AS YOU ARE

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

I was standing in back of the stage last night listening to Debbie sing this little lyric.

“He's not mad at you

He's not disappointed

His grace is greater still,

than all of your wrong choices

He is full of mercy and he is ever kind

Hear his invitation, His arms are open wide

You can come as you are,

with all your broken pieces

And all your shameful scars

The pain you hold in your heart,

bring it all to Jesus

You can come as you are

Louder than the voice that whispers your unworthy

Hear the sound of love,

that tells a different story

Shattering your darkness and pushing through the lies

How tenderly he calls you,

His arms are open wide

You can come as you are,

with all your broken pieces

And all your shameful scars

The pain you hold in your heart,

bring it all to Jesus

You can come as you are”

Tells a beautiful story doesn’t it?

It did for me last night.

It does for me today.

I am so grateful that GOD still loves me and is still willing to let me be used in spite of all of my scar tissue, my lies, my unworthiness and my myriad of pitiful choices. I don't quite understand it, but I needed to hear that amazing truth last night and to be honest again this morning from His word.

Ephesians 2

In the past you were spiritually dead because of your sins and the things you did against God. Yes, in the past your lives were full of those sins. You lived the way the world lives, following the ruler of the evil powers that are above the earth. That same spirit is now working in those who refuse to obey God. In the past all of us lived like that, trying to please our sinful selves. We did all the things our bodies and minds wanted. Like everyone else in the world, we deserved to suffer God’s anger just because of the way we were. But God is rich in mercy, and he loved us very much. We were spiritually dead because of all we had done against him. But he gave us new life together with Christ. (You have been saved by God’s grace.) Yes, it is because we are a part of Christ Jesus that God raised us from death and seated us together with him in the heavenly places. God did this so that his kindness to us who belong to Christ Jesus would clearly show for all time to come the amazing richness of his grace.

Maybe you too have been feeling “less than worthy” lately. Maybe the mistakes have been piling up. Maybe the scars have you feeling ugly and "unpresentable".

Take heart today!

GOD loves ALL of you; IN SPITE of you in fact. So don’t fear Him. Instead, be willing to bring all of it and ALL OF YOU to Jesus. His arms are open, His heart is willing.

Grace is waiting.

Just come as you are.

God loves you that way.

I love you all…

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney