Thursday, November 29, 2018
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They just don't make garbage like they used to. Do you remember the good old days when you could throw away everything when you were done with it? Actually, those were not the good old days, because we were also trashing our environment. I don't know how it is in your neighborhood, but we lived in a neighborhood for a long time where we had the privilege of sorting and putting out what used to be just garbage; you know now they're called recyclables. It's amazing how they can take that garbage and then recycle it into something useful again.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Pieces and Masterpieces."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Genesis 50:20. Joseph is speaking to his brothers who threw him in a pit, they thought he might die there, and then finally they ended up selling him as slave traders. They thought one way or the other that was the end of him. Now he is the Assistant Pharaoh of Egypt, saving his family's lives with the food program he's developed. And he says, "You intended to harm me. But God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
Joseph had a lot of garbage in his life. There were broken family relationships, he was falsely accused, he spent time in prison for something he did not do, and then he went through the disappointment of false hope. Eventually, the great plan of God did lead him to become Assistant Pharaoh of Egypt, which gave him authority over all of Egypt, even though he was a Jew. Then he was able to save thousands of lives, including the lives of his own family, who were the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel ultimately. Up close, this all looked like tragedy. When you look at the big picture, it was this wonderful tapestry of God.
God is the original and ultimate recycler. He can take the trash of your life and recycle it into treasure. You have to bring Jesus what's broken, and then He makes those pieces into masterpieces. How does He do that? He'll do it with His power, if you will do your part in the recycling process.
First, you have to ask the right question. "Why is this happening" will probably not get an answer. Why don't you work on asking this question, "How could God use this?" Secondly, tell it all to Jesus. Bring Him all the pieces, bring Him all of the darkest feelings you have about what's broken right now. And thirdly, cancel all the pity parties. Yes, self-pity is going to become a prison for you, and the Devil already won one victory. Don't turn it into another one with self-pity. If he traps you in pity, you've just let him win two. Fourthly, look for other people who are hurting. Through the hurts of your life, God gives you a brand new sensitivity to the hurts of others. He uses the broken pieces of our life to show us how to touch the lives of other people who are going through the same thing.
Think about the garbage in your life right now. What's broken? A broken family? A broken budget? A broken marriage? A broken child? Maybe a broken body? Maybe there's a broken dream or even a broken heart. Bring Jesus those broken pieces.
The ultimate breaker of our hearts, the ultimate breaker of lives is an awful force inside us and all those around us. The Bible calls it sin. Jesus said, "The Lord has sent me to bind up the broken hearted." He comes to put what's broken together again. You know what it took? If you've ever had communion, or the Lord's Supper, or the Eucharist, you know these words, "This is my body which is broken for you."
Jesus literally was broken to pay for every sin you and I have ever done so that He could begin to put together what only a Savior who took care of our sin could put together. The Bible actually says, "By His stripes (by His wounds) we are healed."
This could be your day to let the healer in, to let the great lover of your soul in; to let the Savior who died for your sin, the One who conquered death on His resurrection day, to let Him into your life with all that love and all that power and all that healing. Tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours." Go to our website. You'll find the biblical information there that will help you get started - ANewStory.com.
If you've never brought the pieces of a broken life, if you've never brought your sin to Jesus to be forgiven, you've never brought Him your heart to be fixed, today. Give it to Him today and let the healing begin.