No More Excuses!

Mark 16:15 (NIV2011)
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

To preach simply means to proclaim or publish. So, this scripture could read, He said to them, “Go into all the world and tell your story of how the gospel changed your life to all creation.

Often, we sit back and wander what we are supposed to be doing when in fact He has already told us what to do.

The next excuse we use is I am not able, I am not qualified. I don’t have the skill or the experience to do the task.

·         This statement is not true! God never sends anyone out unequipped.

·         We all have experienced difficulties in life, we have all been through storms. This in nothing less than experience, the one thing needed to accomplish the task.

Man is always looking for reason not to go, not to do, not to speak. Look at Exodus 4:10 (MSG) Moses raised another objection to GOD: "Master, please, I don't talk well. I've never been good with words, neither before nor after you spoke to me. I stutter and stammer."

Moses tells God, the one who created him, the One who knows him from the inside out what all was wrong with him as if God didn’t already know his flaws.

Moses was saying:

·         He was not fluent, not skillful with words, not expressive, not persuasive.

·         He did not have a good, forceful, persuasive speech or delivery.

·         He was not smooth-talking nor silver-tongued.

·         He did not speak with ease and was nervous when speaking. Words did not come easily to him, no matter who he was talking with. (Moses told God to notice that he was slow speaking—even to Him.)

What is God's reply to the person who argues this excuse? He questions and gives a great promise to His servant. Exodus 4:11-12 (MSG)
GOD said, "And who do you think made the human mouth? And who makes some mute, some deaf, some sighted, some blind? Isn't it I, GOD?
So, get going. I'll be right there with you—with your mouth! I'll be right there to teach you what to say." 

In other words, is it not God who gives speech to man and who causes man to hear and see? Moses response was Yes. Then He tells him, then go. God will help you speak and teach you exactly what to say.

"For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say" (Luke 12:12).

"But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26).

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will show you things to come" (John 16:13).

As awful, humiliating, and uncomfortable your past has been, it may be a best-seller. It may be the story someone needs to hear today to bring hope, healing, and restoration. I encourage you to quit making excuses and start taking advantage of opportunities. You story can be shared in so many different venues. You may share it at the doctor’s office waiting room, the grocery store, at school, with a waitress/waiter, or you may share it on social media as a testimony of where you were, who you were and where you are today and who you are today because of God’s mercy and grace.

Scholar or an Epistle?

2 Corinthians 3:3 (MSG)
Christ himself wrote it—not with ink, but with God's living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives—and we publish it.

What is Paul saying?

⇒  God does not write the message upon tables of stone as He  did when He gave the commandments to Moses.

⇒  He writes upon the fleshy tables of the heart. He puts his message upon the hearts of men, which causes men to live changed lives.

⇒  He simply meant your life is a living letter, written by the hand of God through the agency of the Holy Spirit intended to be read by others. God writes stories with people’s lives.

When you live a story, you take ownership of the journey. Every challenge you overcome leaves its own permanent imprint upon your heart. Then, when you talk about it, your entire being radiates the story.

When you have ownership, the story is communicated passionately. That is why as a preacher, I must find how the scripture applies to me first before I can effectively and passionately communicate it to the listeners.

 John 1:14 (NKJV)
¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus became the message; the Word was made flesh. When you are the message, you move people at the deepest levels. So, it is with our lives, we become the story in flesh. When people can relate to our challenges and victories, they too are moved.

 On one hand, the lessons you have learned enlighten their minds, but a life message doesn’t simply touch the mind, it moves the heart. And that is because the journey has transformed who you are. When you tell your story, people don’t experience a message, they experience you.

That is the difference in scholars and epistles. Scholars move the mind, they depend upon their research to sway the thinking of their hearers. But Living Epistles do more – they move the heart. That is why God takes you on a journey, He is instilling in you a message a story so that you tell it with passionate ownership.

“God wants you speaking from your heart, not your library.”

The point of your story is to make God – not you – look good.  The power of your story is measured by the degree in which God intervened in your affairs. The more God had to do for you makes for a more dramatic story.

People hear the same mundane stories of people’s lives every day. How doubtful and hopeless life is, how nothing ever seems to go their way. This is not what makes your story. What defines your story is the moment when you begin to tell others how God got involved in your journey.

The man at the pool of Bethesda had the same story the others had until began to tell how God got involved in his journey.

Here is the scene, there was a sheep market which had a pool to provide water for the animals to drink and five porches to provide a resting area for the comfort of the people. The one thing they all had in common was there was a pool and a whole lot of impotent people. Each of their stories were the same.

⇒  There was the blind who could not see.

⇒ There were the lame who could not walk.

⇒ There were the withered who were deformed and paralyzed.

⇒ There were so many who were poor and beggarly.

⇒ They were all waiting for something significant to happen.

 The same is true today. So many in the world are blind, lame, and spiritually withered and they too are waiting on something significant to change the way their story ends.

 The guy at the pool of Bethesda’s story was somewhat the same as the others but it took on an interesting twist at the end which made his story a story of significance.

 His story starts like all the rest, then, he begins to passionately tells of his journey as he takes ownership in what happened.

 He said for 38 years, I was like all the rest of these people I had an illness which prevented me from doing pretty much anything. For 38 years like many of the rest I watched at a certain time of year the waters would begin to bubble as they were troubled. For 38 years, I watched along with everyone else the one fortunate individual who managed to get to the pool and be healed. For 38 years, it was always someone else getting a miracle, receiving a healing, but never me.

And then one day it happened…no the waters were not troubled, I did not make it to the pool, but a man named Jesus came walking by and saw me. And He said to me, “Do you want to be healed?” Well of course I wanted to be healed what kind of question was that? So, I said to the man, when the waters are troubled I have no one to help me in. But the Jesus said to me “Rise take your bed and walk.” And just like that I was healed. I didn’t have to get in the pool, I didn’t have to wait on the troubling of the waters, He simply spoke 6 words to me and I was healed after being ill for 38 years.

 Now that is a story! What grabs the heart is when we hear how God stepped into the regular-ness of everyday life, infused it with His power and produced a testimony of His greatness.

 Now let’s look at the scripture again but this time in the NIV version.

John 5:2-9 (NIV2011)

Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.
Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.  One who was there had been an invalid (unaccepted, dysfunctional, worthless, unsound, and void) for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw, him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid (unaccepted, dysfunctional, worthless, unsound, and void) replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,

 You may feel like your story doesn’t matter, that the story of your challenges are better off untold. What you must realize is it is your story that God is wanting to use. He chose to author the story of an invalid, unaccepted individual to bring salvation, hope and healing to others who’s futures seemed dim.

Diversity pronouces blessings!

The reason your story has been so diverse was so God could promote you in a dramatic way. He takes the righteous through great difficulty in order to promote your story.

The bible pronounces blessing upon those who find themselves on a journey. [Psalms 84:5-6] “Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on a pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools.

God disrupts the safety of our comfort zones to divert us onto a path that becomes a divine storyline for our lives. The next verse says that the Psalm 84 pilgrim takes a “pass through the Valley of Baca.”

Baca means weeping or tears. It is the place of suffering. We are all headed for the same destination but how we go about getting there is sometimes different.

Job was a man God launched on a Psalm 84 pilgrimage. But we cannot make sense of Job’s valley of Baca until we see it in the breath-taking encounter with God and His Glory. Job cried out for just one day in the court with God. [Job 23:3-4]

Job 23:3-7 (MSG)
³ If I knew where on earth to find him, I'd go straight to him.
⁴ I'd lay my case before him face-to-face, give him all my arguments firsthand.
⁵ I'd find out exactly what he's thinking, discover what's going on in his head.
⁶ Do you think he'd dismiss me or bully me? No, he'd take me seriously.
⁷ He'd see a straight-living man standing before him; my Judge would acquit me for good of all charges.

 Then when he got it, what did he have to say?

“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore, I abhor myself, and repent in the dust and ashes [Job 42:5-6]

His vision changed everything. A face to face appointment with the King will bring dramatic closure to your current chapter and launch you into the next.

So, no matter what your story may be, no matter how difficult or humiliating it may be, it has been designed to bring you face to face with God and bring Glory to His name.

Adrenaline Junky!

 

I have noticed something about God: He’s got a feel for the dramatic. If it’s a choice between black-and-white and color, He goes with the rainbow. He is an adrenaline junky, one minute He has us in the center lane, the next He has us along the side of a cliff and if that isn’t enough for us He takes us to soaring heights and suddenly, unexpectedly He throws in a steep drop. And like a roller coaster we reach our destination only to get back in line, wait on the next season and do it all over.

It is a great setup for our story…it is as if we are penning the words to describe a summer or a season experience. Our story is made up of the different seasons of life we have experienced. God is going to see to it that none of our stories are dull.

He is the King of drama…I believe He does some stuff in our lives simply for a dramatic effect.

Pastor what are you talking about? Why are you making God out to be a dramatic person?

Well let’s look at the scripture. [Exodus 9:15-16]

God could have extinguished Pharaoh in one moment and peacefully lead His people out of Egypt. But that option didn’t satisfy His liking for excitement. It was too boring, God said so Himself to Pharaoh.

Exodus 9:15-16 (NKJV)
Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth.
But indeed, for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.

God was telling Pharaoh, “I’m not going to destroy you with one lethal blow. I’m going to hit you again, and again, and again. With each hit – the intensity is going to rise, until the whole thing reaches towering levels of suspense. Then – when I deliver My People, my name will be glorified in all the earth.

It was almost as if God sent a squadron of B-2 Stealth Bombers to drop plagues upon Egypt. God didn’t just hit Pharaoh once, twice, or even three times, but He sent ten devastating plagues that seemed to detonate one right after another.

Pharaoh finally has a change of heart only to quickly change his mind again. So, God sits back and begins to brainstorm how He can make this story a little more interesting He makes a passage way in the middle of the Red Sea and as they pursued he drowned them.

You talk about a story…this type of news spreads fast.

Look at another example: Peter is in prison [Acts 12]. He was incarcerated in Herod’s prison for quite a few days, but look when God finally decided to release him.

It’s the last night before his scheduled execution. God could have delivered him days before, but He waited till the last moment. Why? So, He could stir up suspense and give him a good story to share with others.

Often, we catch ourselves asking the questions:

• Why is He a last-minute God?
• Why does He hesitate to intervene until the tension becomes so great?
• Why does He wait until “the break of dawn” to help His people?

Psalm 46:5 (NKJV)
God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;

God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.

Like a good book or movie, the hero doesn’t come riding in until all hope is lost and they are on the verge of defeat. God to likes to make a name for Himself.

Look at the time He delivered Paul and Silas from jail in Philippi [Acts 16]. God watched while they were being beaten bloody and then placed in stocks. He watched while the hours ticked away, and Paul and Silas had nothing else to do but to sing and pray. Then at midnight, the dawning of a new day, KABOOM, an earthquake struck, all the doors of the jail flung wide, and the chains fell off all the prisoners. The jailer and his entire family got saved, and a church was planted.  Now that is a story…The title might read, “From the agony of defeat to triumph victory” or “From prisoner to pioneer” as they now were pioneers of a new church plant.

This story gets even better…at first glance it appears God is setting them free so they can continue their mission. But when you look at the story more closely, you realize they were going to be released the next morning anyways. So why did God send an earthquake and release them hours earlier? Simply for the drama, Had He allowed it to play out the jailer and his family would not have gotten saved, and a church would not have been planted.

God is into our stories, He loves to shake things up and bring glory to His name.

Cast down but not destroyed

Your story has the ability to bring people together.

Before the believing Jews would ever accept the Gentiles as equals in faith, they would need to have a change of heart on the heated doctrinal issue. So, how did the Jewish believers respond? Swiftly…When they heard these things they became silent, and they glorified God saying, The God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance of life. [Acts11:18].

Twenty minutes of a story did more to win their hearts than a three-week debate would have. God will give you a story to tell that can soften the agnostic skeptics and win them to the love of God.

Stories have the power to convince people in ways that straightforward teaching cannot. We see this in the life of Paul.

Paul formerly known as Saul made his way to Damascus to arrest those who believed in Christ and haul them back to Jerusalem. It was a normal day, but as he approached the city it was as if Jesus said, Saul get ready I’m about to give you a good story.”

Paul’s Damascus Road encounter had everything needed for the making of a great story. He was knocked to the ground, he beheld the face of God, and had an audible conversation with Jesus Himself.

As if that wasn’t enough it left him blind for three days and suddenly, his vison was restored, he is filled with the Holy Spirit, baptized in water and commissioned as an apostle to go to the Gentiles.

Remember he was a persecutor of Christians, he was everything bad. But God gave him a story to tell. Can you imagine how many people got saved and filled with the Holy Spirit after hearing his story. Over and Over I am sure he told the same story. Why? There is power in a good story. People identity with the grace of God through our stories.

If God did it for Paul, he will surely do it for you and I because we haven’t done half the things Paul did. Consider everything you have been through and how interesting it makes for a great story.

 

I would have never dreamed in a thousand years I would have every had to go through some of the things I have had to go through. But who am I? Who am I that I should not have to go through certain things? Jesus Himself had to go through horrific things while walking upon the earth and He did absolutely nothing to deserve it. We however sometimes contribute to some of the shortcomings, failures, and mistakes we go through. But the bright side is this, God will use it to write your story, He certain has for me. 

 

You maybe thing you are a pastor how can you begin to understand? My response would be I am also human, imperfect, and made my share of mistakes. I am the child of a divorce, I grew up spending my time between two parents. At a tender moment in my life, my dad was sent to fight in the Gulf war. I know what loneliness, isolation, insecurity all feel like. I have been through a divorce myself, but happily married to the love of my life now for 9 years. I have contented with thoughts of suicide during a difficult season in my life some 16 years ago, but I am also an overcomer through the blood of the Lamb and the words of my testimony.

 

Those are only a few of the things I have been challenged with in my life. One might wonder why would you share those details of your life? Aren't you afraid of it casting a bad light on you and your ministry? No, transparency has been my friend. Those are just facts, those moments are just headers for every chapter of the book of my life. It is part of my story, part of who I am, and what allows me access into others lives to bring hope, healing, and restoration.

Like Paul, my story and your story allows those who could not identify with the gospel message an opportunity to identify with it through a person they could see as being them self.

God is still writing stories in our lives and through them He is making a way for those who could not otherwise find their way.

So, what are you doing with your story?

The Power of Your Story!

 

There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t reflected on things God has done in my life. Hillsong United wrote a song called “When I think about the Lord.”

I can't help but be reminded how He saved me, raised me, filled me with the Holy Spirit, healed my body, mind, and emotions, how He turned me around and placed my feet on higher ground.

When I think about the Lord has done for me, it makes me want to shout, it makes me want to share it with others. If I don’t share, I help no one. You have a story someone else needs to hear. I know what you are thinking…”my story is pretty ugly or even sensitive.” Can I tell you from my personal experience being willing to go into the secret, uncomfortable places of my life and be transparent in sharing it with others has not only helped others, it has helped me? Sharing your story can be therapeutic for you and life changing for others.

The truth is not how insignificant we feel our story is, God has been with you all along, even in dry seasons writing your story and He wants to see it through to the end.

The reason stories are so powerful is because they have a way of bypassing people’s defenses and winning their hearts. This is what happened in the New Testament when the church was dealing with a difficult theological issue regarding the Gentiles.

The thought was how could the Gentiles possibly be included in the Church of Jesus Christ? Anyone who even hinted at the thought of a Gentile being accepted was meet with great hostility. We see this in [Acts 11:1-3].

Some of the Jewish believers in Jerusalem had problems doctrinally with the fact that Peter ate with uncircumcised Gentiles. To them the Gentiles had no place in the covenant community of God.

 

God knew, that before the believing Jews would ever accept the Gentiles as equals in faith, they would need to have a change of heart on the heated doctrinal issue. So, God made it easier for them to relate by giving it to them in a story.

 

By turning the whole thing into a story, He bypasses the people’s defenses. So, when Peter was confronted by the Jews for eating with uncircumcised men, he simply told his story.

 

So, Peter begins to tell his story. [Acts 11:5] (NKJV) "I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object descending like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came to me.

 

From there he went on to tell how the voice from heaven told him not to call unclean anything that God had cleansed. Acts 11:7-9 (NKJV) And I heard a voice saying to me, 'Rise, Peter; kill and eat.' But I said, 'Not so, Lord! For nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth.' But the voice answered me again from heaven, 'What God has cleansed you must not call common.'

Notice what happens after he tells his story. He ends up in Caesarea and while preaching the Holy Spirit fell suddenly on them and they began to speak in tongues and magnify the Lord.

 

Peter did not tell Cornelius’s version of the story, found in [Acts 10] In fact he didn’t even mention Cornelius’s name. He simply told the story as he himself experienced it. He knew if he told Cornelius’s story it would have no impact, but if he told his version it would hold power.

 

There is something about sharing your story that allows others to see and connect. You are no longer telling a story of something you read or heard you are sharing something you experienced and encountered. That is what causes people to sit on the edge of their seats and listen.

Last year, I had folks in our church stand and share their story before I preached. Never once did I heard of anyone judging them because of their past but rather they celebrated the victories with the individuals. I watched as people in the congregation wept as they too could relate to what the individual was saying. I had them share because each of our stories are different, each story has the ability to reach someone new because each of us has different audiences.

I encourage you to use the things that have brought you much pain, heartache, and misery to release someone else from their current season of captivity.

I am fearfully and wonderfully made

Good morning and thank you for joining me for a "Morning Cup of Java." I want to spend some time over the next week helping you discover "You" and the power of your story (testimony.)

Philippians 1:6 (AMP)
And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.

A lesson I have had to learn has been to value how God sees me more so than how man sees me. It is only natural to want the approval of man. There have been times when I have determined whether the message I was preaching was win or a loss by how the crowd responded. I had it all wrong. In allowing the world’s opinion of me to be a larger factor than Christ’s opinion of me only suggest my confidence is in the world not in Christ.

There was a season in my life where I walked away from the Lord. I went my own way and did my own thing. Several years later I rededicated my life to Christ. Then there came a time when the Holy Spirit began to deal with me about returning ministry. I must admit this was struggle. It meant I had to overcome voices that echoed many untrue statements regarding my life. It meant I had to rise above the opinions of the world and let God be God in my life. I will never forget, one day as I was struggling with returning to ministry I heard the voice of God speak to me. He said, “Do what I have called you to do, and I will be your defender.” That was a powerful moment in my life, it meant if I would do my part in pursing Christ destiny for my life, He would stand with me and for me. And that my friends He did. It didn’t mean the crowd has always been silenced, in fact I still hear voices echo hurtful, discouraging things about me, but I have decided it is Christ opinion of me that matters.

[John 8:36] tells us, if Jesus the Son of God sets you free, you are free indeed. So, if Jesus has set you free, why are you allowing people to imprison you based upon your past. [2 Corinthians 5:17] tells us, “If anyone is in Christ (meaning you accept Christ as Lord and Savior), he is a new creation (new person), the old things have passed away. Behold all thing have become new.

As a believer you are to have absolute confidence in the work of salvation or redemption which God has begun in your life. Your confidence comes through the presence of God's Spirit that dwells within you.

There is nothing worse than allowing someone power and control over your life based upon their opinion of you. Don’t allow people who continuously remind you of your past and never celebrate your victories to have access or a voice to speak into your life. Those people are not following Christ example. [Psalm 103:12] As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Christ isn’t one to bring it back up.

The work begun by Christ is a good work; that is, it is a work that revolutionizes or radically changes the life of the believer. No matter what kind of life a person was living, once God converts him/her, the new believer begins to live a good life: a life of...

• righteousness, purity, and holiness.
• love, joy, and peace.
• faith, humility, and control.

Your past gives you power, and Christ creditability. People know where you come from and the only possible way you have made it through your storm is because of the involvement of a Savior, deliverer, healer, restorer at work in your life.

 

You must understand the power of the testimony God has given you. Hollywood has captured the power of a story. Audiences identify with a movie, locate themselves in the story and connect with its significance.

But long before Hollywood, Jesus understood the power of the story. We see this in Mark 5:1-20. It is here Jesus heals a demon-possessed man, who then wanted to follow Him. But instead of allowing Him to follow, Jesus told him to stay home and tell his friends what God had done for him.

Many times, we are hesitant to share our story and what Christ has done for us because we fear we may be rejected or Christ may be rejected. But maybe just maybe someone will identity with our story and change their life.

The people of this region initially rejected Jesus, but He knew their hearts would change simply by the power of this man’s story. Much of the bible is a narrative itself. God has used scripture to inspire people for years through power of a story.

Your name may not be David you may not be a king, or a musician. Your name may not be Ruth you may not have had to deal with obscurity and bitterness, but God is writing your story, so He can inspire someone else.

Like a screenwriter, He is crafting your journey in such a way that when you recount it, others will be strengthened in their faith.

It is my prayer this “Morning Cup of Java” has helped someone who is struggling to find their place, struggling with letting go of the past, struggling with insecurity, and the opinions of others. Remember you have been fearfully and wonderfully made by Christ Jesus and that is all that matters.

The Least distinguished people will carry kingdom status

Good morning and thank you for joining me for a “Morning Cup of Java.

Today we are going to look at 1 Corinthians 1:27 (KJV) . But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

(The Message Bible) Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses?

” Reinhard Bonnke once said, “In Christ even the least distinguished people carry kingdom status.” God calls simple and humble people. In the circle of humanity people tend to size you up, qualify and disqualify others according to social/economic status or simply their liking of someone. But God takes a whole different approach. He doesn't care how many followers you have on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or TikTok, He takes the initiative in saving people, calling and using simple humble individuals.

I have often felt inadequate an incapable. I have often thought, “Lord are you sure you want to use me?” Many times, in conversation with My Lord, I have reminded the Lord of all my failures and mistakes, I have even explained to Him all the different qualities I do not possess and college degrees I don’t have. I even express how insignificant I feel to be used of the Lord and how I feel I don’t measure up. And then He reminds me He knew everything there would be to know about before He formed me, yet He still chose me. He reminds me what I do have is the anointing, and according to Isaiah 10:27, it is the anointing that breaks and destroys the yoke. It is not a degree of higher education, it is not what my last name is or is not, it is not how big or small my bank account is, IT IS THE ANOINTING that gets the job done.

Don’t get me wrong I am not casting a stone on higher education, wealth, or anything of that nature. I am simply saying I don’t have those things and yet Christ still chose to call and use me. I have even had short comings in my life, things have happened that I am not proud of and yet Christ still loves me and has made room for me. And if He will use a David, or a Saul or someone like me, He will certainly use you if you make yourself available to Him.

God will use what you already have and if need be give you the rest. Each of us has something powerful to share. That is our story, our testimony. It is the narrative of our lives, it is how we recount the events that have taken place in our lives.

Your story is powerful, and it will help set others free. It is the events of your life; it is your story God takes a paint brush too and begins to paint it on a canvas to help others identify with Grace. Satan and people will attempt to use the things of your past to humiliate and disqualify you but it is the things we have been through that actually qualifies us and makes us useful to God.

Satan would like to use your story to mark you and damage the way you see and feel about yourself. But the unique thing about the story of a believer is that it says, “I once was, but now I am.”
• I once was lost, but now I am found
• I once was blind to sin, but now I see
• I once was broken, but now I have been made whole
• I once was hopeless, but now my life is full of hope, purpose and direction.

Christ doesn’t think like others nor does He choose us according to the standards of mankind. He has seen us at our worst, yet He sees us at our best. He sees what we can and will become through Christ which strengthens us.

I love you guys and I don’t want one of you to think for a minute you are not good enough, educated enough, to be used by God, for He has a plan for each of our lives. I want to leave you with this scripture today. It is a scripture one of my former pastor’s/mentors (Pastor Jeff McFalls) encouraged me with when I was struggling to find my way back in ministry after years ago after a difficult season in my life.

[Philippians 1:6] Being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Want He Do It!