12-03-2023

Good Morning All,

      John 4:18; “for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

     We have a few names to describe what we mean.  We sometimes say, “skeletons in the closet” or sometimes we say, “where the bodies are buried.”  We use it to mean all those things that we really don’t want people to know about us.  It means those hidden or past events that we would like to leave hidden or in the past. It might be what is in your history on your computer browser, or it might be what you did at the party a few years back.  Many of us have something hidden that we do not want the general public to know about.  It might be embarrassing, or it might be scandalous, but we want it hidden and left there.

    Our verse is from the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well.  She was just beginning to engage Jesus in a conversation when he revealed this to her.  This was a set of facts that she wanted to keep buried in the backyard.  Here was Jesus, a Jew of some importance, and he just revealed to her some of her failures in life.  She had already had five husbands and was living with a sixth man who didn’t bother to marry her.  In the Palestine at the time of Jesus, this would have made this woman a complete social outcast.  The people that knew this about her would have looked down upon her.  Her main hope was that no one would know.

    Yet Jesus knew; she was probably embarrassed and devastated.  Yet he didn’t run away; he didn’t scold her or condemn her. He continued to talk to her, to minister to her and to offer her true hope.  Jesus knew her skeletons but stayed with her and gave her hope of salvation.

    Jesus does the same for us.  Our friends and family may not know all of the skeletons in our  closet but God does.  The thing is our family and friends may turn their back to us if they knew all the truth, but God knows all the truth and he will never turn his back to us.  He even gives us the power to throw those skeletons out of the closet and get rid of them.  They only serve to pull us down and leave us loaded with pain and guilt.  Yet Jesus gives us the power to throw them out.  He came to bring us forgiveness; he came to free us from the fear of those skeletons.  Even knowing how many we have; he still loves and forgives us.  God wants us to rid ourselves of those skeletons, those things that make us fear Him and to pull away from Him.  God wants you to live as his dear child.  This is his desire and he sent Jesus to clean out our closets of the skeletons that remain.  Trust God and throw the skeletons away, they only cause you pain.

Father of grace, we can hide nothing from you.  Help us to see that this is a blessing as you know our pain and our fears and are willing and able to destroy them.  Guide us by your Spirit to walk before you in humility and thankfulness.  Be with those who fear the skeletons that they still try to hide.  Show them the way to throw the skeletons, the pain, and the sorrow away.  Help them to come to you for healing.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    closet but God does.  The thing is our family and friends may turn their back to us if they knew all the truth, but God knows all the truth and he will never turn his back to us.  He even gives us the power to throw those skeletons out of the closet and get rid of them.  They only serve to pull us down and leave us loaded with pain and guilt.  Yet Jesus gives us the power to throw them out.  He came to bring us forgiveness; he came to free us from the fear of those skeletons.  Even knowing how many we have; he still loves and forgives us.  God wants us to rid ourselves of those skeletons, those things that make us fear Him and to pull away from Him.  God wants you to live as his dear child.  This is his desire and he sent Jesus to clean out our closets of the skeletons that remain.  Trust God and throw the skeletons away, they only cause you pain.

Father of grace, we can hide nothing from you.  Help us to see that this is a blessing as you know our pain and our fears and are willing and able to destroy them.  Guide us by your Spirit to walk before you in humility and thankfulness.  Be with those who fear the skeletons that they still try to hide.  Show them the way to throw the skeletons, the pain, and the sorrow away.  Help them to come to you for healing.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret