Hey, everybody. It's been a few days since I've blogged. I've been working, hanging out with the girls in the evenings while my wife is at work. I've been trying to do a lot of praying, more Bible study, and I've been thinkin'. A lot. My mind hurts. My heart hurts. And tonight, for whatever reason, my back hurts.
I was just considering some people in the Bible, and realizing that many of those who we think of as great people, some even great warriors for the Lord, had pretty bad things in their past. Yet God was able to use them. Gives me hope for me. And you. Everybody really. Think about it...
Moses killed a man once. David committed and adulterous act with a woman, and then had her husband killed; At least one of the twelve disciples, Simon, was a zealot(a political/religous sect who advocated violence as a means of overthrowing the Romans); some of Jesus' key followers had been demon possessed, even one, I believe was a prostitute; one man had been a tax collector, but when he met Jesus he decided to sell his things and give back to those from whom he had stolen; Peter denied the Lord, THREE TIMES!!!; the Apostle Paul, when he was still known as Paul, had persecuted, and wreaked havoc on the church, even having Christians arrested, and stood and held the coats of the men who stoned Brother Stephen, consenting unto his death. Isn't God's grace a wonderful thing? God is just. That is true. But He also is merciful. We cannot forget that. Some didn't want to trust Paul at first, but look how God used him. He was the chiefest of sinners, in his own words. It was under the blood.
Thank God for redemption, for Grace, and Mercy.
God bless you all...
Brother Donnie
6 comments:
Brother Donnie, I can't tell you what a blessing this post was to me -- THANK YOU. I've thought of several of those things recently myself, but not all of them at once! I, too, have been overwhelmed at the grace of God that can take a dirty, rotten sinner and transform him into a wonderful and faithful man of God, fit for the kingdom of heaven. We see it over and over again in scripture, and He's the same God now as He was then. What a reason to rejoice! Thanks again.
Amen, Coach, AMEN!
Hey, Brother Donnie. I hadn't visited your site in a while. This post was also a blessing to me, for obvious reasons. God is SO merciful, and although I know I'm unworthy of His forgiveness, He loved me anyway and the blood of Jesus was shed to wash ME from MY sins, then He forgot all about them. How could I ever be worthy of that, and how could I ever repay Him? All I can do is endeavor to be LIKE Him. All together now, sing, "To be like Jesus, to be like Jesus; all I ask is to be like Him. All through life's journey, from earth to Glory, all I ask is to be like Him." Beautiful!
Now let's all turn to page 305 in the blue book and sing...
"In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine, A won-drous beau-ty I see; For 'twas on that old cross Je-sus suf-fered and died, To par-don and sanc-ti-fy me.
So I'll cher-ish the old rug-ged cross, Till my tro-phies at last I lay down; I will cling to the old rug-ged cross, And ex-change it some day for a crown."
Thank you, Jesus...
When I think about those lyrics, it just reminds me so much that all any of us can do is just trust ourselves to the mercy of the one who gave His only begotten Son to die for us at Calvary. If He hadn't died, we could not live! We must never, ever forget the cross! We must ever be mindful of the one who bore our sins, who BECAME sin for us...Thank God! Thank God!!
"Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." II Corinthians 9:15
God bless you all, and keep your chin up...
Brother Donnie
Keep my chin up. Okay. I've also been told to keep a still upper lip. Sometimes my bottom lip quivers but my upper lip is pretty much holding still. ;-) I can also pass the same advice on to you and your wife. God is going to bring us through this storm victoriously.
I think that's a "stiff" upper lip, Ma, not still. And since it's so fitting, how can I resist??? --
"So when evil is afoot and you haven't got any arms, you've got to use your head. And when evil is ahead and you're behind, you gotta get a leg up. So keep your chin up, and be hip!"
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