There is a WIN that waits for you...

Satan dresses in sheepskin to woo you, to put his arm around your neck, to pull you in closely.. a great cloud of deception brings ur guard down in that moment.. but it is that intimacy, that yoked relationship and trust, that allows him the proximity to slide the knife deep and sure thru the center of your heart.. and in the crippling, he devours all that you love with a greedy satisfaction.. such is the reality of betrayal.

tragic.

But the greater tragedy lies in the fact that we are that sheepskin that he clothes himself in, that he reaches thru, that he hides behind as he weaves his web of deception to steal and kill and destroy. In our weaknesses and selfishness and sin, we are that spouse, that trusted friend, that Christian neighbor or coworker that fails to reflect the image of Christ. Instead we ooze that cloud of deception and open the door for the enemy to attack the children of God and his beloved creation. Wow...

And then, after the deed is done, he sheds us and drops us like a bad habit.. leaving us on the ground covered in the blood of those we love, those we have betrayed, those we have used to satisfy our own greed and lust... we lie grieving and ugly and lost, crying for the rocks to fall on us and hide us from our God and ourselves. Guilt.

Satan steals so much in that moment.

He robs the innocent, those who trusted, those who loved blindly and completely. He robs the weak, each of us at some moment in our lives when we failed to choose what is good and right, when we hurt ourselves and those we love and most of all, the heart of God. He robs those watching, those searching, those so close to the door of salvation who take their hand from the handle in confusion over the contradiction between our message and our walk. He robs God. He robs all.

But what he actually WINS and KEEPS depends on us.

As long as there is breath in your body, there is victory within your reach, a victory that turns the tide, that restores all that was stolen or replaces it with a greater wealth and glory... Specific things, specific victories, revealed only by the Spirit of God to you in that moment of need. It is never too late. The damage is never too much. It is never too broken. The glass and rocks and mess along the path may be painful under your bleeding feet, they may open more wounds upon your body and your heart as you crawl along, but there is a WIN that it is leading to that you cannot see or imagine. You just have to trust in the One who has promised that he will fulfill it in the end. The path must be walked, the process must be complete, you gotta fight to keep moving forward as he makes you able. Choose to take back what the enemy has stolen. Choose to keep breathing, to keep fighting, to endure all, to trust and know that God remains on the path with you, that victory is his promise, that the blood and darkness and evil that surrounds you lies... Satan lies.

He wants you to stay down, he wants you to believe that hope is not a reality, that his lies are true. Don't give up. Know that the scars have purpose, that every drop of blood, every tear, every cry... will be rewarded and then some. Your hurt is not in vain... If God keeps every tear in a bottle, and records every deed in his book... trust me... everything you endure in life, big and small, matters...

including your choice to repent... to change... to resist evil... to restore what you can and to trust God to heal those you have hurt.. to help others to forgive you, to forgive yourself, to find your feet again, and to walk faithfully by faith once more. You failed, you fell, you sinned... now get back on your feet and make up your mind to let God bring change in you, in your heart and in your circumstance and in the lives of those you love. He forgives seven times seventy... that simply means that he forgives perfectly and completely every time you need and sincerely desire forgiveness. Ppl struggle to forgive, and that's understandable when the hurt and betrayal are great... but God will walk them thru their own journeys in that. You may never lose your sorrow over what you have done, you may never be completely forgiven by the ppl you have wronged, not in this life anyway... but such is life, such is repentance, such is restoration, and recovery and the process of healing and wholeness...

Just get up and get on the right path no matter how hard it is.
Tell the devil he is a lie!
Recognize his tactics... God says we aren't ignorant of them. Seek out wise counsel that you trust, that measures itself to the Word of God and with prayer. Forgive yourself, demand nothing from those you have wronged, not even forgiveness (it is -- and must be -- a gift afterall)....

God will lead you in the way that you need to go,
It's up to you to follow his lead no matter what it costs you, no matter how much of yourself you are asked to give up. No matter what consequence scars you. Some wounds are self-inflicted... but they can be healed just the same when we call upon Christ to help us.

Rise up and walk, in the name of Jesus, our Savior, Lord, and Friend.
Amen.