September 25, 2025 • 30 mins
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Each morning brings a fresh start and a fresh measure of God’s mercy. In this episode, Audrey shares how Lamentations 3 reminds us that God’s faithfulness never runs out and how we can rest in our identity as His beloved.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Audrey (00:00):
Hello and welcome back to Grace From my Home.
I'm Audrey McCracken and I'm soglad to be back with you again
this week.
I hope that you're doing well.
We are, we're doing great.
It's a busy season, but I saythat every week.
It's always a busy season.
You know, I read something theother day that said adulthood is
saying for the rest of yourlife, once I get through this
(00:24):
project, things will be easier.
And they're never easier.
There's always another project,there's always something else
to take its place.
And so we're in the throesright now.
We've got sports and school andjust all kinds of things going
on.
But good things.
This week I wanted to share withyou one of my favorite
scriptures and I know I say thata lot, but it truly is one of
(00:45):
my favorite scriptures becauseeven from the beginning of my
walk with the Lord, I rememberthis scripture brought me
comfort.
This scripture was a promisethat brought me peace in times
when I felt anxious or worriedor condemned or guilty.
And this is the scripture.
(01:07):
It's Lamentations starting inchapter 3, verse 22.
It says it is because of theLord's loving kindnesses that we
are not consumed, because histender compassions never fail.
They are new every morning.
Great and beyond measure isyour faithfulness, and that's
(01:28):
verses 22 and 23 of chapter 3 inLamentations.
And I love that because hetalks here in verse 22 about the
Lord's loving kindnesses andhis tender mercies or tender
compassions, and it says theynever fail, they never stop,
they never dry up and they'renew every morning.
(01:48):
And I don't know about you, butreminds me that every day I can
start over, every day is a newchance to get it right, and
(02:12):
there are things in every daythat we get right and things we
get wrong.
But no matter how bad we messup, no matter what we do, if our
heart is to obey God, if ourheart is to love God, then we
can rest assured that the nextday we wake up we're starting on
a fresh sheet of paper, andthat's comforting to me.
(02:34):
You know we are in a covenantrelationship with God and a
covenant is sealed with blood.
You know, in the Old Testamentthere was an old covenant and
that covenant was sealed withthe blood of animals and it had
to be renewed every year becausethe blood of animals cannot
take away sin.
But in the New Testament ittalks about in Hebrews how our
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new covenant is sealed with theprecious blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
And it is an eternal covenantprecious blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
And it is an eternal covenant.
And he is committed to us notjust for a season.
He's not just giving us a tryto see if we can do it.
He is committed to us foreternity.
(03:18):
And he starts off by knowing wecan't do it.
He knows we cannot serve himwithout him.
And that's the whole point ofJesus dying is we could not do
it without him.
And it even talks about in theNew Testament how the Old
Testament was a.
The law is what it calls it.
The law was a schoolmaster.
It was there to show the way tothose who were to be heirs, but
(03:45):
it was to show them that theycould not do it without help.
And that's how we are today.
We can want to serve God withall of our heart.
It doesn't matter how much wewant to serve God, don't get me
wrong.
It does matter that we want toserve God.
It does matter that we have aheart that wants to please him.
But no matter how much we wantto please him, no matter how
(04:06):
hard we try, we can't because weare human and we are not able,
and that's why Jesus came,because we were born in a sinful
state.
We were born under the curse ofthe law, and the Bible tells
the beautiful story of how wehave been redeemed in Christ.
The blood of Jesus has washedus from all of our sins.
(04:28):
You know often we'll talk aboutsalvation and how salvation is
free.
And salvation is free to us.
It is offered to us at no cost.
But salvation was not free.
It was purchased with theprecious blood of Jesus Christ,
which is the highest pricethat's ever been paid for
anything, and so we get to takeadvantage of this wonderful gift
(04:52):
.
But it was definitely not free.
It was the most expensive giftever given, and so we get to be
partakers in that by grace, notby works, not by anything we've
done, but because we believe andI love the way the Lord does
that he makes a way for everyonewho believes.
(05:17):
It's not dependent on youreducation or even your intellect
.
Even a child can understand theplan that God put forth for
salvation.
It's not limited on your income.
It's not limited by yourhistory or your family or the
caste that you were born into oranything like that.
(05:37):
It's all by faith.
You know all who will believethey can be saved.
And you know God is so goodthat he makes it simple.
He makes his plan so simplethat even a child can grasp it,
and at the same time it's sorich and full that we'll never
exhaust it.
We can never study it and getit all.
(05:59):
That's the thing about studyingthe Bible we never get it.
We can get more and we can growand we can be encouraged, but
we never exhaust the scripturebecause it's so rich and it's so
full and there's always more,because he's eternal, he goes on
and on forever and he loves us.
So when I came to the Lord, Iwas a mess I don't know how else
(06:25):
to say it.
I wanted to know God, but therewas a part of me that wasn't
even sure if I could, if Iwasn't even sure, if I was good
enough to walk with Jesus, andit was comforting to me to
realize that I wasn't, that noneof us are, that we are all
starting on ground zero.
None of us come to Him and canbring anything that's of worth
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or value as far as entering intothe kingdom.
And it's all because of thework he did nothing that we can
take credit for, and that putsus all at the same starting
point.
We are saved by grace by faith,are saved by grace by faith and
that's good news.
You know, that's good news,especially for someone like me,
(07:09):
because I really did believegrowing up and this was while in
church that there were somepeople who just got it, they
just were good.
And then there were otherpeople like me who were not and
they just couldn't do it,couldn't try hard enough,
couldn't do the right things.
You know, just wanted the theright things, just wanted the
wrong things.
I just wanted the wrong things.
And when I look back now I seethat the Lord was just showing
(07:33):
me that I needed Him.
And I've been in a seasonlately where he's been showing
me again that I need Him.
And, guys, that often happensthrough failure, that often
happens through hitting the wall, and we find ourselves
frustrated and mad, even angryat God, because the things we
thought we were doing, theplaces we thought we were going,
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the projects we thought we weresupposed to be doing, didn't
end like we thought they should.
And so, you know, we kind offind ourselves.
You know just what am Isupposed to do now?
And those are wonderful places,they don't feel wonderful.
Nobody wants to go there.
(08:15):
Nobody wants to go to a placewhere they feel defeated or they
feel like God's let them downor they wonder about their life
choices.
We don't want to be there.
We want to feel like we're onthe right track and doing all
the right things.
But often God will get us tothose places.
So we can remember that it'snot us.
So we can remember thatanything we do in life worth
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doing is going to have to be byhis grace, is going to have to
be by His grace.
It's going to have to be Himand not us, because we are
fruitful when we abide, when weabide in Him and we stay
connected to Him.
That's when the real fruitcomes, not when we're out doing
our own thing, trying to impressor trying to figure it out on
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our own.
He wants to walk with us.
It's not something where we goout and do it and then we come
back and say look, father, whatI've made you, look what I
brought to you.
It's more like let's do thistogether, let's walk on this
path together, and sometimes weget a little further than we
should and we lose track of Him.
And he's still there.
He's still watching over us.
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But we're too far from him toactually hear what he's saying
and you know we're too far aheadto listen and obey.
And so sometimes he has tobring us back and that
oftentimes feels and looks likefailure and you know I don't
like that.
But I've served him long enoughthat I see his grace in it, I
(09:48):
see his mercy in it that hewould rather us experience those
times of failure than us tosucceed and be far from him.
He would rather us experiencethose times of failure and learn
how to stay close to him,because he loves us so and his
tender mercies are new everymorning.
(10:11):
You know, maya Angelou said,when we know better, we do
better, and that's so true.
You know, when we become aChristian, when we are born
again, we are born of the Spiritand the Holy Spirit comes
inside of us to live with us andlive in us and to guide us.
And he talks to us and he leadsus and you know, he convicts us
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when we go in the wrongdirection and he guides us back.
And if we all have an ear tohear and be sensitive to Him,
then he will keep us on the path.
But I like that thought thatwhen we know better, we do
better, because I think thereare a lot of people who just
don't know better.
Now, granted, there's a lot ofpeople who know better, who
don't care, I admit that.
(10:52):
But I was one of those peoplewho I really didn't know a lot,
and when I came to the Lord Iwas hungry to learn and I
believed him when he said askand you shall receive, seek and
you shall find Knock and thedoor shall be opened.
(11:14):
You know that scripture thatsays if you ask the Lord for a
fish, he's not going to give youa serpent.
If you ask the Lord for truth,if you ask him to show you and
guide you and lead you on theright path, he's not going to
give you something.
That's going to hurt you.
But it's good to have a desireto learn and grow, as long as we
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stay close to him and he canshow us those things that are
error and those things that aretruth.
And so I had such a hunger tolearn and to grow.
I still do.
But the more I learned, the moreI realized that he puts forth a
lot of principles in his word,and if we will learn those
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principles and apply thoseprinciples to our life, our life
will go a lot smoother Now.
It does not mean we won't havetrouble or issues or problems,
doesn't mean that at all.
It just means that we willavoid a lot of negative things
if we learn and use wisdom andhe teaches that wisdom, but it's
like buried treasure in hisword and if we can humble
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ourselves to get into the wordand find the buried treasure and
apply it to our lives, thenthere are a lot of things that
we can avoid.
There's a lot of pain that wecan avoid.
We'll still go through tests.
We'll still go through hardthings, but they won't be as a
result of our foolishness.
And in the process we'll learna lot about God and we'll learn
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about how to be a better person,a better mom, a better husband,
a better wife.
You know God will teach us thosethings because he wants us to
be wise and it brings glory tohim when we, as his children,
act in a way that is honorableand that shows wisdom and shows
maturity.
Now he's not honored when we goout and do foolish things and
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suffer the consequences.
God wants to teach us wisdom,but often it's the sting of
walking outside of hislife-giving principles that
bring us back to his feet tofind out why does this keep
happening to me?
And so he rewards us abundantlywhen we come to his feet and we
(13:26):
say, father, show me the way,help me to stop making the same
mistakes and falling into thesame pits.
You know, if this is the enemy,let's deal with the enemy, but
if these are choices that I'mmaking, help me, father, and he
will.
I truly believe he delights inthat, because I do not think
it's his heart to punish, onlyto correct.
(13:48):
You know, our punishment wastaken out on Jesus Christ and
when he corrects it feels likepunishment, but I believe it's
more corrective than anything,because his heart is to show
compassion and grace.
And, like any good parent, Iwant the best for my children.
I do not for any reason want tohurt them, that there is a
(14:10):
blessing for those who obey andthere is correction for those
who do not.
Not because I'm mad at them,not because I don't like them,
not because I don't want thebest for them, but because I do
want the best for them.
And that's what it feels liketo be a child of God, is
learning that anything thatstings is not necessarily bad.
It might be a lesson no, itmight be the enemy, but it might
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just be life.
You know, things happen.
It rains on the just and theunjust.
Or it might be a result of myfoolishness or where I did not
make a wise decision.
And if it is the latter, I sowant to learn, because I don't
want to go back around thatmountain again.
I want to learn, and I believeyou do too, and one of the
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things that I think goes alongwith this this desire to grow,
this desire to change, thisdesire to do right even when
you've done wrong in the past islearning who you are in Christ.
Our identity, how we seeourselves.
It makes a huge difference inthe things that we do Now.
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I believe our identity is set.
I believe God created us to bewith him forever in glory.
I believe that's why he createdus.
That's our destiny.
But I also believe that we haveto choose, that we have to
choose to be chosen.
I do not believe inpredestination as far as God
makes that choice for us.
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I believe he gives us theopportunity because he gives us
a free will and he will notforce his will on us, but that
he greatly desires us to choosehim.
Even in the Old Testament hesaid today I said before you
life and death.
Choose life.
Here are your choices, and heeven tells us what the right
choice is.
But we are created in ChristJesus.
(16:04):
You know, there's a lot ofpositive psychology out there
today and I believe that thereare principles that we can learn
, even non-Christians, that theycan learn and have a better
life just by knowing how theworld works.
Just by knowing how the mindworks and how our bodies work
and working with those things.
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Then we can have a better life.
Just by doing those naturalthings and making natural
changes we can live a betterlife.
But being a Christian is morethan that.
Being a Christian means we havebeen born again by the Spirit
of God.
It means that we have become anew person in Christ.
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When we believe.
When we believe in Christ, whenwe believe he is who he says he
is, that he was the Son of God,incarnate, wrapped in flesh,
come to earth, lived a sinlesslife, showed us the way, died
for our sins and rose again onthe third day.
(17:06):
When we believe that in ourhearts and we confess it with
our mouth.
Instantly the Spirit of Godcomes into our spirit and our
dead spirit is regenerated bythe power of God, and we are a
new creature in Christ, not justa better person.
We didn't just turn a leaf.
We are literally a new creature, a new species, a new person in
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Christ, and we are just then.
That's not the end, okay, beingborn again is just the
beginning.
It's the end of our old life,but it's the beginning of our
real life, of our new life.
And when we're born again, ournew life is just starting.
And only then are these promisesin the word ours to claim,
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because all the promises in theBible are for believers.
The promises in the Bible arefor those who believe it's by
faith, and so, as a believer, wecan get in this Word and find
out what is the covenant.
The covenant has promises.
The covenant is sealed withblood, but it has eternal
promises.
And so now, as a believer, Ican go in that Word and the Holy
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Spirit will shine His light onit and show me the life that God
intends for me to live.
Every man, every woman bornafter the fall was dead to the
things of God, but in Christ,when we believe.
Now the Holy Spirit comes in,brings life into our spirit and
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we are born again.
We are alive again.
Unto God.
We are new creatures.
We are Christians again untoGod.
We are new creatures, we areChristians, we are children of
the Most High God.
We are a royal priesthood, aholy nation, something that had
never existed before and thathappens instantly in our spirit.
Our spirit is immediately bornagain.
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Spirit is immediately bornagain, but and this is a big but
okay we live in earthly,fleshly bodies.
We've lived in this body.
For me, I was 22 when I becamea Christian, so I had 22 years
of living in this body and Ihave a mind and a will and
emotions that were trained to inthis world.
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And so the Bible talks aboutbeing transformed into the image
of Christ, that as we beholdhim, we become like him.
And that is a process that isnot instant.
Our entire life we will bebecoming like him.
And the Bible says until we seehim, because once we see him we
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will be like him in an instant.
See, our spirit is changedinstantly.
It's sealed with the spirit ofGod and instantly changed.
When we become Christians, oursoul, that's, our mind, our will
, our emotions is being changedgradually.
It's being transformed into theimage of Christ, from glory to
(20:05):
glory.
That's the process.
That's the road we are on asborn again believers.
Our body will be changedeventually.
When we see him, we will belike him.
The Bible speaks that one daywe will have a new body.
Now this body will go into theground and die and decay, and we
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were dust and we will return todust.
But we, as believers, have thepromise of one day having a new
body.
So our spirit is transformedinstantly, our soul is
transformed gradually and ourbody is transformed eventually.
But today, as we're on that road, walking with Christ being
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transformed, we have to renewour minds in the truth of God.
We have to learn the ways ofGod and how to practice our
faith here on this earth, whilewe're being transformed.
And in order to do that, wemust learn who we are in Christ.
We must learn that we have anew identity in Christ.
(21:10):
We are now children of the MostHigh God, and knowing that will
pull you through some horribledays and circumstances and
situations.
Just knowing that my fatherloves me, that I belong to him,
that he wants what's best for me, that he has good plans for me,
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knowing that I belong to him,that he paid the ultimate price
for me, that I'm precious to him, that we are in a covenant
relationship that will pull melight years ahead when my past
tries to come back and pull medown.
When the world tries to remindme of who I was and say that
that's still who I am.
When the enemy tries to comeand say but I know what you did.
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Knowing that my father loves meand that I am born again and I
belong to him, will pull methrough so many, so many bad
situations.
But we have to renew our mind inwho we are today, what our true
identity is, because if not, wewill continue to believe that
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we are that person we werebefore Christ and, guys, we have
to believe not only in Christ,but that he meant what he said
when he said we are newcreatures.
In Christ, we have to walk inour true identity, which is a
child of God.
That's the only way we canexperience the freedom that's in
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Christ.
It's the only way that we canbreak through from the chains of
our past.
It's the only way that we canbreak through from the chains of
our past.
It's the only way we can trulyenjoy this new life that we've
been given is to believe that weare who God says we are, even
on days when we don't feel it.
And that, my friend, is why Ilove Lamentations 3, 22, and 23,
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because it reminds me every dayis a new start.
Maybe yesterday was rough,maybe this morning was rough,
but his tender mercies are newevery morning and I choose to
partake in them.
I choose to believe that he isreal, that he loves me, that
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he's gracious to me, that he isrooting for my well-being and
that he is showing me the way oflife, and that if I walk with
him and believe these thingsabout him and these things about
myself, then I'll see progressand I'll become more and more
like Him, and the things of thepast will have to let go as my
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mind is renewed in Christ and Istart to live the life that he
created me for.
Many years ago, I worked as asecurity salesperson.
I've had a lot of jobs.
You can probably tell if youlisten to the podcast.
For a while, luckily, I had ajob where they called me and I
went to them.
(24:08):
I did not do cold calls, thankgoodness, but I had an
appointment one time with a ladyand she was in her 60s, she had
just moved into a new home andshe wanted me to come and talk
with her about a security system.
And so I did, and as we weretalking she just reminded me of
my grandmother.
She was really sweet, verymatter of fact.
(24:29):
But in the conversation it cameup that she cleaned houses and
I at the time had three smallkids at home and I was looking
for somebody to help me with myhouse.
And I said, really Well, tellme about that.
Well, her demeanor changed.
She seemed kind of awkward,kind of uncomfortable.
She said well, before I do that, I have to tell you something.
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And she said I am a felon.
And that was not what Iexpected to hear.
She said let me tell you mystory.
She said 20 years ago I had afriend who was going through a
nasty divorce.
She asked me to go with her toa bar where she was going to
(25:12):
wait outside and confront herhusband who she knew was having
an affair.
And so she rode with her friendto be supportive to this bar.
And when her husband at the endof the night came out of that
bar, her friend, instead ofgetting out of the car and
confronting him, pulled out agun and shot and killed her
husband.
(25:33):
Well, she went to court and shewas convicted as an accomplice
in murder 20 years in prison.
During those 20 years herfriend, who actually shot her
husband, was released becausethe laws were changed and
because she was a victim ofdomestic violence.
She was released early, but nother friend who rode with her.
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She had to serve out her entire20-year sentence.
She did not get to see herlittle boy grow up.
She, her husband, divorced herand it took her life.
Now, granted, I only got herside of the story.
I'm sure there was probablyanother side, but I believe her.
But she had to make sure,before I hired her for any other
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services, that she knew that Iknew exactly who she was and she
said that's who I am.
I am a felon and I have to letpeople know that.
I don't want you to come intoyour home and you not know this,
because I want to just havefull disclosure and I've thought
about her often and I thoughtyou know her life is labeled
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this is who I am, this is what Iam, and everywhere she goes,
it's like she has the scarletletter.
This is what I am, this is whoI am.
And I think often that's what wedo as Christians, because
perhaps we led a life that wasnot ideal, perhaps we led a life
of sin, and so we spend so manyyears going around and saying,
yes, I'm a Christian now, butI'm not a good person.
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This is the life I lived, andGod says forgiven.
God says that's in the past.
God says you are a new personin Christ.
But as long as we stillidentify as that old person, we
will continue to fight thethings, the same battles,
because in our mind we are stillthat other person and God's
saying, no, you're a new personin me, you are my child.
(27:36):
Are we going to struggle withsin?
Of course we will struggle withsin as long as we are on earth,
in natural bodies.
We will struggle with sin aslong as we are on earth, in
natural bodies.
But sin doesn't have to win andwe can resist and we can fight
and we can have victory aftervictory.
And when we don't have victory,when we feel like we're never
going to have victory, we stillhave a papa that we can run to,
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who loves us, because we'rewalking with him, even in our
weaknesses.
But he wants you to know todaythat you belong to him, that you
are not who you were, that heloves you deeply and he has a
good plan for you.
And I want you today to startseeing yourself as who you are
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redeemed by the blood, as whoyou are redeemed by the blood
washed, cleansed, forgiven, anew creature in Christ.
Isn't that beautiful?
His tender mercies are newevery morning, every morning,
and he has enough.
He's never going to run out andhe loves you so much and I pray
that today, hope would fillyour heart as you read and
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meditate on that scripture.
He loves you dearly.
God bless, bye-bye.
Hello and welcome back to Grace From my Home.
I'm Audrey McCracken and I'm soglad to be back with you again
this week.
I hope that you're doing well.
We are, we're doing great.
It's a busy season, but I saythat every week.
It's always a busy season.
You know, I read something theother day that said adulthood is
saying for the rest of yourlife, once I get through this
(00:24):
project, things will be easier.
And they're never easier.
There's always another project,there's always something else
to take its place.
And so we're in the throesright now.
We've got sports and school andjust all kinds of things going
on.
But good things.
This week I wanted to share withyou one of my favorite
scriptures and I know I say thata lot, but it truly is one of
(00:45):
my favorite scriptures becauseeven from the beginning of my
walk with the Lord, I rememberthis scripture brought me
comfort.
This scripture was a promisethat brought me peace in times
when I felt anxious or worriedor condemned or guilty.
And this is the scripture.
(01:07):
It's Lamentations starting inchapter 3, verse 22.
It says it is because of theLord's loving kindnesses that we
are not consumed, because histender compassions never fail.
They are new every morning.
Great and beyond measure isyour faithfulness, and that's
(01:28):
verses 22 and 23 of chapter 3 inLamentations.
And I love that because hetalks here in verse 22 about the
Lord's loving kindnesses andhis tender mercies or tender
compassions, and it says theynever fail, they never stop,
they never dry up and they'renew every morning.
(01:48):
And I don't know about you, butreminds me that every day I can
start over, every day is a newchance to get it right, and
(02:12):
there are things in every daythat we get right and things we
get wrong.
But no matter how bad we messup, no matter what we do, if our
heart is to obey God, if ourheart is to love God, then we
can rest assured that the nextday we wake up we're starting on
a fresh sheet of paper, andthat's comforting to me.
(02:34):
You know we are in a covenantrelationship with God and a
covenant is sealed with blood.
You know, in the Old Testamentthere was an old covenant and
that covenant was sealed withthe blood of animals and it had
to be renewed every year becausethe blood of animals cannot
take away sin.
But in the New Testament ittalks about in Hebrews how our
(02:58):
new covenant is sealed with theprecious blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
And it is an eternal covenantprecious blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
And it is an eternal covenant.
And he is committed to us notjust for a season.
He's not just giving us a tryto see if we can do it.
He is committed to us foreternity.
(03:18):
And he starts off by knowing wecan't do it.
He knows we cannot serve himwithout him.
And that's the whole point ofJesus dying is we could not do
it without him.
And it even talks about in theNew Testament how the Old
Testament was a.
The law is what it calls it.
The law was a schoolmaster.
It was there to show the way tothose who were to be heirs, but
(03:45):
it was to show them that theycould not do it without help.
And that's how we are today.
We can want to serve God withall of our heart.
It doesn't matter how much wewant to serve God, don't get me
wrong.
It does matter that we want toserve God.
It does matter that we have aheart that wants to please him.
But no matter how much we wantto please him, no matter how
(04:06):
hard we try, we can't because weare human and we are not able,
and that's why Jesus came,because we were born in a sinful
state.
We were born under the curse ofthe law, and the Bible tells
the beautiful story of how wehave been redeemed in Christ.
The blood of Jesus has washedus from all of our sins.
(04:28):
You know often we'll talk aboutsalvation and how salvation is
free.
And salvation is free to us.
It is offered to us at no cost.
But salvation was not free.
It was purchased with theprecious blood of Jesus Christ,
which is the highest pricethat's ever been paid for
anything, and so we get to takeadvantage of this wonderful gift
(04:52):
.
But it was definitely not free.
It was the most expensive giftever given, and so we get to be
partakers in that by grace, notby works, not by anything we've
done, but because we believe andI love the way the Lord does
that he makes a way for everyonewho believes.
(05:17):
It's not dependent on youreducation or even your intellect
.
Even a child can understand theplan that God put forth for
salvation.
It's not limited on your income.
It's not limited by yourhistory or your family or the
caste that you were born into oranything like that.
(05:37):
It's all by faith.
You know all who will believethey can be saved.
And you know God is so goodthat he makes it simple.
He makes his plan so simplethat even a child can grasp it,
and at the same time it's sorich and full that we'll never
exhaust it.
We can never study it and getit all.
(05:59):
That's the thing about studyingthe Bible we never get it.
We can get more and we can growand we can be encouraged, but
we never exhaust the scripturebecause it's so rich and it's so
full and there's always more,because he's eternal, he goes on
and on forever and he loves us.
So when I came to the Lord, Iwas a mess I don't know how else
(06:25):
to say it.
I wanted to know God, but therewas a part of me that wasn't
even sure if I could, if Iwasn't even sure, if I was good
enough to walk with Jesus, andit was comforting to me to
realize that I wasn't, that noneof us are, that we are all
starting on ground zero.
None of us come to Him and canbring anything that's of worth
(06:48):
or value as far as entering intothe kingdom.
And it's all because of thework he did nothing that we can
take credit for, and that putsus all at the same starting
point.
We are saved by grace by faith,are saved by grace by faith and
that's good news.
You know, that's good news,especially for someone like me,
(07:09):
because I really did believegrowing up and this was while in
church that there were somepeople who just got it, they
just were good.
And then there were otherpeople like me who were not and
they just couldn't do it,couldn't try hard enough,
couldn't do the right things.
You know, just wanted the theright things, just wanted the
wrong things.
I just wanted the wrong things.
And when I look back now I seethat the Lord was just showing
(07:33):
me that I needed Him.
And I've been in a seasonlately where he's been showing
me again that I need Him.
And, guys, that often happensthrough failure, that often
happens through hitting the wall, and we find ourselves
frustrated and mad, even angryat God, because the things we
thought we were doing, theplaces we thought we were going,
(07:55):
the projects we thought we weresupposed to be doing, didn't
end like we thought they should.
And so, you know, we kind offind ourselves.
You know just what am Isupposed to do now?
And those are wonderful places,they don't feel wonderful.
Nobody wants to go there.
(08:15):
Nobody wants to go to a placewhere they feel defeated or they
feel like God's let them downor they wonder about their life
choices.
We don't want to be there.
We want to feel like we're onthe right track and doing all
the right things.
But often God will get us tothose places.
So we can remember that it'snot us.
So we can remember thatanything we do in life worth
(08:39):
doing is going to have to be byhis grace, is going to have to
be by His grace.
It's going to have to be Himand not us, because we are
fruitful when we abide, when weabide in Him and we stay
connected to Him.
That's when the real fruitcomes, not when we're out doing
our own thing, trying to impressor trying to figure it out on
(09:02):
our own.
He wants to walk with us.
It's not something where we goout and do it and then we come
back and say look, father, whatI've made you, look what I
brought to you.
It's more like let's do thistogether, let's walk on this
path together, and sometimes weget a little further than we
should and we lose track of Him.
And he's still there.
He's still watching over us.
(09:23):
But we're too far from him toactually hear what he's saying
and you know we're too far aheadto listen and obey.
And so sometimes he has tobring us back and that
oftentimes feels and looks likefailure and you know I don't
like that.
But I've served him long enoughthat I see his grace in it, I
(09:48):
see his mercy in it that hewould rather us experience those
times of failure than us tosucceed and be far from him.
He would rather us experiencethose times of failure and learn
how to stay close to him,because he loves us so and his
tender mercies are new everymorning.
(10:11):
You know, maya Angelou said,when we know better, we do
better, and that's so true.
You know, when we become aChristian, when we are born
again, we are born of the Spiritand the Holy Spirit comes
inside of us to live with us andlive in us and to guide us.
And he talks to us and he leadsus and you know, he convicts us
(10:31):
when we go in the wrongdirection and he guides us back.
And if we all have an ear tohear and be sensitive to Him,
then he will keep us on the path.
But I like that thought thatwhen we know better, we do
better, because I think thereare a lot of people who just
don't know better.
Now, granted, there's a lot ofpeople who know better, who
don't care, I admit that.
(10:52):
But I was one of those peoplewho I really didn't know a lot,
and when I came to the Lord Iwas hungry to learn and I
believed him when he said askand you shall receive, seek and
you shall find Knock and thedoor shall be opened.
(11:14):
You know that scripture thatsays if you ask the Lord for a
fish, he's not going to give youa serpent.
If you ask the Lord for truth,if you ask him to show you and
guide you and lead you on theright path, he's not going to
give you something.
That's going to hurt you.
But it's good to have a desireto learn and grow, as long as we
(11:36):
stay close to him and he canshow us those things that are
error and those things that aretruth.
And so I had such a hunger tolearn and to grow.
I still do.
But the more I learned, the moreI realized that he puts forth a
lot of principles in his word,and if we will learn those
(11:56):
principles and apply thoseprinciples to our life, our life
will go a lot smoother Now.
It does not mean we won't havetrouble or issues or problems,
doesn't mean that at all.
It just means that we willavoid a lot of negative things
if we learn and use wisdom andhe teaches that wisdom, but it's
like buried treasure in hisword and if we can humble
(12:18):
ourselves to get into the wordand find the buried treasure and
apply it to our lives, thenthere are a lot of things that
we can avoid.
There's a lot of pain that wecan avoid.
We'll still go through tests.
We'll still go through hardthings, but they won't be as a
result of our foolishness.
And in the process we'll learna lot about God and we'll learn
(12:42):
about how to be a better person,a better mom, a better husband,
a better wife.
You know God will teach us thosethings because he wants us to
be wise and it brings glory tohim when we, as his children,
act in a way that is honorableand that shows wisdom and shows
maturity.
Now he's not honored when we goout and do foolish things and
(13:03):
suffer the consequences.
God wants to teach us wisdom,but often it's the sting of
walking outside of hislife-giving principles that
bring us back to his feet tofind out why does this keep
happening to me?
And so he rewards us abundantlywhen we come to his feet and we
(13:26):
say, father, show me the way,help me to stop making the same
mistakes and falling into thesame pits.
You know, if this is the enemy,let's deal with the enemy, but
if these are choices that I'mmaking, help me, father, and he
will.
I truly believe he delights inthat, because I do not think
it's his heart to punish, onlyto correct.
(13:48):
You know, our punishment wastaken out on Jesus Christ and
when he corrects it feels likepunishment, but I believe it's
more corrective than anything,because his heart is to show
compassion and grace.
And, like any good parent, Iwant the best for my children.
I do not for any reason want tohurt them, that there is a
(14:10):
blessing for those who obey andthere is correction for those
who do not.
Not because I'm mad at them,not because I don't like them,
not because I don't want thebest for them, but because I do
want the best for them.
And that's what it feels liketo be a child of God, is
learning that anything thatstings is not necessarily bad.
It might be a lesson no, itmight be the enemy, but it might
(14:34):
just be life.
You know, things happen.
It rains on the just and theunjust.
Or it might be a result of myfoolishness or where I did not
make a wise decision.
And if it is the latter, I sowant to learn, because I don't
want to go back around thatmountain again.
I want to learn, and I believeyou do too, and one of the
(14:55):
things that I think goes alongwith this this desire to grow,
this desire to change, thisdesire to do right even when
you've done wrong in the past islearning who you are in Christ.
Our identity, how we seeourselves.
It makes a huge difference inthe things that we do Now.
(15:18):
I believe our identity is set.
I believe God created us to bewith him forever in glory.
I believe that's why he createdus.
That's our destiny.
But I also believe that we haveto choose, that we have to
choose to be chosen.
I do not believe inpredestination as far as God
makes that choice for us.
(15:39):
I believe he gives us theopportunity because he gives us
a free will and he will notforce his will on us, but that
he greatly desires us to choosehim.
Even in the Old Testament hesaid today I said before you
life and death.
Choose life.
Here are your choices, and heeven tells us what the right
choice is.
But we are created in ChristJesus.
(16:04):
You know, there's a lot ofpositive psychology out there
today and I believe that thereare principles that we can learn
, even non-Christians, that theycan learn and have a better
life just by knowing how theworld works.
Just by knowing how the mindworks and how our bodies work
and working with those things.
(16:25):
Then we can have a better life.
Just by doing those naturalthings and making natural
changes we can live a betterlife.
But being a Christian is morethan that.
Being a Christian means we havebeen born again by the Spirit
of God.
It means that we have become anew person in Christ.
(16:46):
When we believe.
When we believe in Christ, whenwe believe he is who he says he
is, that he was the Son of God,incarnate, wrapped in flesh,
come to earth, lived a sinlesslife, showed us the way, died
for our sins and rose again onthe third day.
(17:06):
When we believe that in ourhearts and we confess it with
our mouth.
Instantly the Spirit of Godcomes into our spirit and our
dead spirit is regenerated bythe power of God, and we are a
new creature in Christ, not justa better person.
We didn't just turn a leaf.
We are literally a new creature, a new species, a new person in
(17:30):
Christ, and we are just then.
That's not the end, okay, beingborn again is just the
beginning.
It's the end of our old life,but it's the beginning of our
real life, of our new life.
And when we're born again, ournew life is just starting.
And only then are these promisesin the word ours to claim,
(17:53):
because all the promises in theBible are for believers.
The promises in the Bible arefor those who believe it's by
faith, and so, as a believer, wecan get in this Word and find
out what is the covenant.
The covenant has promises.
The covenant is sealed withblood, but it has eternal
promises.
And so now, as a believer, Ican go in that Word and the Holy
(18:14):
Spirit will shine His light onit and show me the life that God
intends for me to live.
Every man, every woman bornafter the fall was dead to the
things of God, but in Christ,when we believe.
Now the Holy Spirit comes in,brings life into our spirit and
(18:34):
we are born again.
We are alive again.
Unto God.
We are new creatures.
We are Christians again untoGod.
We are new creatures, we areChristians, we are children of
the Most High God.
We are a royal priesthood, aholy nation, something that had
never existed before and thathappens instantly in our spirit.
Our spirit is immediately bornagain.
(18:56):
Spirit is immediately bornagain, but and this is a big but
okay we live in earthly,fleshly bodies.
We've lived in this body.
For me, I was 22 when I becamea Christian, so I had 22 years
of living in this body and Ihave a mind and a will and
emotions that were trained to inthis world.
(19:20):
And so the Bible talks aboutbeing transformed into the image
of Christ, that as we beholdhim, we become like him.
And that is a process that isnot instant.
Our entire life we will bebecoming like him.
And the Bible says until we seehim, because once we see him we
(19:41):
will be like him in an instant.
See, our spirit is changedinstantly.
It's sealed with the spirit ofGod and instantly changed.
When we become Christians, oursoul, that's, our mind, our will
, our emotions is being changedgradually.
It's being transformed into theimage of Christ, from glory to
(20:05):
glory.
That's the process.
That's the road we are on asborn again believers.
Our body will be changedeventually.
When we see him, we will belike him.
The Bible speaks that one daywe will have a new body.
Now this body will go into theground and die and decay, and we
(20:27):
were dust and we will return todust.
But we, as believers, have thepromise of one day having a new
body.
So our spirit is transformedinstantly, our soul is
transformed gradually and ourbody is transformed eventually.
But today, as we're on that road, walking with Christ being
(20:47):
transformed, we have to renewour minds in the truth of God.
We have to learn the ways ofGod and how to practice our
faith here on this earth, whilewe're being transformed.
And in order to do that, wemust learn who we are in Christ.
We must learn that we have anew identity in Christ.
(21:10):
We are now children of the MostHigh God, and knowing that will
pull you through some horribledays and circumstances and
situations.
Just knowing that my fatherloves me, that I belong to him,
that he wants what's best for me, that he has good plans for me,
(21:32):
knowing that I belong to him,that he paid the ultimate price
for me, that I'm precious to him, that we are in a covenant
relationship that will pull melight years ahead when my past
tries to come back and pull medown.
When the world tries to remindme of who I was and say that
that's still who I am.
When the enemy tries to comeand say but I know what you did.
(21:55):
Knowing that my father loves meand that I am born again and I
belong to him, will pull methrough so many, so many bad
situations.
But we have to renew our mind inwho we are today, what our true
identity is, because if not, wewill continue to believe that
(22:16):
we are that person we werebefore Christ and, guys, we have
to believe not only in Christ,but that he meant what he said
when he said we are newcreatures.
In Christ, we have to walk inour true identity, which is a
child of God.
That's the only way we canexperience the freedom that's in
(22:38):
Christ.
It's the only way that we canbreak through from the chains of
our past.
It's the only way that we canbreak through from the chains of
our past.
It's the only way we can trulyenjoy this new life that we've
been given is to believe that weare who God says we are, even
on days when we don't feel it.
And that, my friend, is why Ilove Lamentations 3, 22, and 23,
(23:02):
because it reminds me every dayis a new start.
Maybe yesterday was rough,maybe this morning was rough,
but his tender mercies are newevery morning and I choose to
partake in them.
I choose to believe that he isreal, that he loves me, that
(23:25):
he's gracious to me, that he isrooting for my well-being and
that he is showing me the way oflife, and that if I walk with
him and believe these thingsabout him and these things about
myself, then I'll see progressand I'll become more and more
like Him, and the things of thepast will have to let go as my
(23:48):
mind is renewed in Christ and Istart to live the life that he
created me for.
Many years ago, I worked as asecurity salesperson.
I've had a lot of jobs.
You can probably tell if youlisten to the podcast.
For a while, luckily, I had ajob where they called me and I
went to them.
(24:08):
I did not do cold calls, thankgoodness, but I had an
appointment one time with a ladyand she was in her 60s, she had
just moved into a new home andshe wanted me to come and talk
with her about a security system.
And so I did, and as we weretalking she just reminded me of
my grandmother.
She was really sweet, verymatter of fact.
(24:29):
But in the conversation it cameup that she cleaned houses and
I at the time had three smallkids at home and I was looking
for somebody to help me with myhouse.
And I said, really Well, tellme about that.
Well, her demeanor changed.
She seemed kind of awkward,kind of uncomfortable.
She said well, before I do that, I have to tell you something.
(24:51):
And she said I am a felon.
And that was not what Iexpected to hear.
She said let me tell you mystory.
She said 20 years ago I had afriend who was going through a
nasty divorce.
She asked me to go with her toa bar where she was going to
(25:12):
wait outside and confront herhusband who she knew was having
an affair.
And so she rode with her friendto be supportive to this bar.
And when her husband at the endof the night came out of that
bar, her friend, instead ofgetting out of the car and
confronting him, pulled out agun and shot and killed her
husband.
(25:33):
Well, she went to court and shewas convicted as an accomplice
in murder 20 years in prison.
During those 20 years herfriend, who actually shot her
husband, was released becausethe laws were changed and
because she was a victim ofdomestic violence.
She was released early, but nother friend who rode with her.
(25:58):
She had to serve out her entire20-year sentence.
She did not get to see herlittle boy grow up.
She, her husband, divorced herand it took her life.
Now, granted, I only got herside of the story.
I'm sure there was probablyanother side, but I believe her.
But she had to make sure,before I hired her for any other
(26:22):
services, that she knew that Iknew exactly who she was and she
said that's who I am.
I am a felon and I have to letpeople know that.
I don't want you to come intoyour home and you not know this,
because I want to just havefull disclosure and I've thought
about her often and I thoughtyou know her life is labeled
(26:50):
this is who I am, this is what Iam, and everywhere she goes,
it's like she has the scarletletter.
This is what I am, this is whoI am.
And I think often that's what wedo as Christians, because
perhaps we led a life that wasnot ideal, perhaps we led a life
of sin, and so we spend so manyyears going around and saying,
yes, I'm a Christian now, butI'm not a good person.
(27:11):
This is the life I lived, andGod says forgiven.
God says that's in the past.
God says you are a new personin Christ.
But as long as we stillidentify as that old person, we
will continue to fight thethings, the same battles,
because in our mind we are stillthat other person and God's
saying, no, you're a new personin me, you are my child.
(27:36):
Are we going to struggle withsin?
Of course we will struggle withsin as long as we are on earth,
in natural bodies.
We will struggle with sin aslong as we are on earth, in
natural bodies.
But sin doesn't have to win andwe can resist and we can fight
and we can have victory aftervictory.
And when we don't have victory,when we feel like we're never
going to have victory, we stillhave a papa that we can run to,
(27:59):
who loves us, because we'rewalking with him, even in our
weaknesses.
But he wants you to know todaythat you belong to him, that you
are not who you were, that heloves you deeply and he has a
good plan for you.
And I want you today to startseeing yourself as who you are
(28:20):
redeemed by the blood, as whoyou are redeemed by the blood
washed, cleansed, forgiven, anew creature in Christ.
Isn't that beautiful?
His tender mercies are newevery morning, every morning,
and he has enough.
He's never going to run out andhe loves you so much and I pray
that today, hope would fillyour heart as you read and
(28:41):
meditate on that scripture.
He loves you dearly.
God bless, bye-bye.
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