• Not Too Late To Turn Back

    By: Kristen L. McNulty

    Reprint rights available on request. Email the author at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.

    No matter how your life looks like right now or how far down the road away from God you might be at the moment, I have a truth to share with you: it's not too late to turn back

    When we fall. When we sin. When we rebel. When we make mistakes. There is a whisper that drifts into our minds, a lie that can get repeated over and over again until we believe it. The lie? It's too late for you to turn back.

    The enemy of our souls wants us to believe that we've really done it now. We've gone too far, we've used up any grace God might have had for us and there's no use to even try and turn back. Please, whatever you do, don't fall for the lie.

    You Haven't Gone Too Far

    The truth is you haven't gone too far and there is a reason why generation after generation have clung to the words amazing grace, because It truly is amazing and it truly covers anything you or I have ever done.

    How can you know it's true? Take a look at God's Word. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, dying for our sins, there was a guy on the cross next to him who wasn't there for a case of mistaken identity. He was a thief, one considered by the laws of the land to not be worthy to even be alive, yet even he had not stepped out of the realm of what God's grace can do.

    "But the other criminal protested, 'Don't you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn't done anything wrong.' Then he said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.' And Jesus replied, 'I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.'" Luke 23:40-43

    The same thief who couldn't step off the cross, clean up his life, then present Himself to Jesus was instead accepted and forgiven just as he was and told he'd be welcomed into God's eternal paradise. The same is true for you and I.

    You Can Be Forgiven

    As the thief on the cross shows us, it's not too late to turn back. You haven't wandered too far to be forgiven. Right here and right now you can turn to Jesus and accept His forgiveness for the things you've done. Because what sets us apart and calls us worthy and forgiven isn't the things we've done, but the grace we've been extended and you can now encounter! Nothing stops the grace of God from covering your sins if you ask Him and nothing, even the lies that you've gone too far or should have known or done better, should stop you from asking.

    So ask Him. Turn to God and acknowledge what you've done and ask Him to forgive you and set your feet on a new path.

    Listen as I close with these words about who God is and remember no matter what, they still apply to you.

    "The LORD is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him." Psalm 103:8-13 NLT

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