redemption

Groaning

Valerie Cullers 9 Comments
Have you wondered what is going on with the Earth? Last week alone, there were 1,090 earthquakes 1.5 or greater. There are 40 to 50 active volcanoes, with 20 erupting on any given day. There are hurricanes and typhoons pummeling the Pacific and Atlantic, and if that isn’t enough, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current is slowing down. There’s no doubt about it; our Earth is groaning.
Why in the world would the Earth be groaning? Because long ago, in the mists of time, something terrible happened. The Earth was created perfect, and then sin entered the world, and the creation was changed in an instant. Originally, there was no death. Man and animals coexisted in peace. Man was a vegetarian, and the animals also ate grass and plants.
When sin and death entered the world, it all changed. Think about all the earth has endured. We’ll skip the pollution and ecological disasters we have witnessed, but if nothing else, think about all the wars that have happened on the earth. Think of all the blood that has been spilled on the earth over the millennia, all of the humans buried in the earth, all the animals that have died. Not a pretty picture. The earth has absorbed the results of the follies of man, and it is ready for a change.
I don’t completely understand how the Earth knows, but it knows that a change is coming. It knows it is going to be free from the bondage of sin that it has endured these millennia. It longs for a time when Christ will return and set things right on the Earth. Scripture says, “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” Romans 8: 19-22
There will be a time on the Earth when all will be made well.  Christ will return, and then rule and reign on the Earth, and all will be as He made it to be before man corrupted it. Scripture also gives us a beautiful picture of what it will be like. “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat. The calf and the young lion and the fatling together.; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Isaiah 11: 6-9
Some of you reading this may not believe any of this. But have you ever been to a funeral and watched them lower a casket into a grave? Instinctively, you know something is not right. You know it because we were never created to die. Death is an intruder and a destroyer, and there is no way that we can become comfortable with its effects.
A change is coming, and we must get ready for it. The Earth is groaning. It is letting us know that the time has almost come for it to be set free. Can you hear the groaning? I can. It’s telling us that it is time to get to know The Liberator, Jesus Christ, the one who will make all things new again.  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

The Ultimate Flea Market Flipper

Valerie Cullers 2 Comments

pexels-photo-179959.jpegMost of us like the show, “Flea Market Flip.” We love to see the contestants take old furniture and make the pieces into something beautiful. We are amazed at the creations; and can’t believe that something that looked so broken and distressed could be transformed into something people will pay hundreds of dollars for.

When I look at some of those discarded pieces in the flea market, it reminds me of what my life was like years ago. Early on in life, I had a spirit of adventure. I loved to travel and meet new people. Naively, I trusted people and could not imagine that someone would desire to use me and do me harm.

That’s exactly what happened to me. In my mid-twenties, I found myself in the flea market. I had been cast aside and was on the shelf. Most people who walked by probably thought I didn’t have much worth. After all, I had been through so much, how could I be of any use to anyone? I was one of those broken, distressed pieces that looked like it didn’t have much value.

It was at that time in my life that the Ultimate Flea Market Flipper showed up. His name was Jesus, and instead of walking by, he stopped and took a long, hard look at me. He saw in me promise and potential that no one else did, and he decided to purchase me on the spot.

He took me into his workshop and the first thing he did was clean me up. I needed a good wash and soak in his special cleaning solution in order to get all of the dirt off of me. I had been out in the world for years, believing its lies and trying out what I thought would be fun and exciting things. These things began breaking me and destroying me from the inside out.

He then began the long process of remaking me into something he would eventually be able to use. He began to sand old attitudes off of me, and he replaced them with new attitudes that would give me a more desirable sheen. He saw the mechanical parts inside of me that were broken and didn’t work, and he replaced the “broken heart” of the problem with a new one. The new heart could feel new things and looked for a new way to live and be of use.

After a while, he took me out of the workshop and put me to use. When he finished his original transformation, I was unrecognizable. That broken, discarded piece had been repaired to a point where it could be used in places that previously would have been impossible to imagine.

I then began to meet people who had also been purchased by him at the flea market. They had a new spark and hope and were glad they had been rescued from disuse and abandonment. People like us know what it is like to be broken; and then given new life and usefulness by the Ultimate Flea Market Flipper.