TODAY’S SIGNATURE VERSE ••• For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 NKJV)
PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• In the aftermath of 9/11, there were pictures of those who fell from the towers… they were victims who chose to risk the fall versus die in the blaze. Almost 20 years after that day, those pictures still haunt me. Every year when September 11th comes around, I wonder about those people. Who were they? What was going on in their head during their final moments?
And this week, similar images in Afghanistan rattled me. Just as the images of falling victims on 9/11 have stayed with me, I’ll never forget the images of those Afghans who fell to their death after risking everything for freedom — even gambling on the absurd logic of holding onto the side of a plane.
And last night, I saw a video of an Afghan baby being passed over barbed wire to soldiers… Parents are handing children to strangers in the hopes of getting them to safety…. I cannot even imagine.
There’s only one word to describe these moments: desperation.
Desperation drives people to do things that may seem incomprehensible. Jumping from a burning building. Clinging to the side of a plane. Pushing children into a foreign country in the hopes they will survive… Extreme acts of desperation. Human history is filled with such examples.
But we all have a desperate need. We are born into it. Our sinful natures have us on the edge of destruction… Yet, many walk around blindly, failing to acknowledge how desperate their situation is. Their hearts convince them that they are “good” people. And they are counting on the notion that because they don’t sin the same way someone else does — they will be okay. But the Bible says that’s not true. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?”
Desperate people with desperately wicked hearts.
That’s a dangerous combo in someone who fails to humble themself.
Unless, in desperation, we reach out to the One who can save us. Jesus gave us the lifeline we all desperately need in John 3:16… “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
We are all desperate for that truth. It’s the only kind of desperation with true, lasting hope tied to it. Our desperately wicked hearts need to be humble enough to accept it. And God can help us humble ourselves if we ask. We have that promise in Ezekiel 36:26. God said, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
Humility comes from a heart of flesh, not a heart of stone.
People all over the world are desperate. They may be desperately trying to flee a Taliban takeover… desperate to fight a disease… desperate for a marriage to survive… desperate for any number of reasons. But our common need for Jesus gives us a shared desperation. It’s up to each of us individually to determine if we’re willing to accept the lifeline Jesus offers to a world of desperate sinners.
Today, as you pray, thank Jesus for the hope we find in Him. Ask the Holy Spirit to help those who are desperate and oppressed. Ask Him to give wisdom to world leaders who need to bring order to the chaos in Afghanistan. And pray for desperate people worldwide who don’t yet know Jesus. Pray for a global revival. Pray that others will know the hope they can have through Jesus who can save them from the ultimate desperation all people to be freed from sin.
SHARING ••• My Grace-Full Life is written by Denise Heidel. You are welcome to share anything I write, but please credit my writing and graphics accordingly. Visit www.MyGraceFullLife.com to read past blogs. Subscribe through my website to have My Grace-Full Life delivered to your email. You can unsubscribe at any time. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the NKJV translation.
