God Uses the Imperfect

God Uses the Imperfect

Good news for those of us who are challenged on the ‘imperfect’ side of life.  God can and does still want to use.

Consider the past:

Christ was born in a barn

Moses was a stutterer

David had his immoral flaws

Bethlehem was a nowhere town

Shepherds were the first to hear the good news

God once used a harlot

He called cheating tax collectors to follow him

Yes … God uses the imperfect. 

I find this thought highly encouraging.  If God were to only use those qualified to do His bidding, well, would the job get done?  Many of those who are qualified are so busy with their other “stuff” in life that they might not get around to doing God’s work. 

Instead He reaches out to people like you and me.  I’ll speak for myself here, and you can join in if you want.

I’m flawed.  I have weakness and disappointments in my life.  I’ve faced marital conflict, relationship difficulties, stubbornness, I’ve had times when I wanted my own way and fought God until I got it. 

I wasn’t the best student in school, yet I learned.  I wasn’t get best singing in the choir, and yet God called me to lead music on many occasions. 

It’s not the measure of the gift one possesses, rather, the willingness to use one’s portion of those gifts.

And so, here’s what we do.  We come with the only offering we possess.  We offer it to God for His use.  We give our best and let God do the rest.

Internet Church Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Good Words on Faith

Good Words on Faith

Perhaps it is time for all of us to examine our faith in God. Here are some picture quotes that may help. 

Internet Church Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

God Never Runs Out of Stuff

God Never Runs Out of Stuff

Carolyn and I love having our kids and grandkids over for breakfast.  The usual breakfast fixings include scrambled eggs, bacon and pancakes.  Like most kids, my grandkids devour the pancakes. 

They never question if we’ll have enough.  They never question the cost of the flour and eggs to make the pancakes.  They never worry about the electricity to heat the burners on the stove to cook the pancakes.  They just eat the pancakes. 

They trust that the pancakes will be there because that is what we’ve promised and that is what they expect.  They trust.

Let that sink in for a moment. 

They TRUST!

What is missing here? 

   Worry

      Fret

         Anxiety over not having enough

Our grandkids don’t try to act especially nice so they get plenty of pancakes.  They just trust Papa and Nanny that there will be pancakes.

Oh, to trust God in that way.  And we’re not really talking about pancakes.

We’re talking about a God who says what He says and does what He says He’ll do and you can trust His word.

“Trust is our gift back to God” – so says Brennan Manning in Ruthless Trust.

Brennan also says this: 

“The splendor of the human heart which trusts that it is loved gives God more pleasure than Westminster Cathedral, the Sistine Chapel, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, the sight of ten thousand butterflies in flight, or the scent of a million orchids in bloom.” 

Remember that phrase in that song?

“Oh, for grace to trust Him more.”

In case you ever wondered, God will never run out of pancakes, or anything else you need.

This book I mentioned – Ruthless Trust, is one of my favorites,  And what an interesting juxtaposition. 

Ruthless:  Action that is without pity.

By calling us to “ruthless trust”, Brennan is standing against all the “self-pity” that plagues modern culture.  He is calling us to a trust that stoutly refuses to regard self-interest as the highest good in life. 

He is calling us to a trust that stoutly refuses to regard self-interest as the highest good in life.  This book is a frontal attack on all the egocentrics, hyphenated self-sins of our day. 

Self-indulgence

Self-will

Self-service

Self-aggrandizement

Self-gratification

Self-righteousness

Self-sufficiency

How does one dare to propose the way of trust in the face off raw, undifferentiated heartache, cosmic disorder and the terror of history, past and present?

Christ came into this world to save sinners.

I Timothy 1:15

¹⁵Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

“If the Lord Jesus Christ has washed me in his own blood and forgiven all my sins,” the ragamuffin whispers to herself, “I cannot and must not refuse to forgive myself.”

2 Timothy 1:12

¹² That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

My heart resonates with this idea: “I know who it is that I have put my trust in.” 

After stumbling and falling, the ragamuffin does not sink into despondency and endless self-recrimination; she quickly repents, offers the broken moment to the Lord, and renews her trust in the Messiah of sinners.  She knows that Jesus is comfortable with broken people who remember how to love.

Ruthless trust is the way for all ragamuffins.  If it be your way, the sign you can trust will be the slow, steady, and miraculous transformation from self-rejection to self-acceptance rooted in the acceptance of Jesus Christ.

Internet Church Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope Encouragement Inspiration