We aren’t called to be perfect, we’re called to be redeemed.

Subtitle: The simple truth about the love of God.

I know some people who have screwed up in their lives. We all do, we all have. Many times though, our failures are used by the enemy to make us feel like we aren’t worthy to come to God.

The other day I thought to spend some time with God in prayer, but a voice in my head said “No, you’re not worthy to come to God, not by the way you treat him. You neglect him so frequently, why should he accept you?”

For a moment I paused and believed the lies, then I pushed through that and in my time communicating with the father I was reminded of the ceaseless unchanging love and mercy of God.

Whether your failures are of the flesh or the Spirit, God isn’t waiting for you to clean up your act before you can come to him. In fact, the bible says “…there is none righteous, no not one…”, and “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.

The well don’t need a doctor.

Jesus was once eating with some questionable people when some of the religious leaders turned up their nose at them. Upon seeing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the well, but the sick that are in need of a doctor.”

Jesus, the son of God, the author of our faith, intentionally met with, communed with and redeemed the screw ups. That’s what’s so fantastic about our story. Jesus wants to redeem us, right now, as we are, in the middle of all our mess. In fact, he WANTS to glorify us in the midst of it. God wants to do a life-changing, tremendous work in all of us, how can he glorify himself in your mess if you spend all your time cleaning it up?

In the entire Bible, I can’t think of one instance where God required a person to “clean up his act” before he would use them. In fact, Moses, Abraham, David, and most of the heroes of our faith were screwups. Moses killed a man, Abraham didn’t trust God and got another woman pregnant just in case God didn’t come through for him. David committed adultery and second-hand murder to cover his sins. Do these sound like completely righteous people to you? They weren’t but God used them and glorified their messes to produce people who were steadfastly about his work.

My wife was walking around the house this morning singing a familiar tune. A tune I had heard many times before in my life and never realized the beauty, truth and clarity contained in those age-old words. You’ve probably heard this old hymn, but read and meditate on the words below.

“Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!”
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
“Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Great is his faithfulness. Even when we are faithless. And I’m here to tell you this, as a person who frequently struggles with faithlessness. God is not waiting for us to be perfect, instead, he is waiting for us to let him perfect us.

When you are tempted to get your act together, don’t. God wants to redeem your mess. He wants to show you just how powerful, how wonderful, how abundant he is.

Let Him.

More coming soon.