God surprised me! Has he ever surprised you?

I am a broken woman. I've been a Christian for 18 years, growing in relationship with Jesus, but I still make mistakes. I don't have it all figured out. I still struggle. I still sin, not intentionally. I have a testimony of past messes that I created on my road to unbelief. But do you know how God sees me today? He sees me white as snow (Isaiah 1:18, Psalm 103:12). His eyes look at me, and he sees nothing but the righteousness of Jesus. I am covered by his grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). I am now free from my bondage to sin because I put my trust in Jesus (Romans 8:1). That's scandalous!

I know some of you might be thinking, "God couldn't do that for me. He couldn't come into my life and restore what I have done, what I have thought, what I do, what I think of doing, what I want to do. He can't possibly restore that." Let me tell you something. He can. He can, and he will. You must invite him in. You must let him into your life as a guest so he may be your host. He will make you white as snow, but you must let him into your life, all of it.

In today's devotional, the two men who recognized the resurrected Jesus in their midst were moved to action. Jesus met them where they were. He opened their eyes to see he was alive. They were surprised by Jesus, and it happened while they were in community with him.

During the time that Jesus was with them, he went from the guest to the host, and he broke the bread and blessed it. It reminds me of the importance of communion and doing it together in community. When we take the time to remember what Jesus did on the cross, the importance of communion, we are surprised and grateful once again for the love, the sacrifice, and the presence of Jesus in our lives.

This week, I'm inviting you to take communion. If your church doesn't have this as a regular practice or this Sunday coming up, meet up with some friends. Get some grape juice and some crackers or bread and dedicate the meal as something to remember Jesus by.