WHEN SAYING "HELLO" MEANS SAYING "GOODBYE"

We've just finished the Christmas Season - and now we cheer and celebrate and look forward to a NEW YEAR... 

Come on, 2019... we're counting on you to be a good year. A great year. 
Who doesn't like new beginnings? 
BUT.... 

In order for us to say HELLO to 2019 

We have to SAY GOODBYE to 2018. 

Duh.

When it comes to "LIFE" I sometimes forget this. 
I don't want to say "goodbye" to something in order to say "hello" to something else.

I want to have the new without letting go of the old.  It never works.

If I want to say hello to a forgiving heart, I have to say goodbye to unforgiveness.  

If I want to say hello to a fitter body, I have to say goodbye to my sofa.

If I want to say hello to hearing God's voice, I have to say goodbye to all the media and social media "noise" that drowns out the voice of the Holy Spirit.

If I want to surround myself with people who encourage me, I have to say goodbye to people who discourage me.

And so, there is the rub.
The conundrum.
The problem.

I am always saddened by people who SAY they want new life in Christ, but continue to hang on to the old life they used to live. 

People sometimes reach out for help and want to embrace a new life.. but.. they are unwilling to say goodbye to things like adultery, lust, addiction, jealousy, anger, lying, envy and greed. 

They say they want a new life.
BUT
They keep clinging to the old one.

We get used to being broken.  We accept being powerless. We feel secure that our anger is justified. We embrace our lust and addiction.

We think we are powerless to say goodbye to these things. 
And. We. Are.

But Jesus has ALREADY OVERCOME THEM.. FOR US.
He is the ONLY ONE who has the power to help us say goodbye to the old life so that we can say hello to the new one.

Jesus said goodbye to His heavenly Father for a season so that He could say hello to you...Forever.

He will help you say goodbye to every fear, addiction, and power that sin has over your heart and mind. In an instant? Sometimes.  Forever? Always. 

You cannot hold on to the old life if you want to live a new one.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 

1 Corinthians 5:17

SAYING "OUCH" IS NOT A SIN

A friend of mine recently went through a harrowing couple of weeks when her adult son needed emergency heart surgery.  The surgery went well.  Surgeons were pleased.  End of story? Nope. A week or two after the surgery he was rushed back to the hospital. The doctors determined that he had an infection as a result of the surgery.  They gave him medicine.  He was allergic to the medicine.   So many people were praying. God intervened and he is healing and doing well.

Nice story. 
So what does it have to do with you? With me?

The story begins because someone had a "broken heart" and knew he needed help.

How did he know?

He felt the pain.  

What if someone had convinced this young man that nobody cared about his pain? 

What if he felt like he would be bothering the surgeons with his pain? 

What if he was embarrassed that something was wrong with him? 

What if someone had convinced him that saying "ouch" was wrong?

How sad the end of this story would have been.

Saying "ouch" is not a sin.  Even if you love and follow Jesus, things come our way that HURT. That WOUND.  That robs the BREATH from our lungs and depletes every TEAR we have.  

Who told us we had to be robotic spiritual soldiers?   
Not God. Never God. 

I can go to my Father in heaven, with my tears, with my broken heart, with my confusion and simply say, "This hurts. This REALLY, REALLY hurts."  Or... with a covered over wound... and admit to Him, "When that happened, Father, it really really hurt me. It wounded me. They wounded me."

I am not sitting in judgment. 
I am not asking for vengeance.
I. Am. In. Pain.  

I am a child, with a wound, showing it to my Father because I know He cares about it.  He cares when someone hurts me. He cares when someone rejects me. He cares when I am afraid. He cares when my own sinfulness has brought me pain.   He cares. He cares. He cares. He does. 

Are you in pain?  Did you bring it on yourself? Bring the pain to God.
Are you in pain? Did someone else cause it? Bring the pain to God.

I am writing here about saying "Ouch" to a Father who loves you.  At some point in time, He will heal what needs to be healed, He will cleanse whatever infection has gotten in and around our hearts because of the wound, and His love is the only medicine that will heal.  All other medicine will not heal a broken heart.  

Read that again: His love is the only medicine that will truly heal us.  We were never meant to get through life with bandages on a broken heart. He wants to give us NEW and HEALED and WHOLE hearts. 

Only the Great Physician can heal our destroyed hearts.  And only when we humble ourselves enough to admit how broken we really are.  Because we really are very, very broken. Most of us? No. All of us. 
Today... say this and believe this:

"He. Cares. About. My. Pain."

In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry entered His ears.2 Samuel 22:7