“Celebrate God’s Time, Come On: Part II”

Last week I wrote about the need to celebrate the miracles that GOD is doing in our midst, as well as the need to celebrate our hope and faith in GOD’s miracle working power when we are going through difficult times. This revolves around the fact that we all have a story to share…a story we need to share…to help people connect their stories to the miracle working power of GOD!

One of the common misconceptions that non-believers have toward Christianity is that they think they have to be perfect in order follow Jesus. If there is anything that the Gospel teaches us is that Jesus loves us in spite of ourselves; meaning, we do not have to be perfect to follow Jesus, but respond to his invitation for relationship and strive to be more like Christ. Consider Jesus’ calling of his disciple Matthew (Matthew chapter 9). Matthew was a tax collector, qualifying for a sinner-stigma that was separate from the other classifications of ne’er-do-wells – think about how those in opposition to Jesus’ example of grace would say that He eats with tax collectors and sinners. The beauty is that Jesus didn’t care. At all. In fact, I think He loved it! What He knew and cared about is the fact that we all are in need of redemption! As He invested time and grace in Matthew, Matthew became one of the greatest champions for Jesus…even writing the Gospel of Matthew. Talk about having a story to share!

This brings me to the crux of my point – one of the greatest miracles that GOD performs is redeeming our lives, and therefore, redeeming our stories! Let’s face it: we all have so-called skeletons in our closets. For some, to hear that Christians have such circumstances in their pasts is an excuse to justify their judgments about Christians. In reality, though, if we allow GOD’s love, grace, and mercy to be magnified by our stories, we become a powerful testimony to what it means to follow Jesus. That, my friends, a story to share!

This brings to mind a bumper sticker I used to see around town a lot: “I’m not perfect, just forgiven.” This is true for each and every one of us, so let’s celebrate the miracle of GOD’s forgiveness. Let’s celebrate the miracle of GOD’s redemption! Let’s celebrate GOD’s redeeming our stories so we can share with others who might erroneously think that GOD cannot be for them. That is a powerful and profound way to share the powerful miracle of GOD’s love for you!