January 31st

January 31st

Read: 2 Cor. 5:17-19; Colossians 3:5-10; 1 John 1:9; John 15:1-3

Every one of us has had a dream broken or has lost the joy of the Lord’s salvation, or known the pain of a broken life. Most of us have allowed our flesh to rule over us at some point and have known the pangs of guilt. Isn’t it gracious of our Lord to give us His forgiveness and cleansing when we come to Him with repentance and confession? He could have given us just what we deserve instead of sending Jesus to pay our penalty for us.

PATCHING WON’T DO

We may pick up the pieces of life’s shattered dream
And glue them together again;
We may sew with fine stitches the rent in joy’s seam
So we can’t see where that gap has been;
We may gloss o’er the cracks on the surface of life
That others might not see our pain,
But all of the mending of our deepest strife
Is done in our own strength in vain.
‘Tis only when God has first cleansed every wound
With forgiveness through His wounded Son,
‘Tis only when He all the proud flesh has pruned
That a perfect renewal is done.
We’ll know a clean grief when our guilt’s washed away..
And Jesus bore this burden too!
He battles our darkness for us every day
And brings morning fresh as the dew!
Each poison, each guilt gushes forth from the soul;
The cracks and deep scars heal and flee.
When He recreates us, our lives are made whole,
And from our dread guilt we are free.

Prayer: Dear God, help me to turn to You for Your cleansing and healing instead of carrying my burdens, hurts, and guilt alone. I thank You for Your love that sent Jesus to die for me.