Beauty for ashes: receiving emotional healing by Joyce Meyer

care of him. Mephibosheth did notdoanything to deserve this protection and provision, except that he had a relationship to one who had a covenant with David.
    This is a picture of why God cares for us. He blesses us because, as believers, we have a relationship with His Son. We do not deserve to be blessed. We do not earn blessings. We may even be crippled emotionally from some incident in our past. But God picks us up and restores us to our rightful place in His kingdom of peace.
    God is not waiting for us to do all the right things before He blesses us. In fact, the most anointed prayer we can ever pray is, "Lord, help me." We cannot reach perfection apart from
    76
    God. We must be totally dependent on Him to keep His promises in our lives. We are only called to be "believers"; otherwise, we would be called "achievers."The disciples asked Jesus, "What are we to do, that we may [habitually] be working the works of God? [What are we to doto carry out what God requires?]" (John 6:28).
    !Jesus replied, "This is the work (service) that God asks of
    you: thatyou believe in the One Whom He has sent[that you cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger]" (v 29). Verses 1-12 of Psalm 51 offers a powerful prayer for us to pray: have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to the multitude of Your tender mercyandloving-kindness blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly [and repeatedly] from my iniquityandguilt and cleanse meandmake me wholly pure from my sin! For I am conscious of my transgressionsandI acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, haveIsinned and done that which is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless in Your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful]. Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean [ceremonially]; wash me, and I shall [in reality] be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladnessandbe satisfied; let the bones which You have broken rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my guiltandiniquities.
    77
    Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering,andsteadfast spirit within me.Cast me not away from Your presence and take not Your Holy Spirit from me.
    Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.
    If we simply ask God, He will deliver us from the pain of our past mistakes and create in us a steadfast spirit. But while we do not have todoanything to receive God's deliverance, we can miss out on blessings if we run away from our problems without letting God bring us through them.
    Moses looked for the easy way out of his problems after he had stepped out of God's timing. He had killed an Egyptian, and there had been a witness to the murder, so he ran into the wilderness to hide. Before God called Moses to go forward to the promised land, He told Moses togo backto Egypt (see Exodus 3:1-10), saying, "Because I have most assuredly seen the abuseandoppression of My people in Egypt and have heard their sighingandgroaning, I have come down to rescue them. So, now come! I will send you back to Egypt [as My messenger]" (Acts 7:34).
    God was sending Moses back to the people who had "denied (disowned and rejected)" him (Acts 7:35). His own people had mocked him, saying, "Who made you our ruler (referee) and judge?" (see Exodus 2:14). Moses probably was not excited about going back to face his problems in Egypt.
    God does not always call us to go back physically to a place we have been. But if, for example, we have a difficult time submitting to a boss with a certain personality, God may call us to continue working with someone who has the same personality until we master the situation in a godly way. God does not want us to be on the run; He wants us to confront our fears