The Gift List That Mattersনমুনা

The Gift of a Second Chance

"With deep love I will take you back." Isaiah 54:7 (GNT)

This Christmas season, do you need a little restoration in your life? Are you feeling a little dried up? Do you need some renewal?

Come back to God.

You may say, "But you don't know what I've done." I don't need to know, because it doesn't matter who you are or what you've done. God still wants you to come back to him.

You may say, "Isn't God going to scold me? I've been away from him for months, years, decades." Here's what the Bible says God will do when you come back to him: "With deep love I will take you back" (Isaiah 54:7 GNT).

God isn't mad at you. God is mad about you! No one will ever love you more than the Creator who made you. God the Father created you, Jesus the Son died for you, and God's Holy Spirit wants to live in you. Christmas is proof of God's love for you.

Many people can't feel God's love because they're listening to the wrong voices. If you listen to what other people say about you or even what you tell yourself, it'll get you down. Stop believing everything you tell yourself, because it's not all true. You're not the best judge of you, but do you know who is? The One who created you.

You have to decide who you're going to believe. Are you going to build your life on what everybody else thinks about you? Are you going to listen to what the critics say about you? Are you going to listen to your own feelings?

Or are you going to listen to what God says about you—the actual truth about who you are?

Acts 3:19 says, "Now it's time to change your ways! Turn to face God so he can wipe away your sins [and] pour out showers of blessing to refresh you" (MSG).

You, like everyone else, are deeply flawed, but you are deeply loved, and you are infinitely valuable. You may have come to the end of yourself and feel like you don't have anywhere to turn. But there is always Someone to turn to.

With deep love, God will take you back.

Questions to Consider

·Do you believe God loves you despite the worst things you've ever done? Why or why not?

·Whose voice do you listen to most often? Whose opinion holds the most weight in your life?

·What are some of the things God says about you in his Word? Do you trust that those things are true?