LWG DEVO: abandoned buildings

Today I have shared the following devo over at LACED WITH GRACE. I join a team of awesome writers sharing from our heart daily devo's. This devo comes straight from my heart as I turmoil over loss and abandonment in my own personal life:

You can drive thru any town, small or large, and find what I call "abandoned buildings." You know what I am talking about ... old, worn out buildings that have been tossed away, badly neglected and long forgotten about. The windows are boarded up, the entrance doors are barely hanging from their hinges and the inside is filled with dust, cobwebs and broken floor boards.

The street is usually deserted leading up to such a forgotten place. The light in the street is blinking on and off, and what was once a busy, active and fun place is no longer even a memory in anybodies mind. forgotten, lost, abandoned, given up on. It is hard to imagine that at one time someone loved this old building and filled it with many great things.

Sometimes, people are much like these abandoned buildings. Instead of being filled with good things such as love and acceptance ... the very ones that should (or could) love you - don't. They walk out. They turn away. They stop caring. They make bad choices. They abandon you.

When this happens it is so easy to pull yourself into that abandoned building, the place where you can board up the windows and seal the door and not let anybody care about you again. You feel tossed away and forgotten. You are left broken.

Some of you reading this today know exactly what I am talking about. You have been abandoned, forgotten and tossed aside. A parent left you, your spouse walked out, a friend forgot all about you, your kids don't call. You feel like you are living inside of a broken down, unusable, no-good-for-nothing abandoned building.

The good news is that just like any kind of real estate property, what one buyer sees as "unsalvageable", another sees as "potential". God has purchased that piece of property that you reside in, that broken down abandoned building, and He has applied a new shade of RED paint to it ... the shade is called "the Blood of the Lamb", He has washed down the inside with a special cleansing powder called the "Blood of the Lamb" and there hangs a new sign outside the door. It reads .... "REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB!"

No matter what choice somebody has made that has left you feeling abandoned, remember that God made a choice long ago, that you are the most beautiful, precious and valuable thing He could purchase! And the price has already been paid...IN FULL!

PERSONAL NOTE: Many times I am reminded of the people who made choices that ultimately have forever altered my life. Many days, because of the emptiness of how their choices have made me feel - I find myself setting housekeeping up in my "abandoned building". But when I find myself dwelling in this broken down place, I remind myself that the choices of those that should love me but don't love me, and the choices of those that should stay by my side but walk right on out ... these choices do not define me! But it is the choice of Jesus Christ that matters. He loves me! He died for me! and He defines me! Isn't it time to do some redecorating in your dwelling place. Throw on a coat of RED paint!!