Who Doesn't Want A Brand New Beginning?

Each and every one of us has experienced a time, or times in our life when something happened that just threw us for a loop.I mean it totally knocked us down emotionally! 
Maybe it was a series of things. 
Life seems to work like that.
Whatever it was, you had no idea how it got started, but it snowballed and made no sense at all to you...

No matter how much effort you put into trying to fix things, nothing seemed to work. In fact, the situation seemed to get worse and worse each and every day!  
You searched in vain for that one person who would understand your situation, but there was no one. When you tried to explain yourself to people they looked at you like you’d lost your ever loving mind. You knew there had to be a missing piece, you just didn’t know what it was. 

Well-meaning friends suggested that you ”talk to someone” like a "really good life coach" or " a Christian Counselor." As if adding the word Christian before the word counselor would make you feel like anything less than a basket case. 
Yet beaten and bedraggled, you take their suggestion and pour your heart out to a total stranger in exchange for advice that made no sense at all. 

What is that missing piece? We search everywhere but where we should.Why does it take so long to realize that Jesus is that missing piece?" 

Matthew 6:33 tells us that we must “Seek First” the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all things will be added to you. 

He’s in the waiting, right there with you, tugging on our heart and soul, beckoning us to give it up to Him. 
Do we truly believe that the creator of the universe, yup...the same guy who holds up the moon and stars would want us to suffer through any of this tough life stuff without Him? 

Here’s the thing, I knew I was a mess and I was clueless what to do about it. What I didn’t know was how very willing Jesus was to respond to my cry and help me, I didn’t realize that he had big plans for my life and they were just getting started. 

So, when I didn’t get an immediate response, I wondered if he had even heard me. What I didn’t realize at the time was that he is always listening and always had been. He knows every thought we think and hears every word we will speak before it even comes out of our mouth. He knows where we are every minute in all respects, physically, mentally and spiritually! He knows our prayers even when they are unspoken.
That’s just wild! 

Why don’t we realize is that since he has the power over life and death, he can certainly take advantage of any situation to get our eyes focused on him.

The answer should be so easy, after all, it was Jesus who invented the game of hide and seek. He wants us to seek him first all the time. He wants our attention focused on him, and he has the ability to get our attention when he wants it. He does it all the time. He’s sneaky like that, he even admits to causing calamity! 

Isaiah 45:5-7(ESV) I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make well- being and I create calamity. I am the Lord, who does all these things. 

People go through so much pain and agony before they realize just what that day in Calvary was all about. It was about Him... Giving His Life For Us. 

He wants to deliver us...

and all we have to do is ask...

Matthew 7:7 Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks, finds and to the one that knocks, it shall be opened.

HE is the ultimate problem solver. For Jesus, the bigger the problem, the better. HE is the forgiver, the one with the empathy others won't give you. HE is the one with the time for you that no one else seems to have, & HE is the one who doesn't judge you or expect you to explain yourself when you don't even understand what's going on yourself.  HE is the one who listens to you rant and rave & HE is the one patiently waiting for you to cry out to him.

So, you finally figure it out, you NEED HIM.

But you can't just politely knock on His door and ask for help.                                                                                                                     Nope, not if your anything like me...
I cried out in anguish; sobbing deep, pain filled sobs; desperate to be heard & HE heard!  

But crying out is just the beginning, the beginning of the most amazing relationship I will ever have in my life! Crying out to Him is also the ultimate invitation for Jesus to step into our lives, an invitation to a sacred friendship.

 Psalm 34:1 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their trouble

Praise you Father for loving us so much that you not only died for us, but you now live for us, and you’re eager to help us overcome anything that is preventing us from being who we were designed to be. Praise Him and ask him in prayer to change you. Ask him to make you into all he wants you to be.
Praising Him delights Him and His presence becomes real. Ask him in prayer for all that is promised in your portion of the Book of Life. He promises us each a life rich with spiritual giftings and joy.                                                                                           He has written a wonderful story about each of us, A story full of joy and promises that no one on this earth can deprive us of.
All we have to do is ask. He's waiting; and He will reach right down with His great big love and whisper, “Thank you for asking me. What took you so long?"

*He Hit Me Like a Bomb...        
                                        
And then His work officially begins...
His repairs are seldom a quick fix, He takes his time because we matter to Him. We were his in the first place, so he knows just what to do to transform our lives and about how long it will take. He has the ability to meet us right where we are. He knows what people to bring into your life to change you and He knows exactly who to take out. He knows just what kind of difficulties you need to experience to shape you into the person He intended you to be all along. He knows what you're doing every minute, day and night, light and dark.

Although money really doesn’t matter to Him, He knows how much you have and how much you will need. He knows what your good at because it was He who gave you those skills, He knows what annoys you and what areas He needs to chisel away at, and which to polish to a radiant shine. He works and works and then He tests you to see how far you've come. If you're not ready, He doesn't look at you like your a failure, He simply chisels and shines some more.

Isaiah 64:8 But now oh Lord, you are our Father, we are the clay, and you are the potter, we are all the work of your hand.

He talks to us, encourages us and tells of things to come. He asks us to be patient; unbearably so, (much of the time) and He asks that we trust him. As we get to know Him, we discover that He not only comforts us, He changes us. His work is slow and not painless by any means, but very satisfying.
He makes promises to us which are never in vain because Our God is NEVER a liar, He is always a gentleman, and He always keeps his word, although, He exercises the right to do everything on His own time, deviating from time to time as needed.

Numbers 23:19 says that God is not a man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? or has he spoken and will not fulfill it? 

He has known us all of our lives so He knows who we are, what we have done. Why we are the way we are and exactly what to do to wash us clean, make our pain and sorrow vanish and give us hope for a future filled with joy. He knows what characteristics He doesn't like and He is more than willing to rid us of them.
The thing that is truly amazing is the way you start to feel! You know your different and what's more, you like it. It gives you confidence and joy! You start thinking differently about all kinds of things. Things you used to do no longer interest you. Your style changes,you have more patience and fewer words. You no longer worry about what anyone thinks about you, but Him. You're filled with joy and you don't even know what happened.

I'll tell you exactly what happened, God happened.



He saw your mess,  and He heard you’re cry. He saw you racing around trying to fix the damage you were inflicting on your very own life without any success and HE: Jesus Christ, THE GOD  OF PERFECT TIMING seized the opportunity to jump right smack dab into the middle of your life and change everything

 *That's how He works.    
                                                                             

He makes everything beautiful in its time....                                                                                                                                             Because you see, Jesus specializes in making the impossible, possible and the hopeless, hopeful, and He’s personally in the waiting with us, because He is the author and the finisher of our story.
 So, “if it’s not good, it’s not the end of your story.” You can count on that.
I believe it with all of my heart.

On a personal note; If I told you of all the miraculous and wonderful things He has done for me, you wouldn't even believe me.
*The tracks, Born Again and Hit Me Like A Bomb are from the Third Day,  Lead Us back CD