Revelation 5: 7-10 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.”
I for so long didn’t feel worthy of God’s help, because of one night when I was age 15 and in a place that I had no business being. A boy had suggested meeting at a church being built, and I was so desperate for “love,” that I agreed, even though I had a bad feeling about it.
We walked into the building, and as we moved to the front of the space to sit on a pew, I thought I saw movement behind the pulpit. In fact, there were at least five boys. I was running for the exit when they grabbed me, and I cried out to Jesus for help.
I had been saved and baptized at age nine, the only year I had attended church as a child. So, when I found myself in a harrowing situation, I didn’t know what to do, but, instinctively, I screamed Jesus’s name.
God came to my rescue, and I was not sexually assaulted for various reasons. They debated beating me up, as they figured that I would tell the police and they didn’t want to go to jail for nothing. But, I promised not to tell, and they let me go. As we left the church, lightning flashed, thunder boomed, and rain poured in torrents, and it seemed to me that God was expressing his anger at their attempt at such a heinous act in a place that would bear His name and to one of his little foolish children. In my imagination, I saw God crying! I stumbled away from the place and ran to a nearby home for help.
For years, I was too ashamed to enter a church, even after I was an adult. I thought that everyone there knew my shameful actions, and I would have a panic attack. I didn’t think that God could ever love me again.
Eventually, I learned that Jesus’s broken body and spilled blood at Calvary had been the mechanism through which I was forgiven for my sins and seen as worthy in God’s eyes. My deep love for and faith in my Father in Heaven and in His Son, Jesus Christ the Lord, and the Holy Spirit means that the promises of God are real in my life. Isaiah 1:18 states,“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.”
Too many of us walk around not calling on God for help in times of trials and troubles because of shame and guilt, two of Satan’s greatest weapons against God’s people. But, I am a living witness that because of the Cross and the empty tomb, God sees us as cleansed and worthy in his eyes. Romans 8:1 reminds us that “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit,” and Romans 5:8 states, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
Let us repent of our sins, ask for forgiveness, and realize that the God we serve knos we are flawed creatures, but He is willing to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Don’t let guilt or shame keep you from the throne of God, for He Loves you more than I can ever relate. Romans 10:11 encourages us, “As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
Praise the Lord. Amen.
Help from Heaven 
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