6-22-2019

Good Morning All,

         Psalm 55:18; “He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me.”

     There once was a man who had bought a puppy.  He truly loved the little pup but one day the puppy got outside and ran away.  The man searched and searched for the puppy but couldn’t find it.  He was desperate but had no luck.  Soon he thought he would never see his puppy again.

    A couple of years later, he saw a man with a dog that looked like his would.  He watched as the man kicked and beat the dog.  He went to the man and asked him why he treated the dog so poorly.  The man replied, “It’s my dog and I’ll do what I like with it.”  The first man bent down to look at the dog and saw the dog tag on the collar and immediately saw that it was the puppy that ran away.  He looked up and asked him, “How much do you want?”  “$1000”, was the reply.  So, the first man gave him all his cash, his watch and his computer and took the dog and walked away.

     In many ways, you and I are like that little dog.  We ran away from God.  We ran from the loving relationship that he had with us and we took off and never looked back.  Soon we found out that it is a cruel world out there.  This new master wasn’t kind at all.  He was incredibly cruel.  Often times we were near death but survived only to be abused again.  Our future existence was extremely bleak.

    Then one day a kind man came and bought us for a ridiculous amount of money.  The truly amazing part is that he already owned us but he bought us back anyway.  He did this just so we would know how much he loves us.  He bought us away from that horrible owner, away from the pit that our life was.  He brought us home and cleaned us up and fed us.  He did this all out of love for us.

    So now we have a new life.  A new life that is really our first life; a life living with our loving Father.  We are in his kingdom; protected by his grace and mercy from the old evil owner.  We no longer need to fear the old master for God, our heavenly Father, has defeated him for us.  We can live our life in the newness of light.  We are no longer destroyed but are now living in his presence.  This allows us to live the life that God has designed for us.  This allows us to be free from the clutches and control of the old evil master.  God has bought you back and declared you to be his redeemed child.  Live each day with the certainty of this hope.

Gracious Father, you sent Jesus to be the price to redeem us back from our sin and debt.  You have freed us from despair and the suffering under the weight of that sin.  Give us the power to love and to live the life which you have given to us.  Lead us to be the light in this dark world so that others may see your grace in our lives and in our heart.  Bring the lost into the fold.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret