Ahhh...Healing Balm

2Cr 5:14-21 NLT - Whatever we do, it is because Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for everyone, we also believe that we have all died to the old life we used to live. He died for everyone so that those who receive His New Life will no longer live to please themselves. Instead, they will live to please Christ, who died and was raised for them. So we have stopped evaluating others by what the world thinks about them. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, as though He were merely a human being. How differently I think about Him now!  What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A New Life has begun!  All this newness of life is from God, who brought us back to himself through what Christ did. And God has given us the task of reconciling people to Him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. This is the wonderful message He has given us to tell others. We are Christ's ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you. We urge you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, "Be reconciled to God!" For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Isn't His Word amazing! The words in the Bible are not just a bunch of words, they are all God's Words - to each one of us who will listen. One of the most amazing things to me as a believer in Christ, is His Word. No, I don't read His Word as  much as I know I need to and I wish I was into memorizing it, like some do - no matter how unfaithful I am, He is always faithful. His Word always comforts my soul. He reveals Himself to us through each word, a treasure trove of wisdom and love, mercy and grace, justice and judgement - Truth! Truth about why we are here on earth and why things are the way they are right now, what to expect and Who to place our hope in. Eternal life begins the minute we place our faith in Him.  Gal 2:20 NLT - I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

And when we place our faith in Christ, we are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. We receive new life, but we still have this fleshly brain until we receive our new bodies. How can we transform that grey matter? By reading His Word of course! It is like replacing old files in a file drawer with brand new ones! We can't do it on our own strength, but we can do it in His Strength.

Rom 12:2 NLT - Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.

And every time I read or hear His Words, my wounded, hurting heart is instantly soothed with His healing balm. Ever have a really bad sunburn? Well, remember that sense of relief when you apply Solarcaine to that red hot skin? Ahhhh....that is how I feel when I read God's Word. Ahhh.....Okay, that may sound lame, but it is the best analogy I can come up with. Considering that Jesus Christ is the Word, it makes sense that His Word soothes my heart. His healing balm is True and Eternal and it won't wash off or wear out!

Jhn 1:1-2  NKJV - IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

Rev 19:13 NIV - He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.