
2 • The Singed
By Paul J. Bucknell

If you are part of the 'Singed' group, you have need of hope is great. Your life has fallen apart to different degrees. However, the greatest problem is not all of your past sins but that you are willing to sit in them. More than likely you share a cynical view of life. Your special temptation is to just sit in the mess of problems as life goes on.
But that is exactly where the evil one wants you to sit commiserating your wounds until the hell fire gets hot. Jesus in John 10:10 says of the devil,
"The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly."
We understand that many consequences cannot be changed. Rape is rape. Divorce is divorce. Committing impurity has been done. The past cannot be simply undone. However, cynicism which says that the wrong cannot be corrected is simply wrong. God does promise a new life to those who live through Christ. We must not think in perpetual failure, "That is the way I am," or "That is the way it has to be." No, not at all. Note what the apostle says in Colossians 3:5-7:

Despair, depression, guilt and anxiety do not need to continually rule ones life. They keep us from going on. We can, if we are truly the Lord's, turn from our impure lives. The apostle himself is not afraid to admit his past failures, but we must step on into the power of a new life. Letting things just stay the same brings even worst consequences upon our lives and those around us now and in eternity.
As you continue on, you can read more clearly what those steps are.
Suggested Prayer
Dear Lord, I don't know where to begin. I have messed my life up. And it is not just my life either. I have given up any hope for recovery. I covered up my lostness pridefully asserting that everyone was like me. That eased my guilt. But it was plain wrong. I am sorry. This simply is not true.
If there is hope in putting back my life together, it won't be with me. It am the problem. I ask you to help me, somehow, someway to put my life back together again. Please help me sort out the pieces of my life. Give me hope. In Jesus Christ's Name, Amen.