Healing Rain

Healing rain is coming down
It's coming nearer to this old town
Rich and poor, weak and strong
It's bringing mercy, it won't be long

Healing rain is coming down
It's coming closer to the lost and found
Tears of joy, and tears of shame
Are washed forever in Jesus' name

Lift your heads, let us return
To the Mercy Seat where time began
And in your eyes, I see the pain
Come soak this dry heart with healing rain

And only You, the Son of man
Can take a leper and let him stand
So lift your hands, they can be held
By someone greater, the great I AM

Healing rain, it comes with fire
So let it fall and take us higher
Healing rain, I'm not afraid
To be washed in Heaven's rain

-Healing Rain (Michael W. Smith)

This is a song I heard about a month or two ago and it has been going through my mind alot. I really like this song and what it has to say. I don't know about you, but I need God's healing in my life. There are things that hurt. There is pain. There are things that need change. There is healing that needs to be done in my heart. There are pieces that only Jesus can take in His hands and put back together.

I just want everyone who reads this to understand that God loves you. We hear that said so much that it can lose it's meaning. But I'll say it again; God loves you.

No matter what has happened in your life, His love for you will never go away. If you think God is far away from you or doesn't care about you or your life, I can tell you that nothing could be further from the truth. There is nothing that will ever happen that means He doesn't love you anymore.

Everytime I write something about God's love, I get frusterated because His love is so great that I don't really know quite how to express it. It's beyond words. It's beyond anything in any human language or experience. I pray that everyone who reads this will come to experience this love. It's what you need. You can try to ignore it or deny it, but you know it. If only we really knew how much He loved us!

If you're anything like me, you have things in your life that are causing you a lot of hurt. Maybe your life is broken, or your heart is hurting, or you feel unloved, or you think you're worthless and your life doesn't matter. Maybe your family is messed up, maybe you have no family, maybe you have no friends or anyone who cares, maybe you somehow got all messed up and you don't even really remember how you got that way. Whatever the case in your life...give the broken pieces of your heart to Jesus and let Him put them back together. He is more than willing to fix them. He wants to. He's not some distant God who doesn't notice you. You would be surprised at how much you are on His mind.

Think God wants your life to be a mess? That He wants you punished and miserable? Do you really think that He takes delight in your sadness and hurt? I can tell you - that is not the heart of God! God loves you. God wants to heal you. God wants to restore your life. God wants to make it all new. And there is no heart that is too broken. There is no life that is too messed up. There is no one that is beyond His reach.

Won't you let Him take your life and restore it? Won't you let Him take your heart and make it new? He can, and He is more than willing if you'll just let Him...

I am His masterpiece...

"For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."
- Ephesians 2:10 NLT

I am a person who is pretty hard on himself. I like things to be at their best and can sometimes be a perfectionist. This carries over into my relationship with God too. I can really beat myself up when things aren't going as they should be. Not too long ago was one of those times where I was doing that. I woke up one morning and one of the first things that came to mind was:

"And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again."
- Philippians 1:6 NLT

No matter what, God is going to work in my life. He'll never give up. He saved me and made me a new creation:

"What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!"
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

Nothing is going to be able to stop His work in me.

Living the Christian life is not easy. I already have my own shortcomings and sins. Then, add the world (which is always trying to pull me off course) and the devil to that, and I've got myself a pretty big struggle right there. But even that is not as powerful as God:

"...because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world."
- 1 John 4:4 KLV

And,

"...though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand."
- Psalms 37:24 NIV

I have a long way to go. I have alot of work that needs to be done in my life. I need to be more like Jesus. I sometimes fail and sometimes fall. I sometimes, even though I am a new creation, slip right back into the old life. I am not yet all that I should be.

But, I have a Savior who died for my sins and paid the price that I should pay. He loves me and I am His. Nothing can take that away. I am His materpiece. He never gives up on me. He is always faithful. He will make me more like Himself and use me for His glory. One day, I will see Him face to face and at that moment, everything will have been worth it, and I will be everything that I need to be.