Daily Devotion #3

Mended Hearts

“He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3

We all at some point or another have the painful experience of a broken heart. A break-up, or the even more painful loss of a loved one…the feeling of hopelessness is about the same and it feels as if the world has come to an end. Life is unpredictable; there is no way to know what will happen over the course of a person’s existence. One thing is certain—people will experience ups and downs, with some of the downs being more painful than the rest.

But God does not say we will walk around without pain. In fact, countless times we are told to endure suffering with joy and with expectation of the glory of God at the end of our trials. We are told that God will mend our broken hearts. We are told to give our cares (which would most certainly include our heartaches and pains, right?) to Him. We are told not to worry or fret. So it seems that we can rectify this by simply giving the pains to Him.

Jesus was sent to be the sacrifice of all sacrifices. He was sent to redeem us from eternal damnation and permanent separation from God. (Colossians 2:13) He was sent to heal the sick and to forgive our sins. (Ephesians 2:5) He came to give us life, and how can we truly have the life He intended for us to have if we are walking around broken? Turn to Jesus for your healing!

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,” Luke 4:18

Daily Devotion

The Art of Letting Go

“Throw all your worry on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 ISV

You let go of a balloon string one finger at a time…someone’s hand by unclasping your fingers. You let go of your breath by exhaling. You let go of the past by leaving it where it is…behind you. You let go of the future by taking each day as it comes. You let go of worries, cares, anxieties, frustrations, and issues by leaving them at the throne with God. But how do you do these things if you have never done them before in your life? How do you simply learn to release when you have never released?

Isaiah 61:1 says “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;.” Take note of the last part: to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners. You are holding yourself prisoner to every problem you hold on to. You make yourself captive to whatever it is that you cannot relinquish to God. Letting go is a day to day, moment to moment thing. You cannot let go if you constantly are taking your problems back for yourself. Letting go involves trust—trusting that if you exhale you will automatically inhale again, that if you give your problem to God He will do what He says and take care of it. Maybe you feel you cannot let go because of how things have happened in your past…but you cannot live if you live in the past; you will make the same mistakes and ultimately repeat those same decisions and reap the same results. Letting go is an art because no one comes to it the same way but you can all get the same solution. It is something you must learn to do, but you have to be willing to be taught and trust that God will never do anything to hurt you.