Second Installment – The Transfomation Project “Is Real Change Possible?”
Most people struggle with life. The number of people in this country on anti-depressants alone is staggering. Incidents of divorce and suicide are epidemic and violence is everywhere. Teens are falling away from the church at an alarming rate. The prison recidivism rate is staggering. There had to be something for those that simply need to recover from life in a world that is so very broken and hurting. When sin entered the world in the Garden of Eden, the brokenness began. Yet, even in this world gone mad, God’s Word shows us that He has made a way for us through the wilderness. He has given us a Savior that is in the transformation business. That Savior is Jesus Christ.
I know that some people doubt that real change is possible. In fact, you may be one of those people. They usually land in one of two camps:
- I am too bad to be fixed, or
- That person can’t be redeemed – they are too far gone.
While you are looking at my story, which will begin in the next post, I am going to ask you to look honestly at the reflection you see in the mirror in your own life. What I am asking of you can be a very hard thing to do. Many say that they feel overwhelmed by the gravity of their personal pain and that they would rather just bury it and refuse to deal with it than go through this. But as you bury the past, you are also digging a grave for yourself. You need to know that there is life on the other side of brokenness – a life full of the grace of God Almighty. God made me a “Transformation Project” and He can and will do the same for you! In the Book of Isaiah, the prophet writes about the coming of Christ and His mission of transformation. It’s a systematic plan that can take away the worst and remake them into the man o woman God intended. And just like Job, He can give you double for your trouble. Or like Joseph, He can take you from the pit to the palace. So, if you are in a bad place today, please hear me no matter how bad things may look, no matter what you have done, Jesus Christ has more for you than you could ever imagine. The writing that follows will let you know that whether your problem is alcohol, drugs, greed or abuse or even the worst criminal on death row awaiting his or her execution date, Jesus Christ cares deeply for you and passionately wants to do for you what that passage in Isaiah said He came to do. You can become His next Transformation Project.
“The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound… to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness… And they shall build… For your shame you shall have double [the reward]; everlasting joy shall be unto them.” Isaiah 61:1, 3, 4, 7
You may have big doubts about all of this right now and that is alright. God is bigger than any doubt you may have. God made a way for you and me to be transformed way before we were ever born. I believe that this blog will dispel both myths. As you read my story, there will be times when you will see a very ugly picture. Sometimes, it will get so bad you may find it hard to imagine that this person survived. Yet, by walking through these steps, Jesus Christ turned my life around that people who knew me before, won’t believe it’s really. I have already been told that a few times.
Stay tuned – Monday begins my story, The Transformation Project.
Cliff
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