Yesterday Is Over, Only the Present To Enjoy

I found something in my Devotional Bible, by Max Lucado, that really touched me in places no one knows about but God and me.  Places of regret, shame, and much pain.  Places that only the Love of God can heal, and I want to share this message with you.  If you are in need of healing for thing's that happened to you that you did not ask for, then read this and see if you find relief and healing.  I know I did and I hope you will as well. 

"Canyons of shame run deep.  Gorges of never-ending guilt.  Walls ribboned with the greens and grays of death.  Unending echoes of screams.  Put your hands over your ears.  Splash water on your face.  Stop looking over your shoulder.  Try as you might to outrun yesterday's tragedies - their tentacles are longer than your hope.

Sometimes your shame is private.  Pushed over the edge by an abusive spouse.  Seduced by a compromising superior.  No one else knows.  But you know.  And That's enough.

Sometimes it's public.  Branded by a divorce you didn't want.  Contaminated by a disease you never expected.  Marked by a handicap you didn't create.  And whether it's actually in their eyes or just in your imagination, you have to deal with it - you are marked; a divorcee, an invalid, an orphan, an AIDS patient.

Whether private or public, shame is always painful.  And unless you deal with it, it is permanent.  Unless you get help - the dawn will never come.

Take Him with you to your canyon of shame.  Invite Christ to journey with you.  Let Him stand beside you as you retell the events of the darkest nights of your soul.

And then listen.  Listen carefully.  He's speaking.
"I don't judge you guilty."
And watch.  Watch carefully.  He's writing.  He's leaving a message.  Not in the sand, but on a cross.
Not with his hand, but with his blood.
His message has two words:  Not guilty."

If you have time today, why not free yourself from the past that haunts your every step?  Why not reach out for someone who knows your whole life story and can help you?  Do you doubt He's really there, that He's even concerned?  Believe me, He is there, He is concerned, and He can heal that awful scar on your soul.  You can begin again with Christ!
He is the only one who can heal your wounds.  Open your soul to the Healer and let His tender hands reach into your soul and heal those moments of abandonment and shame and want.  He can be all you ever dreamed of, or ever needed in your life.  If other's have disappointed you, He knows.  If other's have shunned you, He knows.  He has the blueprint for your life.  Let Him reconcile what you are today, with the blueprint only He has for your life, and He can make you over, today. You can begin again.  It's never too late.  I know.  I'm 65 and I'm starting over.  The Past is gone.  I only have today, and my future will be bright, because with Christ, I plan to paint the future as bright as I can.  So can you, for with Christ, "All Things Are Possible!"