Today as I was reading and praying, I read these words from Matthew:

40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth. 41 The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here! 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here!

Jesus is speaking to the religious leaders and telling them that they must repent. They are asking Him for a sign earlier in the passage, but He says none will be given, for they have among the greatest sign – Himself.

And He gives reference to those in the Old Testament that have repented and received new life.  He says that those that turn receive new life, but they must be willing to turn and live.

There is no one beyond God’s grace. I believe that with every fiber of my being.  There is no one that can’t start again, today.  There is no one that can’t know God’s forgiveness.  No one is beyond the pale, if they are willing to turn back.

I’ve seen recently in some ways and in some lives the power of sin to destroy what is good.  Sin is a destructive force that seeks to take away all that is good.

And one of the things that sin takes away is hope. The hope that it can be different.  The hope that it can change.  The hope that life can begin again. The hope that today is a new day.

Sin beats us down.  It breaks us apart.  It robs us.

It wants us to think that change can’t happen. That there is no hope for things getting better.

That is not. Where there is repentance, there is forgiveness. Where there is grace, there is new life.

Where there is God, there is hope.

Today, no matter what sin and the devil whisper in your ear, there is hope.

This is a new day. Things can change.  You can be different.

God and goodness will win.  Sin will not.

Today, there is hope.  You can change.  You can life.

Through God’s grace. Today, there is hope.