For The Sinner
Isaiah 54:4 "Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. 5 For your Maker is your husband— the LORD Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. 6 The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit— a wife who married young, only to be rejected," says your God. 7 "For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. 8 In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you," says the LORD your Redeemer.
For the husband who cheats. For the banker who embezzles. For the couple who are both men. For the …. Well you get the idea. And for the preacher who serves 35 years and the SS teacher of 50 the same offer is made: “I have compassion for you.” Our Father knows we break the rules and our hearts are not, in all moments, for Him, but for ourselves and our desires. The memories of Israel could focus on the punishments of wars, defeats, rulers in disgust and the exile to the foreign land, but the offer is to put away the shame and walk new. For us, there are two options that work the same. We can die in our shame and hold no future with the Lord as we discover the brokenness within ourselves or we can turn to the promise in the crucified when the face of God turned away from Himself and gave us the open door of the tomb to say “you may return to me”! The offer to the sinner is the same to each of us: “ I will have compassion on you," says the LORD your Redeemer.
For your prayers, The nation of China