march 6

it's worth repeating that "Jesus doesn't measure you by your past, He measures you by your potential."

I love the glimpse of Jesus's life when He meets the woman at the well. We see His compassion on imperfect, unrighteous, lost, confused people. He doesn't tell the woman she isn't good enough to be in His presence. He doesn't say she is a lost cause. He simply gets her to a place where she is so thirsty for change in her life that she receives Jesus for who He is, and she leaves that well a different woman than when she came.

The story doesn't end there, though. Thanks be to God!! When she left, she didn't go back to her past. She didn't allow her past to keep her from the potential she now had to reach others for Jesus Christ. Do you think she thought that maybe she wasn't qualified or righteous enough to be a witness for Jesus? Probably. Do you think that there were some who talked about her behind her back and it caused her hurt and pain? Maybe. But we see later in the passage that many Samaritans came to know Jesus because of THIS woman, with an imperfect past, with 5 failed marriages, with a past that we wouldn't let our kids see on television.

If the enemy can still keep you trapped in the prison of your past, then you WILL not, CAN not be effective to reach others for Christ. Thanks be to Jesus Christ..your past is redeemed!! Now all that is left is this great potential you have to reach others who feel unqualified, unrighteous, imperfect, and not worthy to approach Jesus. Your sinful past connects you to a sinful world that also needs Jesus!

Don't let your past cripple your potential!!

Blessings!