He un-hammers the nails in your hand, from within… – I quickly grabbed my phone to start writing…

I’ve been studying my recently patched roof for the tremendous amount of rain this past weekend. Nice steady rain for my garden. And no dripping into my laundry room after saturated boards fill, thank God, the boards stayed dry in the big storms. But then after one extended period yesterday, I felt one section to be damp. Hmmm…. So not a perfect patch, yet, but I can’t complain. And more goo can be glued in. The nail hole is still there but now filled with a waterproof patch goo, there must be another hole somewhere. I will work it out – more experimenting to do… Not worried but working it out…

As my early morning fresh start presented my brain to the Lord, my thoughts were in His Workshop before I started to fill it with my projects (then race out the door). The Lord patched a thought into my brain for my writing fingers to express: When we sin, people say: ‘you are hammering the nails into Jesus’. And well, yes, I’ve always heard that as a deterrent from sinning, especially to kids… but think of the many people sinning, the original sin too, and we are not alone. Our sins are not uncommon to mankind. The nails that pierced His Hands and Feet, Jesus took them on for all, fulfilling the prophecy, plus took on the sword piercing. He did take them on for our sins. Perhaps our own sins hammer more nail holes in us? Well we could die eternally from our sin (and original sin too) and yet we have an opportunity to be patched. There’s only one way to live again and be reborn clean – by asking forgiveness and believing in the power of Jesus – Lord of our Life – this is how we are to be cleansed by His blood. He does the work. 

What work? He un-hammers the sin in us. He un-hammers the nails in your hand, from within. Jesus patches the holes from within. Jesus taps taps taps back everything and anything a new nail pierces. He IS a Carpenter, you know. Jesus has a workshop but also travels to each of us to hammer out “love between my sisters and my brothers” as they sing. Jesus makes house calls – inside you. 

We may be minor strikes to Him, but the holes to us are unfathomable because they are deep. We may need a refill of blood – so He gushed it to us. We may need patches – He is the whole stretchable layer of white onto our appearances. God’s Heaven holds all the Living Water we need to be cleansed. Jesus remains the Lamb Slain, for us all.

So let us hammer out our feelings about forgiveness – let us let the Lord craft our lives in His thoughts and repair us and restore us to life. Let us be born again to be His Hands and Feet movable and working hard for “our brothers and our sisters”…

Let’s ask Jesus – Please find me in the darkness and tough times, please show me the light thru You, and Lord, thank You for patching me into Your Mercy and Grace. Please patch me both within your workshop and make my every day “work in progress” into Your Job Site. Thank You Lord.

Amen

—

 John 20:24-29

Jesus Appears to Thomas
Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”