Image from bibleversestogo.com
Hear the devotional read here: https://bit.ly/3dcRM1O
17 Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! 18 All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. 19 God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. (2 Corinthians 5:17-19 The Message)
Happy Thursday! May this be a day lined with silver linings for you, dear Friend! As we gather to study God's word, we devote time to prayer and as we pray this morning I ask prayers for the mother of a dear friend. Her name is Beth Alm and she is Randy Leifeste's mom. She fell yesterday morning and broke her femur up high towards her hip. She might be having surgery sometime this morning. She has been in a lot of pain, so pray for her comfort and for a victory in this surgery. Pray for one another. Pray for yourselves.
As we have spent this week discussing the life of John Wesley, I thought out of fairness, we would look at the life and ministry of a Roman Catholic priest who blessed me with his sermons some years ago as he preached on EWTN, the Catholic channel. His name is John Corapi. He preached on a regular basis and was a powerful preacher with a powerful testimony of how the Lord reached him when he was at his lowest. From that sermon I gathered that while not yet a priest, he was a very successful businessman and made and lost several fortunes. Sadly, he developed an addiction for drugs and that helped him lose the money he had made and soon he found himself living on the streets of Los Angeles. It was during this time that his mother sent him a Hail Mary card and asked him to pray that prayer daily. He eventually did, and soon found the courage to make his way home. "If your mother won't take you back, no one will," he said in his televised testimony. While there he stayed in his room until the day he told his mother he felt the need to confess his sins. "Now, I don't want to go to any old church, I want to go to a significant cathedral," and she took him to the national cathedral in Washington, DC. He arrived just as a retired priest was sitting in a rocking chair outside the rectory. He told the priest he needed to make his confession and the priest said he could hear it. He was led inside the church and Corapi joked that he felt surely the old man would die from what he would hear in his confession. He had not confessed for many years, and had led such a wicked life during those years, that he knew anyone who heard the confession would surely suffer a heart attack. Corapi, and he has since left the church, so I cannot address him as Father or Reverend; said that as he heard the words of forgiveness he heard on the marble floors of that basilica the sound of metal chains fall on it making a loud racket. When he finished his prayer, he told the old priest that he thought now he was being called into the priesthood. "That almost killed that sweet man!" Corapi shared. He went and received his education and ended up in Rome where he was ordained by Pope John Paul II in 1991. He said Mother Teresa was there and stood behind him while he was ordained. As he prayed and recalled his conversion, he said he came to know that God's name is Mercy and added, "It boggles the mind how far God can bring the soul, but that's the great goodness of God."
I love the Message version and the way it shares what we've read before as "17 Therefore if anyone be in Christ, they are a new creature; old things are passed away;" This version says, "Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from God who settled the relationship between us and Him, and then called us to settle our relationships with others." Mr. Corapi came to know the new life in Christ, and he served the Lord faithfully for many years. Sadly, I have to add that several things happened in his life and he now finds himself inactive from ministry, but still speaks and writes for the Lord. As I re-heard his testimony I found a detailed account of defense from some of those who believe that Corapi was falsely accused and booted from the church. Many were the people whose lives he saved and helped transform through the Lord. I still believe that he is faithful to God. As we all know, there is no one perfect in this life except Jesus.
What we should learn is this; Jesus offers us second, third and millions of chances if we want. The story of the Prodigal Son was a story of new beginnings and new life. The loving father in that story is God, and you and I are at one time, or another, the prodigal son/daughter. If we want to get back into the family we just have to ask. And, just like the story, God lovingly welcomes us back into the fold.
Dear one, no need to stay living in a place where you know you don't belong. Step out of that dead-end place and step into life! Read the graphic again: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ; He or She is a new creation." Hear that? Brand spanking new creation! "The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new." I don't know about you, but I tire of smelling stale, and desire the fresh smell of the new in Christ Jesus that He has offered to me. And it comes just by asking and believing.
PRAYER: Loving God, in Christ Jesus we believe we are made new. We pray for those who have not yet decided to ask for themselves that which they need. Please bless them and allow us to be a blessing to them as well. Make new in us that which has grown old and stale, and restore the newness of faith and hope. This we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Be a blessing of newness with your witness to someone today.
Receive my blessings of love and compassion,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
PS. Hear my new podcast here on Living in Love! https://soundcloud.com/evalverde/live-in-love
