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Ransomed Girl - Encouragement Café - January 11

Ransomed Girl
By Paris Renae

Those who have been ransomed by the LORD will return. They will enter Jerusalem singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be filled with joy and gladness. Isaiah 35:10 NLT

In the middle of the night, as I round a corner on a long drive, or in lonely moments – sometimes that’s when I hear that voice of condemnation. ‘You weren’t good enough – you let your children down.’ ‘You blew it again.’ ‘It’s all your fault.’

Ever hear those voices? Whether from self or the enemy trying to steal our joy, our hope – they can swallow us.

And yet another voice longs to drown them out. A voice not of condemnation but of confirmation. Calling, ‘you are my daughter, trust Me, I will make all things new – do you believe this?’ Oh, how we want to not only believe but to live in it.

A Prince has come for us – the Prince of Peace.  We are ransomed from all the burdensome worries and regrets – all the mistakes yet to be made. He has put in us the Holy Spirit, sealed with the promise of His return. Promised that forever is not so far away – where only dancing and joy are heard. No more voices that steal and kill – only the voice of love.

Find it hard to believe that this forever can be yours? Don’t let doubt or fear keep you away. Draw close, so close you hear the heartbeat of the One who has made a way. Through every dark night, cloudy next step – He is yours for the asking. A simple grab for His hand and He does the rest.

The road will not cease to be bumpy and we will still find ourselves in dry places at times – longing for cool waters of comfort and rest. But we won’t always – and that’s what the hope is all about. To know that this journey doesn’t have to end in hopelessness – it can continue right into rest, joy, and peace.

You can be a ransomed girl - like me. I was so lost, stuck in the muck of my own doing. Come, dance in your heart knowing the princess He crowns can’t lose her tiara. Her Jesus will return and everlasting joy is hers.

Father, What a miracle. Even us, the ones who think we’re beyond anything You would want – You have called us and ransomed us. You take it all and put it as far as the east is from the west. In Jesus, we are Your girls, loved completely, covered with the finery of Jesus’ perfection. Help us not to doubt – when condemnation threatens to drown us, lift us up and reassure us once more and once more. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

For more encouragement, visit Paris at http://parisrenae.com

© 2021 by Paris Renae. All rights reserved.

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Originally published Monday, 11 January 2021.

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