‘Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.’ (Isa 1:18)
READ: 2 Chronicles 7:11-16
Does your life seem muddled up? Are you in perpetual torment? You can have a fresh start! Many times, God allows unpleasant things to come the way of his children. He uses these to wake up those who are asleep spiritually and keep them on their toes. Once you observe such a trend, it’s high time you returned to God for a fresh start.
No matter how bad things are right now in your life, no matter how hopeless situations may appear, there is light at the end of the tunnel. However, you may need to change certain things in your life to earn the desired change you seek.
Go to God in humility and divorce that attitude of pride. The Bible says: ‘Pride goes before a fall; a haughty spirit before destruction.’
King Ahab was a wicked King in Samaria. He further yielded to his devilish wife and perpetrated idolatry and all kinds of evil in Israel. One day, Elijah, the man of God, met him and delivered God’s judgement on him. 1 Kings 21:27-28 says: ‘And it came to pass, when Ahab heard these words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. And the word of the Lord come to Elijah the Tishbite saying, “Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house”.
Just because this evil king trembled at God’s judgement and swallowed his pride, God deferred the judgement he had passed on him till the era of his son. Humility is very important before God. To make a new start, pray and seek God’s face and make a U-turn from the evil way of life that has landed you in your present mess. When you take these steps, God promises to hear from heaven, forgive and heal you of whatever he had allowed to plague you. That way, you are in for a fresh start.
Make a fresh start in any area of your life that is not right in God’s sight.
Pastor E. A. Adeboye
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1& 2.
God has made grace available for us to access, and by so doing, to be able to do those things that we ordinarily could not have done without Christ. Grace is power. The man that has grace has God in his race towards glory. Oftentimes, when we face situations and circumstances that are troubling, what is needed is to access grace to forbear and even overcome such circumstances.
It means a great deal when the LORD assures you that He will go with you. That is such massive grace to stand upon. Gideon’s conversation with the Angel of the LORD was not that short. The Midianites had so much oppressed the children of Israel and had made them to fall into despair. The mighty works that they read about like the crossing of the Red Sea were acknowledged quite alright, but it was difficult for them to believe that such deliverances could happen afresh. One word from the angel changed that picture. Judges 6:16 says: And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.” The presence of the LORD and the assurance that Gideon received became ‘Gideon’s might’, just as the Angel had earlier pronounced in verse 14 - Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”
Grace is God in your race. Grace is might. The man that has been given grace already has might from God to go and overcome obstacles of different spiritual and natural dimensions.
We ought to look closely at how to access grace. The passage in Romans chapter 5, speaks about peace with God as the platform on which grace runs. When we are at peace with God, we can call for grace to be released from the depository that the LORD God had made available for His chosen. For Gideon, the covenant which the LORD made with Abraham, which extended to his descendants was still there. For the believer, an unlimited account was opened for us, through the blood of Jesus Christ, wherewith we can have peace with God and wherewith we can move from one level of grace to another.
The Word of God speaks about those who harden their hearts and remain impenitent, that in doing these, they treasure up for themselves wrath. Those who with patient continuance do good, on the other hand, seek for glory and honour and immortality. Read Romans 2:5-11. Finding peace with God is not limited to running to the altar to be saved, but also seeking thereafter to do those things that please God. Like the scriptures conclude – We cannot continue in sin and expect grace to remain or increase. Read Romans 6:2. To seek to continue in sin after we have confessed Christ shows contempt for the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, and anyone in this line of thought may not enjoy peace with God.
God has opened an account of grace for believers that we should not use our hands to freeze up! There is a lot of frustration and lack when the account of grace is frozen. May we not suffer such in Jesus’ name. Amen.
The times we live in are quite challenging. They expose us to two kinds of decisions, to look away from the fountain of grace or to fix our eyes on it. May we not be tempted to look away. Indeed, may we find grace to look unto Jesus our Lord, to look upon the promises of the Father, as we by faith obtain grace to overcome in these times in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Doyin Jibodu