"She is mine and She is valued and protected"

"I will trade your story of failure for my story of righteousness." Coming back from collegiate week camp and God has placed many things, past present and future, into perspective. Many nights of service, and two breakout sessions a day, have all been filled with great teachings and everything said was relatable. I'm sorry, did I say was? I meant IS. The sermon on the last night struck me. In John 21, the disciples wanted to follow God, but where he was going they couldn't follow until later. Now, That's how we are with Christ. We want to follow him, but where he's going, we can't until we release the baggage we have. The guilt, the shame, the embarrassment of your past mistakes. Our sin makes us feel like we don't deserve anything great, we don't even deserve the love God has for us, which in that is true, we don't deserve anything the Lord gives us or feels for us, but as we dig deeper into our sin and continue feeding it, Satan manipulates our mind and MAKES us believe that God is not there and he can't help us. Satan makes us believe we need to get rid of our sin on our own, which is IMPOSSIBLE. Think about it, if dying on the cross to take up everyone's sin was our job, do we really think we could actually do that? Absolutely not. Only God can and WILL rescue you. "I will take you and make you a child of God for my righteousness." "Instead of living out your story of failure, live out your story of faithfulness." You can go through the roughest things and He will still be there. You will be bruised, Batten, spent, and worn from your sin. You will be exhausted with trying to keep it to yourself. You will hurt. Physically, emotionally, spiritually, and literally hurt. Your sin will affect others. Your sin will hurt others. The big word I want to use in place of sin is "Temptation". God gives us temptation, but he never makes us act on it. When we act on it, that's Satans way of getting to you. Acting on your temptation will destroy you internally, your heart will constantly hurt, you will be so bitter towards the other person because you both gave in to temptation, and you will both spiritually hurt. NOW. Don't think for a second that you can't come back from this. Yes, you absolutely CAN. AND YOU WILL. How? GOD. God can and he will save you. You think you're worthless because of your past mistakes? He sees you as completely priceless and full of Gold. You think you're only good for your failures in your past mistakes? He believes and knows that you are good in his righteousness. You think you only amount to the dirt on the ground and you feel as if you'll never come back from your past mistakes? HE MAKES BEAUTY FROM ASHES. When you can't stand anymore, kneel. When you can't kneel anymore, put your face on the ground. Fervently seek him with zeal and come to him. For the past few weeks I have been praying for God to free me of my sin, and temptation. That night, at collegiate camp, after our speaker gave that amazing sermon I talked about earlier, we paused in silence for prayer and an invitation. In that moment, I heard a voice saying "Come on". I looked around and there were only girls around me and surely this voice was a mans. When I heard those words, I immediately knew it was God, calling me from my sin and temptation to join him in purity. "Come on to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give them rest." Come on. Come on. Those words and how they sounded, I will never forget. God has called me to come to him and he has promised to protect me. "She is mine and She is protected." Even God can use failures, he makes beauty from ashes ​psalm 37:23-24 John 13:35-36, John 21, Colossians 3:15 ​Stay blessed, YOU are his beloved ✌🏾️