TIM'S STORY

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)

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

Timothy Keller surmised that, “God sees us as we are, loves us as we are, and accepts us as we are. But by His grace, He does not leave us as we are.  Therefore, the gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.

Isn’t that reassuring?

I think so.

It is a truth that I most certainly need, especially on those less than lovable type days.  How about you?

I had the pleasure of journeying to Parkersburg, WV this past Saturday for something called the MOVEMENT 3.  It is a “festival type” gathering created and hosted by a good friend Tim Craft.

Tim’s story is a remarkable one.

12 years of hard-core addiction.

The loss of a sister to overdose.

An attempted yet failed suicide.

Hopeless.

Yet now REDEEMED, RECOVERED and RENEWED!

GOD’s grace intersected a lonely, despondent, broken Tim in a hotel room in Beckley West Virginia.  After consuming what he thought was enough dope to kill him, GOD through a miraculous intervention and some praying friends REMINDED Tim that despite his sin and his flaws he was still loved and that grace, amazing grace, could turn the tide.

Tim believed that he was unlovable.

Tim believed that GOD’s grace certainly wasn’t for him.

But GOD believed something different. (Christ proved God’s passionate love for us by dying in our place while we were still lost and ungodly! – Romans 5:8 (TPT)

Today that grace has allowed Tim to open a men’s recovery home with some more on the way.  That love has infused Tim with a passion to seek and save the lost as evidenced by 7 more baptisms at his event on Saturday.  Those flaws and that pain has been transformed into a MESSAGE of HOPE that has launched ministry in North Carolina and the Philippines.

Tim is a new creation and he is dedicated to spreading love and sharing grace each day.

I share Tim’s story today to encourage you.  Perhaps you are feeling a bit unlovable today.  Perhaps you feel as though you drifted beyond the grip of GOD’s grace.

If that is the case, just remember my friend Tim and remember this from GOD Himself…My grace is always more than enough for you. 2 Corinthians 12:9 (TPT)

Love you all…

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE