No matter how broken

John 1:12 (ESV)

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

The word for builder in Hebrew is "bo-neh". It is also translated repairer. When our Messiah came 2000 years ago, He came to repair lives -- to do a complete restoration of all that is broken in this world. Interestingly, the Hebrew words for son, "ben" and daughter, "baht" both also come from the word "bo-neh".

Perhaps you are a son or daughter from a "broken" family. Jesus came to give you power to be restored to a family which can never be broken.....His family. Receiving Him and believing on His Name gives you a new identity as a son or daughter. You become a son or daughter of God. The sorrows of your family life here may endure for a season, but....

No matter how broken that family or your life in this world has been, the Lord God has made a way for you to be completely restored and repaired through the resurrection life of His Son. Receiving this resurrection life through faith adopts you immediately into a new family whose destiny is eternally perfect loving relationship. This is a miracle which may seem too good to be true, yet the deep longing in each of us for loving family life was placed there by God, and He did it because He fully intended to fulfill that longing, more than any of us can yet imagine.

Dear Lord, help us be the loving family member to someone today. Show us who we can love today. In the Name of Jesus.

Broken

Mark 14:3 (ESV)

And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.

This is the touching story of how Jesus was anointed before His crucifixion. But there's one thing about this passage that stood out to me as I read it again. Jesus was not anointed with ointment until the box of alabaster was broken! In the same way, we must be broken before the Lord so that His anointing can be poured out upon us to touch others!

We should never be ashamed to be broken. God will not deny a broken heart and a contrite spirit! When we humble ourselves in His sight and place our pride on the altar of sacrifice, it is then that God’s anointing will be greatest upon us. It will pour out of us like the ointment from that box -- and we will be used greatly for His kingdom!

Let's ask the Lord to break us where we need to be broken this week so that we might be anointed completely to do the great things He's called us to do!

Dear Lord, we ask that we would be willing to be broken.   We pray that as we break our self before You so that we may be anointed by You. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

The master artist

Isaiah 61:3 (ESV)

To grant to those who mourn in Zion—

    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

that they may be called oaks of righteousness,

    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

Have you ever looked at a stain glass window? What do you see? Probably a beautiful picture.

As you look at it you see shattered pieces of glass that have been sanded and polished. The pieces put together by an artist  in such a way that you see a beautiful picture. As we look at it we are reminded of our master artist God.

Life is full of brokenness. Hearts, dreams, promises, limbs, and hopes all get broken, often leaving us feeling shattered, diminished and depressed. When such lives however, are placed in the hands of their maker, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were made; for without him nothing was made that has been made, they are refashioned by His love. Shattered lives in Christ become prizes of beauty, gladness and praise; a glorious display of His splendor amidst a shattered and broken world.

Dear Lord, God how we praise You for Your restorative power in our shattered lives. Give us encouragement, hope and strength today. In the name of Jesus,  Amen.