Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree”. (Galatians 3:13)
We all have a past to be redeemed from. Shame. Feelings of failure. Fear. Rejection. Pride. Damage. Scars. Memories. Some things we don’t even remember except for the feelings that have remained. But God knows. And He wants to set us free!
We are saved… that’s His gift to us, but our surrender—that’s our gift to Him. He gives us life. We give Him brokenness. Mess. I realize that I keep falling back into my humanness. I was born into this sin thing. It’s a part of me. My default action is to succumb to feelings of brokenness. My actions constantly testify to my belief in the lies that I will never do any better. I will always fall back. I can’t make it…by myself, that is. It takes Him redeeming me.
He can’t become more and me consistently less unless I keep giving Him the stuff. After all, I don’t want it anymore. Maybe that’s the problem. I don’t want my junk, why would I dig it out and give it to a King of all people? That is embarrassing. But redemption is different. It takes the embarrassing and makes it into something glorious. I can’t wrap my mind around it but I keep trying. Once we give it (our action part), He can take it (His action part) and redeem it (the miracle part).
We’ve all heard the analogy of the silver as it’s refined. The trash keeps coming to the surface when the heat is up. Although I try to get out of the fire when the heat gets turned up! Time and time again, I beg for the heat to be turned off, especially when my trash starts surfacing. I think possibly if it happens enough times, eventually the trash will be cleared in spite of my pleas for the heat to stop? I’m good with being a little glimmer…I don’t really have to be the top of the line, that refined silver, do I? I can’t see the value in me at all! Sometimes I long for it, but the process is so difficult, I wail because I can’t detect my own worth.
But that’s just it! There’s no real worth until it’s redeemed. He accepts us right now, right where we are in the middle of the mess. There’s no redemption until there is surrender. …annnnnddddd…. We’re back to the junk! But where there is surrender, there is mercy. Where there is mercy, there is grace, and grace came in the form of a man to set us free by taking our junk and making it into a crown. That’s why we can take our crown and throw it at His feet. We can’t wear it, we don’t deserve it—but He does! He who knew no sin, became sin, to take our sin, so that we can become one of His. If He can take this (pointing finger to self, indicating junk) and make something from it, then He alone deserves the glory for it AND the object He made from it.
Recently, I have reviewed the book, “Redeemed” by Mike Weaver, of Big Daddy Weave which is a devotional book that focuses on redemption, grace and the amazing healing power of Christ. It is based on the song (by Mike Weaver and Benji Cowart) “Redeemed”, that made the K-Love Fan Awards Song of the Year. The first time I heard this song was actually in my church and it just made me want to start sobbing right then and there! It depicts my personal struggle of remembering my past and inspires me to lay it down, raise my head and understand that I’m not who I used to be, because:
“I am redeemed, You set me free
So I’ll shake off these heavy chains
Wipe away every stain now I’m not who I used to be
I am redeemed.”
The thing is, we all need reminders that though we remember our past failures, He doesn’t! Christ paid for our redemption and set us free from our past and wiped away every stain!
Although the book is a 30 day devotional, to be read a chapter per day, I had to read several days at a time because I just couldn’t stop at the end of the day’s portion! (I do plan to go back and soak it all in though.) Mike Weaver includes a couple of paragraphs where he reminds us about redemption, scriptural references to further reiterate it to our hearts, quotes from well-known authors, speakers and pastors, a daily tip and a prayer for each day. There is also an area for you to write in your thoughts for that day.
Some of the chapter titles are: Redeemed from the Ghosts of the Past, Redeemed from Regret, Redeemed from the Shame, Redeemed from Failure, and on and on…30 days of them, to contemplate, study and absorb. At the end of the devotional, there are several pages of scriptures that are categorized for further study and reflection.
Check it out!
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