Renewed

“Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.” Proverbs 4,7 (NKJV)

Renewed, restored, redeemed, refreshed, revived, resurrected.

Such words are plenteous in the Bible. This also reveals the heart of God.

To God, it does not matter how dead, how messed up, how corrupted, how defiled, how dysfunctional, how indifferent, how forgotten, how wasted, how lost, how hopeless things are. God is able and willing to make things new and alive.

This is what salvation means. The salvation that we have obtained through Jesus Christ. He literally ransomed us and saved us from death. Death in all its forms.

Nonetheless, as much as all these things are true, the believer has to be one with them in order to experience them. This is why understanding is SO important. Understanding with the heart!

“Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.” (Proverbs 20,5)

Here, what matters is not how long or for how many years a person has been born again (received salvation), what matters is what they have understood about Jesus and what He has done for them.

Faith in Jesus is not superstition. It is real, it is tangible, it is powerful, it is true.

“It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness.” Lamentations 3,22-23 (AMPC)

After receiving the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the process of renewal varies from individual to individual depending on the nurturing they get from the church, depending on where they are in life, the openness of their heart and the obedience they are willing to walk into. Now, it is fair to say that mistakes are made even after the decision of following Christ. But there is good news: God can renew again.

God is the God of second chance, third chance and a hundred chances.

Self-condemnation, guilt and shame serve no good. God can still redeem.

David knew this so well; he turned to God after taking a man’s wife and murdering him. He wrote: “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart - you, God, will not despise.” (Psalms 51,17 NIV) and he prayed: “Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion: rebuild the walls of Jerusalem” (Verse 18 AMPC)

Like Jesus told the woman caught in adultery: “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” (John 8,11 NKJV), the Father does not want His children to dwell on their mistakes or hurt. These only lead to self-centeredness and more subtly: pride.

Child of God, allow God to rebuild you, to mold you, to remind you of forgotten dreams: His dreams about you. This is what true humility looks like!

God wants to resurrect all the good things hidden you, things that were buried by sin and painful experiences.

Let God love on you, let God heal you, let God make you alive. Alive with His life!

“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40,31 (NKJV)