Tuesday 22 October 2013

We all Suck (Well, I know I do!)

It has been far too long since I have been able to write. I was almost scared today as I went to set myself up in front of the computer.  There are about a billion different things crashing around in my head lately that I am excited to share and get out onto paper the screen. But our home hasn't been the most peaceful place as of late with my two busy, loud, messy, but oh so wonderful kiddos and my sisters little man (who has been teething and having a hard time going down for naps and bedtimes). I normally sit down to write during naps since it is quiet and I can actually think a (mostly) complete thought without having my kids distract and divert my attention but lately naps our quiet for my kids and loud for my nephew. (It is rather tricky to write when instead of silence you hear crying, but the little guy now has the start of an adorable toothy grin that he loves to share with his aunt so I don't really mind)


Anyway, back to the point. 


The other day a friend posted this picture on facebook and I felt an immediate connection to it.  




The original picture can be found HERE.   


Often the ending of this...saying  (? I don't really know what to call it),  is as follows:


" God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called. "

I do like that ending but I think that the one in the picture above speaks volumes and is something that has been speaking to me for weeks. 


Grace.  


God has been putting this word on my heart and in my thoughts over and over again throughout the past few weeks.  But He is not just giving me subtle hints and reminders, He is hitting me with it from all sides. 


We have had a few conversations around the dinner table about some of the key players in the bible. We have discussed how children's stories put the characters in such a great light most of the time and kids are lead to believe, for a time, that those people were great so they did great things. But really they were sinners and God brought them out of their sin to do His works, which were pretty great. 


Today at our Mom's Bible Study, there was a wonderful woman that came to share with us about her experiences with adultery and marriage and God's grace. She was with the group last week as well, but I had missed it. My sister told me a short snippet of what I had missed but it was only of who the speaker was and that her perspective was from being the one who had cheated and who felt/feels like she ruined two marriages and two families because of her sins. 


I have to admit I was shocked. I didn't/ don't know the whole story of what happened to her since I wasn't involved, but I was struggling to see what I was going to take from hearing her talk about it. (That's sounds horrible and judgey but if I am trying to be honest, I was nervous for what she was trying to bring to the group)  I wrestled with whether I wanted to go this morning and was feeling like there wasn't going to be a whole lot I would take from it. 


But God was trying to show me His Grace. The amazing thing that happened to this woman through all of the sin and strife, was that God has shown her grace. He has brought healing to her and her family and the other mans family as well.  God has blessed them by using it to bring the ex-wife and the children of her new husband to the Lord. God has used her to speak to many women who are struggling and she has countless opportunities to use the story of her sin for His glory. 


I felt blessed to be there and I am so glad that I went. 


 And He said to me,“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

1 Corinthians 12:9-10

If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

1 John 1:8-10

I think we often forget how sinful we are. We loose sight of how imperfect and dysfunctional we are, that we lie and bend the truth, cheat or steal, look down our noses or judge, and that we are no better than the person sitting to our right or left. 


I like this story in John chapter 8, it always knocks me on the head and gives me some perspective. 



 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.
“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”
They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.
When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”
“No, Lord,” she said.
And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

John 8:3-11

There are none of us that are sinless.  


 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 3:23


as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;

Romans 3:10

We need to remember that we are not sinless for 2 key reasons:


1.  So that we never forget the grace that God has poured out over us time and again. 


For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 

Ephesians 2:8-9

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

Romans 5:8

2. So that we can show and offer God's grace to others. 


Who are you to tell another person’s servant if he is right or wrong? It is to his owner that he does good or bad. The Lord is able to help him.

Romans 14:4

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Matthew 7:3-5


I hope that made sense to you.  I am a little rusty and these thoughts have been bouncing around for a long time. ( No wonder God has been smacking me in the face with it over and over, he didn't want me to forget it) 



“The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, 
And give you peace.”’

Blessings. 


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