Redeemed

Then I asked, “Who are you, Lord?”

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” the Lord replied. 

“Now get up and stand on our feet.  I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you.  I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles.  I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

Acts 26:15-18

When someone is an enemy, my natural tendency is to write them off, never imagining that they could be my greatest ally.  Thankfully, Jesus does not think this way!  If He did, none of us would have been redeemed by faith in Him.   My sin makes me an enemy of God, but in His great mercy, He offers reconciliation to me through Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross.  I can now be His friend! 

Get Up!

When Jesus called Paul, He identified the man as His persecutor, but did not waste any time listing his transgressions or condemning his actions.  Instead, Jesus instructed Paul to get up.

It is easy for me to feel weighed down by the guilt of past sins.  When I am faced with my Savior, my own wretchedness is all too evident.  It is natural for me to wallow in the pit of past failings.  But Jesus is calling me to get up out of the mire!  He has a plan for my life that I will miss if I don’t rise to the call.

Stand on Your Feet

Getting up out of the muck of past sins frees me to stand on the solid ground the gospel has placed beneath my feet.   I can now put the past behind me and move toward Jesus as He forms me into a new creation. 

I am no longer the same person who used to dwell down in the pit.  As a redeemed child of God I now stand on solid rock and need not slip back into past behaviors or strongholds of sin.  With the power of God’s Spirit within me, I am now able to stand on my feet!

The Ministry of Reconciliation

God is all about bringing His people back into a right relationship with Him.  He wants me to enjoy an intimate connection with Him and everything that happens in my life is with this ministry in mind.  

When I am going my own way, He will not rest until I have been brought back into the fold, once again following Him as my Shepherd.  The hard things that happen to me are not a punishment for me or meant to hurt me, but to draw me back to Him. 

During the time of the prophet Isaiah, God's people were in exile as a punishment for their unfaithfulness.  But God, in His great love for His own, promised that their place as His nation would be restored.  

As the people of God through faith in Jesus, we too can claim this promise made to the nations of Israel and Judah.  "Remember these things, Jacob, for you, Israel, are my servant.
I have made you, you are my servant; Israel, I will not forget you.  I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,  your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.” (Isaiah 44:21-22)

God does not lift me out of the quagmire of sin, standing me on solid ground in order to give me a comfortable and happy life.  He does this in order to reconcile myself with Him so that I can live for Him.

As I begin this day, it is my prayer that I will live my life as one who belongs to God, seeking to please Him with my words and actions.

Where do I tend to easily slip back into past areas of sin?


Where do I forget the gospel, instead thinking I need to try to be good enough for God?