Category: redemption

Cash for Clunkers!

Posted on by Susan Panzica

I have been hearing a lot about this new government stimulus program. My friend, Donna, was telling me about the new van she got. She drove her old one to the dealership, and it died right there in the lot! She drove out with a beautiful new, totally decked out model – thanks to Cash for Clunkers.

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Every time I hear that phrase, I just can’t help but think about God’s plan that changed clunky old me into something of value.
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To the woman caught in adultery, Jesus said, “Where are your accusers? Neither do I condemn you.” He gave the blind man sight, made the lame to walk, healed the leper and raised men, women & children from the dead. Those He touched would never be the same. I may not have been blind, lame, diseased, or dead physically, but spiritually and emotionally, I was all those things. His touch on my life provided healing, freedom, peace, hope and joy, and I will never be the same.
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Like Donna’s old van, I was dead, had nothing more to give. And like her new van, I am decked out! Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” He has made my life full, not so much with worldly riches, but with the peace that passes understanding, with His love that endures forever, with abundant grace, with truth that set me free. He bound up the brokenhearted, and set the captives free.
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Do I ever have clunky days? Moments when I’m sure I failed? Times when I feel unlovable? Absolutely, I do. But I also have God’s Word that reassures me of the truth. I have His presence near me and in me confirming His truth to me. And what He did for clunky old me, He will surely do for you!
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What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole. 1 Peter 1:3-4 The Message
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Susan

MySpace (part 1) REDEEMED!

Posted on by Susan Panzica

When our family room was being built, my husband prophesied that the living room would be rendered useless. And he was right. For a few years, the living room served as a rather large foyer. We, and our guests, walked right through it to get to the kitchen and family room, the hub of the house. Truthfully, the living room had become a giant dust collector.
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Then, in January, my husband’s aunt moved. In her downsizing, we purchased an old, slightly dilapidated piece of furniture from her that I had long admired. After applying some elbow grease, her tall secretary was placed in our family room, and our smaller desk was moved to a corner in the living room. As I rearranged the furniture in that abandoned room, I started to get excited. I had a space of my own…MySpace!
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My newfound space in the front of the house is somewhat removed from the noise in the back of the house. I assembled my treasures in clear view (more on that tomorrow). The desk stores my “new” (well, new to me) laptop computer. And thanks to the miracle of wireless technology, I can surf the world wide web from my little corner of the world and even print out documents on our printer in the next room!
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I needed a seat for the desk and found a stool the perfect height for $25, reduced from $129.99 due to a minor flaw that I covered with a fashionable throw! Oh, isn’t God good!!

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Sometimes, my husband even joins me, sprawled out on the couch with a magazine or his laptop. The room has been redeemed! So how wonderful it is for me to write in this redeemed space about our Redeemer!
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Redemption involves recovering something by paying the debt against it. A redeemer is one who buys back, or pays ransom, or makes amends. There are many passages of Scripture in the Old Testament (especially in Isaiah) that speak of God being the redeemer of his people, and the New Testament tell us that Jesus, the Son of God, is our redeemer.
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So what can I say about our Redeemer?
– He gives us a new name and purpose
– He redeems us, but we were never forgotten or abandoned
– He makes us useful
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And what does the Word say about our Redeemer?
– He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light. Job 33:28
– My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you— I, whom you have redeemed. Psalm 71:23
– Let the redeemed of the LORD say so— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe. Psalm 107:2
– But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. Isaiah 43:1
– “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. Galatians 3:14
– For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers. 1 Peter 1:18

Susan