Day 11: Mess to Masterpiece.

Today we are reading Proverbs chapter 11 and Psalm chapters 51-55. As every other day, start today with an openness and willingness to listen and learn. Remove all distractions and ask God to prepare you to receive anything he may have for you today.

-Read Scriptures-

Many of these studies focus on the Proverbs portion of the reading, but today I want to focus on Psalm 51. This is the Psalm that David wrote after his affair with Bathsheba was brought to light by Nathan, the prophet of the time.  Psalm 51 is a psalm of repentance and seeking after God's grace. We have all been here at some point of our lives. We have all done something wrong, something we regretted. We have all committed sins from which we needed cleansing.

The first step in healing is confession, "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge." Psalm 51:4 TNIV 

God alone is our judge and he alone can forgive us. To confess to our God is admitting that we need a savior, that we need saving. Without this admission, this acknowledgement, we can never truly heal.

The second step is repentance. Turning from your sin and asking for forgiveness. "I would surrender my dearest possessions or destroy all that I prize to prove my regret, but you don't take pleasure in sacrifices or burnt offerings. What sacrifice I can offer you is my broken spirit because a broken spirit, O God, a heart that honestly regrets the past, you won't detest." Psalm 51: 16-17 The Voice

I love the way The Voice version words these verses. The unfortunate truth is that the shortest route to God is a broken spirit. But the good news is that in that moment, that moment of honest regret and brokenness, God shows up and does something incredibly beautiful. He creates something new in you...

"God, make a fresh start in me; shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life." Psalm 51:10 The Message

Again, I love the way this version words this. A "Genesis week," the creation story. One of the most beautiful and hopeful stories in the entire bible. God uses the chaos and broken pieces of our lives to make something grand, something big and beautiful. A new life. To me, that is the good news. That through Jesus' sacrifice, God takes our pitiful, broken, sinful lives and turns them into new, beautiful, and worthy piece of art!

The third step is simply to allow God to change you. Because he will! God took the runt of the family, David, and turns him into the one of the greatest Kings in Israel's history. For heaven's sake, Jesus was born from his bloodline. :) God took Solomon, a result of an affair, and made him the wisest man who ever lived. God takes us, broken and unoriginal, and turns us into complete and original children of our King!

Without my God, I am nothing.
With him, I can have everything.

Thank you Abba, for forgiving us when we fail, for forgiving our sins. We are undeserving, but your love is unfailing. Thank you for your judgement, cleansing, and creating us into new beings. We would gladly offer you all we have, but you desire our hearts. So take it, because you can make it into something I could never dream of. All we have and all we are is yours.

Amen.