Dirty Bible, Clean Heart

"David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife ..." -Matt 1:6 We live in a pessimistic world. Regardless of how many motivational speakers and life coaches we hear, our society bombards us with negative messages. From a young age we are subconsciously led to believe that our past determines our future and habits create our identity. For example, we do not say a person "has a drinking problem" but most times we say "he/she is an alcoholic". The habit becomes the identity. So we walk through life carrying the invisible baggage of our sins and mistakes. But God is bigger than our choices & past failures, regardless of how bad it may seem (i.e. Saul became Paul). Sins & mistakes do not derail God's purpose for us . God's plan is not a rigid line from point A to B. Usually, as a result of our free will, it becomes a curvy road with detours along the way. And though some of these detours were not in the original outline of o...

  "At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship ." -Job 1:20 NIV What is your most painful memory? Think about this. Have you ever found yourself in a desperate place? When you cry out, "W hy, God? Why did you allow this to happen ?" or "Why haven't you changed my circumstances?" Have you been there before? Perhaps for some readers, this is not a distant memory but a present reality! A broken marriage, a financial crisis, or the unexpected death of a loved one are all enough to throw us into our own pit of despair. None of us are exempt from pain. And pain is a topic that the Scriptures do not shy away from discussing. In fact many  (if not all )  of the Biblical "heroes" experienced long dark valleys. Jesus is the foremost example. Of whom the Bible says, " He was despised and rejected by mankind,  a man of suffering, and familiar with pain " (Isaiah 53:3) . Therefore if our Hea...