Epic Fail?  Not!

Do you think that describes you?  Has your church family made you feel like that? Do you think God can’t use you? 

Think again! God can use YOU! Scripture shows that God can use anybody – God can use me, God can use you! God can use bad for good, God can use someone like you!
 

Do you feel like God couldn’t possibly use you? 

Remember:
~ Noah was a drunk
~ Abraham was too old
~ Isaac was a daydreamer
~ Jacob was a liar
~ Leah was ugly
~ Joseph was abused
~ Moses had a stuttering problem

~ Gideon was afraid
~ Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
~ Rahab was a prostitute
~ Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
~ David was an adulterer and a murderer
~ Elijah was suicidal
~ Isaiah preached naked
~ Jonah ran from God
~ Naomi was a widow
~ Job went bankrupt
~ John the Baptist ate bugs
~ Peter denied Christ
~ The disciples fell asleep while praying
~ Martha worried about everything
~ The Samaritan woman was divorced (more than once)
~ Zacchaeus was too small
~ Paul was too religious
~ Timothy had an ulcer
~ Lazarus was dead!
  
God can use anyone!

2 Corinthians 12:9, NLT My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.
1 Peter 4:10, NIV Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

God doesn’t call the equipped, he equips the called. 

It’s not about our ability, It’s about our availability!

Seek to be a real and authentic person who does not judge or pretend to have it all together, but admits  simply to be an imperfect person who has tasted God's love and mercy, and is trying to live everyday in gratitude of it.

Be that person and God will use you, because that is exactly the kind of people God has used through out history.

Phil

It may only take a spark to get a fire going, but it takes a focused effort to keep a fire going. A fire, left to itself, usually dies out. A fire stoked and nurtured can burn as long as necessary. There are several ways to keep the fire burning. One way is to surround yourself with the right people. 

John Maxwell notes the difference between firelighters and firefighters. Firelighters go out of their way to help you keep the fire hot. Firefighters go out of their way to throw cold water on you. As a Christian, it is impossible to avoid firefighters; they often sit in another pew. You can't avoid them, but you can learn to deflect their influence. 

Identify the firelighters and firefighters. Distance yourself, as much as is possible, from those who walk through life with buckets of cold water. 

Choose, instead, to put yourself in company with those whose words and actions are natural kindling for the fire God has given you.

Keep the fire burning,

Phil

TRANSFORMING GRACE

I recently read Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges.  In it he talks about the two different kinds of bankruptcies: Chapter 7 and Chapter 11.

Chapter 11 is a temporary financial reorganization that keeps a company’s creditors at bay until it can get back on its feet financially. Chapter 7 is a total and complete erasure of all debts, with no further requirement to repay, nearly always leading to the dissolution of the company.

What’s the comparison to the Christian life? Grace is a Chapter 7 experience, but many believers treat it like Chapter 11. We make the mistake of thinking that the mercy received at salvation is a temporary reorganization of the mess we have made with our lives, providing relief only until we’re able to live in the strength of our own goodness.

That’s not how it works. We’re saved by grace and we live by grace. The same grace. It comes through faith, and this not of ourselves; it is the gift of God. We live the Christian life the same way we begin it: by grace.

For this reason, rather than promising again and again to do that which we are incapable of doing, it’s better to start each morning with a simple prayer, requesting that the same grace which saved us will sustain us throughout the day, so that by this grace we may grow closer to Jesus in all we do.  

Blessings,

Phil

Satan has a way of using people to spread his lies and discourage us from our ministry of reconciliation. I will not give up, nor give in, for in Christ I can do all things.  Listen to the Voice of Truth by Casting Crowns (click here) and receive the same inspiration I did from this outstanding song.

BEING WOUNDED!

1 PETER 4:1 More than half a century ago, Amy Carmichael wrote these words... Hast thou no wound? No wound? No scar? Yet, as the Master shall the servant be, And pierced are the feet the follow Me; But thine are whole: can he have followed far Who has no wound nor scar? A teacher once told me, "You can recognize a leader by his (or her) limp." His point: those most effective in ministry are most often those who have been wounded at some time in their lives. Sometimes these wounds come from others, sometimes they're the result of our own dumb decisions. But the best leaders are the best leaders because they are survivors. In fact, they're more than survivors. They're overcomers. No one likes to be wounded, and no one enjoys suffering. But this is the part of the process of becoming like Christ. If you've been in ministry very long, no doubt you've been hurt a time or two. God can, and will, heal your hurts. And he will use them to help him use you in more effective service. Therefore, since Christ has suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. (1 Peter 4:1) Wounded Soldier (Danny Daniels) I am a wounded soldier But I will not leave the fight Because the Great Physician Is healing me So I’m standing in the battle In the armor of His light Because His mighty power Is real in me I am loved (I am loved) I am accepted (I am accepted) By the Savior of my soul (Savior of my soul) I am loved (I am loved) I am accepted (I am accepted) And my wounds will be made whole Copyright © 1985 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing. Phil

WHO FOLLOWS A CRITIC?

Don Miller (author of Blue Like Jazz and a few others) has a blog located at http://donmilleris.com. In a recent post he talked dealing with online critics, specifically those responding to tweets. When someone insults him, before responding, he takes a look at their twitter page to try to understand who they are and why they were offended by his words. Here's an interesting observation he made. "I've never been insulted or disrespected by a person who has more followers than the number of people they follow themselves. What I mean is, the people who are insulting are following a lot of people but they aren't following them back. Or at least statistically, they are being influenced by more people than they themselves are influencing. And when I say never, I honestly mean NEVER. It's never happened, and I'd say I've had about 300 people or more insult me or be disrespectful." This isn't about disagreeing with someone, or even engaging in spirited debate. It's about resorting to insults to make your point. There are some in the media who have made a career out of doing it. Unfortunately, some in the church follow their example. However, for the most part and over the long-haul, people aren't able to sustain long-term interest in what critics have to say. Phil

Many think that life is just a set of circumstances: You can't help what happens, just try to adapt and hope for better luck next time -- which explains the greatest excuse of all time: I'm just a victim of circumstance. The Bible teaches something different. Your life is not the result of random circumstance, it's the result of the choices you make. Moses and Joshua both highlighted this simple truth. "I have set before you life and death, blessing and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live..." (Deuteronomy 30:19) "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15) Life is a series of choices. Success depends on making the same right choices again and again, day after day, at the dinner table, in conversations with families and friends, with your paycheck, in what you read, at the office, when you're online. These choices determine who you are and what your life becomes. Every minute of every day we have the privilege of choice, to make life more rewarding or more disappointing. What choices are you willing to make?