God Whispers

            When we were getting ready to move into the first home that we bought, I was packing up a drawer of things.  And in the bottom of the drawer, I found a gold and gemstone ring that I owned.  I never wore it anymore because I’m not a jewelry kind of person.  (Crazy, but true.)  But this ring was too nice to just get rid of it. 
            In the other room was a teen girl who came to help watch the kids as I packed.  And I heard this tiny little whisper that said, “Give her the ring.” 

Pursuing God?

No Pedestals!

            We are all human.  We will all be weak at some point.  We will all fail at some point and let other people down.  None of us has a right to look down on anyone.  Only God sits high enough to do that.  We are all in need of understanding, compassion, grace, forgiveness, and love! 
            So never think that anyone is incapable of falling.  Never hold another person up so high in your mind – as some great, godly, superhuman hope for the common man – that you are crushed when they fall and are unable to extend grace to them.  Many people have had their faith crushed when some “spiritual giant” fell.  Never make anyone into a “spiritual giant” in your eyes.  Do not put that burden on another person.  They are human, too, and will fail at some point.  Give them grace when they fail, not the blame for crushing your faith.   

Christianity Is Not a Competition

            Our job is to do our best to follow after God, to grow to be more and more like Jesus, to draw nearer and nearer to Him, and to reflect Him to others.  And we cannot compare our progress to other Christians or compare their progress to ours.  It’s not about what jobs or positions God gave someone else, what gifts He gave them, or how well they are doing on their journey with the Lord.  It’s about what He gave you and if you are being faithful to do your best with it for His glory. 

            There is no faster way to sour a Christian than to compare your spiritual progress and gifts to another person.  Just focus on you and on your walk with God and on doing your best for His glory, no matter where you are, what your job is or what gifts He gave you.  God notices and appreciates whenever you are faithfully following Him and seeking to bring Him glory, no matter how small your role or job.  And He will reward it in eternity.  When we stand before Him, we are accountable for our lives only, not for someone else’s.  (Yet, of course, we are held accountable for what we do to others and if we lead them astray.)    

Broken People

            “Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  (Mark 2:17)
            “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

            Jesus did not come to call to the righteous, to call those who are spiritually-wise in their own eyes . . . because they think they earn their way to heaven with their good deeds and proper living and spiritual wisdom and polished outside. 
            No!  Jesus came to call the sinners, those who are broken and hurting and who know that they need Him and that they could never earn their way to heaven.  And God loves us sinners enough to send Jesus to die for us. 
            And no one needs to polish themselves up to be worthy of that love.  It is there.  It is free.  It is yours for the taking.  As long as you know that you need it but can never earn it. 
            It’s not about being “good enough.”  It’s just about accepting the free gifts of love and forgiveness and grace that God offers to us while we are still sinners, before we clean ourselves up.