Since my dad has been sick, I have spent a lot of time thinking about the past. I think we are apt to do that when we look at how our relationship has been with someone we might be losing soon. As those thoughts arise, there are some things that I am not particularly proud of - even though somehow, God has used those very things to soften my heart - and make it so that I have trouble throwing stones, since I live in a glass house. That doesn't mean I am not an ass at times - 'cause I'll be the first to admit, it is not always easy to love me.
Yesterday, I heard a message by Max Lucado - who is just exceptionally gifted at telling storied to help you see the way things really are. He mentioned how things like guilt and feelings of worthlessness are tools of The Enemy - whose entire purpose is to make us feel like there is no point in behaving because we have screwed up so much already. He's pretty good at that. Then he said that God uses the memories of the past to help us see how very much we have been blessed - how our heart has softened -how our lives have progressed - how our thoughts have shifted - how very good life is even on a bad day.
I thought I would share this with you today because there was a time where the last thing I needed was to hear another sermon - and rather than hearing about how punitive God was, I needed to hear about how He really worked - how He loved me enough to put up with the days that I am an ass - and Max Lucado teaches that. His books have moved me - and I buy them nearly as fast as he can write them - his messages are available online -Upwords - or you can click the link above and check them out.
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