It’s no secret, that the greatest reality about the Christian life is every day is new beginning.

We long for a new beginning.

We long for forgiveness.

We long for hope.

We long to believe there is purpose in the pain.

We long for a new day, a fresh start, a wonderful new beginning.

We don’t want to be torn down inside by our wrong doings or the wrong doing of others. We want to be able to stand up and walk with confidence and hope.

The cross offers us this.

For every day, even every moment, there is forgiveness available and a turning away from the old and stepping into the new.

Forgiveness isn’t an empty idea. It is a concrete gift from our Heavenly Father.

Forgiveness is offered to everyone through Jesus.

Forgiveness is a beautiful and concrete gift that God offers us. We have a God that not only forgives through the purifying blood of Jesus upon all those who believe, but we also receive the growth that is a part of being forgiven.

And isn’t growth what we all long for. I don’t want to find myself going around the same mountain for the rest of my life. I want to see myself climb higher, my character more genuine and my actions and thoughts more sure.

We are given a gift - the realization that without the wrongs in our life, we wouldn’t experience forgiveness. Therefore we can celebrate the good and the not so good things that have happened in our lives knowing that everything is working out for the good of those who love God (Romans 8:28).

Those who are in Christ, never have to feel like it’s too late. We never miss the train to start again. We are always abiding in the loving care of God our Father and can rest in his forgiveness.

The greatest gift in the Christian life is being able to start again. Yesterday has already happened, tomorrow is a new day to do better and be a better person, friend, son or daughter, and the future is in God’s hands so stop worrying about it!

God is saying, “Rest, my dear one. Take my forgiveness that is there for you to remember that there is nothing you could do, there is nothing that could happen to you that I didn’t already know about. I have a purpose and a plan for what has been. In my love, in this faith, you can also find it’s possible to forgive yourself for what you didn’t know before you fell from yourself. Feel yourself getting stronger, for it is in these trying times that makes the toughest soldiers.”

And it is the toughest soldiers who are given the gift to fully feel life.

Journeying together,

Kari Marie