I climbed onto the brand new scale that I had just purchased,
and as the scale displayed my weight everything
around me just froze. Three numbers looked back at me
and I felt as though I was a complete failure. The number I
read was the largest number that has ever represented
me. This number scared me and I thought to myself,
“How did I get here?” The scale read 315 pounds.

I remember throwing away the previous scale claiming
to myself that it wasn’t accurate back when I weighed 306.
I was in denial then. In fact, you can say that my heart
became hardened to this fact and I ignored it. I refused to
believe this was my reality and I decided to live in a
distorted and inaccurate world.

“If you are an evidence denier than you will be
a grace de-valuer.” – Paul David Tripp

For the first time in my life all the false lies I had fooled
myself into believing were shattered by the evidence presented
by my scale. The full weight of my denial was staring
back at me and I knew that something had to change.
Right then and there I decided to stop lying to myself and I
decided that I needed to make a change. I stopped denying
my reality and am now doing something about it.

What makes the Bible amazing is that within it’s annals
are stories of severe human short comings and failures. As
you read these stories of human depravity, they are not in
the Bible for literary purposes, they are there to teach us
powerful lessons. Theses lessons teach us what not to do,
they give us evidence that we need to change, and most
importantly, they offer a glimpse of the full value of God’s
grace for humanity.

This week we will be studying Genesis 34. The
stories we find there are some of the most incredibly
difficult lessons found within the Bible. As we look at the
evidence of human failure, we will also be able to see the
grace of our God. However, this grace only has value if we
look at the full gravity of what happened in this chapter of
the Bible.

As for me, this morning I am celebrating as I read the
scale and it showed me that I now weigh 295 pounds,
highlighting the fact that I have lost 20 pounds! This is a
miracle for me because for the last 5 years I have only
been gaining weight. God performed a miracle within me
and He is helping me overcome the weight of my past decisions.
As you look at your life, don’t be afraid to analyze
the evidence of your short comings because God can help
you overcome as well. May we all continue to enjoy God’s
grace as He reveals to us from His scripture what we need
to change in our lives.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Geraldo