Restoring Relationships ~ Reconciliation

Today's thankful:

“No matter how you have been hurt, no matter how lost you may feel, God wants to comfort you and restore you.” ~Jody McFadden

Ezekiel 34:16 - “I will look for those that are lost, I will bring back those that wander off, bandage those that are hurt, and heal those that are sick.” GNB

Psalm 147:3 - "He heals the brokenhearted ands binds up 
their wounds." 
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2 Corinthians 5:19 "In other words, God was using Christ to restore his relationship with humanity. He didn’t hold people’s faults against them, and he has given us this message of restored relationships to tell others." (GW)

I'm not sure what the GW translation is, but this says it plainly, we have this message from God to share the wonderful news with the world! Don't keep this great story to yourself! (Me)

The above was shared this morning on my Facebook page and I wanted to expand briefly here.  For over a year I've been posting a thankful thought on my wall, and today, the first statement above by my brother in Christ struck me as being very much overlooked.  We tend to think that we have 'gone too far,' or are 'beyond God's reach' in our broken lives and relationships.

God says in the passage in Ezekiel that he looks for those who are lost. . . I love the old picture of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, out on the rocky hillside, rescuing the wayward sheep.  That's me.  Carelessly striding along, plunging over the edge and caught in the middle of a situation of my own making.  Then he comes, calling, searching and finds me.  He reaches down and takes me gently in his arms and carries me back to the rest of the flock.

Not only a restored relationship with the Shepherd, but fellowship with the rest of the sheep.

More on this later.