{"id":661,"date":"2012-05-14T00:40:18","date_gmt":"2012-05-14T00:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ultimatejoy.wordpress.com\/?p=661"},"modified":"2012-05-14T00:40:18","modified_gmt":"2012-05-14T00:40:18","slug":"used","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/?p=661","title":{"rendered":"Used"},"content":{"rendered":"

Listen up, all you coffee drinkers and Starbucks devotees. This is probably the only time we\u2019ll be talking about coffee on this site.\u00a0 \u00a0I never developed a taste for it and I probably never will.\u00a0 Love the smell of it, though.\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My husband has a bad habit of leaving his used coffee grounds in the sink. Why he can\u2019t put them in the trash is beyond me. One day, as I got ready to toss them into the garbage, I took a minute to ponder them. Do you feel ever feel used up liked old coffee grounds? Tired and past your prime.<\/p>\n

I searched the Internet and found there are many ways to use old coffee grounds. Everything from exfoliant to hair conditioner, plant fertilizer to temporary tattoos. So even when we think we are used up, we\u2019re not.<\/p>\n

Think about Paul.\u00a0 Prior to his conversion, he was dedicated to the persecution of the early followers of Christ. In his writings, he called himself the worst of all sinners. Despite this, once converted, he maintained a healthy identity in Christ. He did not wallow in his sins or let his guilt over them prevent him from doing God\u2019s work. Paul knew Christ\u2019s death set him free from all his sins and their condemnation. Something utterly amazing happened to Paul; he moved onward and didn\u2019t stagnate because of his inner failings.\u00a0 He asked for forgiveness from sin and moved his eyes toward one goal \u2013 becoming more like Jesus.<\/p>\n

Looking at those used up coffee grounds in the sink, I was overwhelmed by God\u2019s love. My identity in Christ is secure\u2026even when life grinds me up, uses me up and spits me out.\u00a0 Paul was not a spiritual anomaly. The freedom he found in Christ, the positive, uplifting, inspiring identity he found in our Savior, is ours, also. We only need to own our mistakes and move on.<\/p>\n

Like old coffee grounds, there are a myriad ways God can use us, even when we think we\u2019re not\u00a0good enough to be used. So like Paul, let\u2019s be quick to receive God\u2019s grace so guilt won\u2019t paralyze us. Let\u2019s make room in our hearts and souls for the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit to fill every inch of our heart and soul. May the only things we wallow in be His light and His love.<\/p>\n

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, <\/em><\/em>because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Listen up, all you coffee drinkers and Starbucks devotees. This is probably the only time we\u2019ll be talking about coffee on this site.\u00a0 \u00a0I never developed a taste for it and I probably never will.\u00a0 Love the smell of it, though.\u00a0 My husband has a bad habit of leaving his used coffee grounds in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,4,5],"tags":[6,13,14,48,18,23,24,28,29,33],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}