Marked

I was able to attend Beth Moore's bible study conference in late March and was so blessed by the timing and message of it.  The night it started was the same night that my step-daughter broke the news to my husband and I that she wanted to move back to Florida to live with her mom full time.  We were both shocked, and still are about this news.  However, God is so merciful in how he lifted me up and encouraged me in His word this same weekend.

The whole theme of the conference was about being "marked" for Christ - here is the acronym we created through six hours of bible study:
M-my life, my very person, bears marks
A-a mark leaves a signature
R-resurrection makes marks out of wounds
K-kindness turns a doubter into the ultimate professor
E-evil takes and makes its own mark
D-discipleship is doing life and ministry as one "marked"

Wounds turn into scars (or marks upon our body) after they are healed.  These wounds are evidence that we survived some type of experience.  This concept as applied to our physical body is true of our spiritual life as well.  Each one of us bears marks or scars that have healed over time; these marks leave a signature upon us.  The question posed by Beth Moore was "whose signature do our marks bear?"  Has Christ healed our wounds and left his signature upon our life in a way that bears testament to those around us of His healing upon our life?  If not, he wants to, and it's something we can always ask him to do. 

The message hit home for me when we discussed the analogy of wounds needing healing before they are able to scar over.  We all have spiritual wounds (sometimes even literal physical wounds) that need healing from the Ultimate Physician.  I can think of unmet expectations, broken relationships, hurtful words and many of my own sinful actions that have marked my life.  While not always pretty, God is faithful to heal if we choose to ask for it.  The example I mentioned at the start of today's post is the perfect example of a figurative wound in my husband and I's life right now that has yet to be healed for over two years now.  Just when we thought the wound had fully healed, it was ripped back open.  We have yet to see what will happen but as I have been reminded by faithful friends, God is the god of miracles and one day we will all be reconciled in heaven. 

In closing, I want to leave Galations 6:17 with you - it is was our theme scripture from our time of bible study with Beth Moore.  "From now on, don't let anyone trouble me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars (marks) that show I belong to Jesus."  What do the scars or marks on your life show?  Bitterness, contempt, anger, and unforgiveness?  Or undeserved grace, patient humility, and hope?  It's never to late to seek healing from Christ and ask Him to leave his signature upon the wounds in your life.  I am asking for this very thing in my own life now.