just a couple of simple questions that we might ask, thinking that our lives are just dust in the wind, as if they don't really matter. They matter to Him, because He is the One that saved you! Don't you ever forget that! 

 As I have said before: Before I got saved, I thought I had everything under control, that my relationship with God was better than most, and that I needed nothing else but getting out of jail, and going home, where I belonged. Well, then He came along and swept me up into His arms; and my life changed! There is nothing in my control, my relationship with God moves more than the waves of the sea; I don't really know what I need, because everything I get, seems to tear me down and becomes a burden! 

 Just being honest, because before I was saved, I didn't really feel all that guilty; I lived my life as if there was nothing to answer for and did whatever I wanted to do. Can anyone relate, or am I just a nut-job? We think we have it all figured out, and then we discover that we are falling apart at the seams, and there is nothing we can do about it, except to fall on our knees and turn everything over to God! 

 This is why God did not want Adam to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; because once you know there is a difference between what to do and what not to do, your relationship with God is torn to pieces...

"Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil - the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God's anger, just like everyone else. 

 "But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness towards us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

 "God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

 "Don't forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called "uncircumcised heathens" by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:1-13 NLT)