Make A Message out of your Messes
As I give thought to the meditation this week entitled “How to make a message out of your messes,” I am reminded of a quote by Billy Graham “a person has two great spiritual needs, one is for forgiveness and the other is for goodness.” In my mental search on this matter I also remembered a message by Og Mandino in his book The Greatest Salesman in the World. The quote says “Today I began a new life. Today I shed my old skin which hath too long suffered the bruises of failure and the wounds of mediocrity.” Og goes on to say that “today I am born anew and my birthplace is a vineyard where there is fruit for all.”
I have often written that no matter where you are or what you have done that Jesus Christ accepts you just as you are, the only condition is this: that you go and sin no more. In this information age of which we live, it is no secret that there are no secrets. When we find ourselves looking over our shoulder or searching for comments on facebook to see if we are part of the latest scandal, it is with deep sadness that our lives are reduced to one of reserve instead of one of passive innovation. Jesus says go and sin no more, he does not say hide in a corner so that you can never make a mistake. Our character is molded from the experiences we encounter and Jesus is the encourager of those experiences.
Consider the parable of the talents, when the boss gives three men certain amounts of money and tells them that while he is away go out and invest so that he may gain profit from their ventures. As you know the story tells us that two of the men invested wisely and were greatly rewarded for their efforts. The third hid the money in fear he may lose it by unwise investments. I think you know how the story ended. The two that were willing to make mistakes were given much and the one that feared loss was eternally punished. Friends the message is in the risk; it is in the mess; it is in the reform of humanity.
The greatest message from a mess ever told was the Saul to Paul conversion or it is the greatest message until now. If you believe that God created you to be the greatest miracle in the world then you must believe that the greatest conversion story and greatest message from a mess ever told comes from you.
Peace and love
Dale Childress
I have often written that no matter where you are or what you have done that Jesus Christ accepts you just as you are, the only condition is this: that you go and sin no more. In this information age of which we live, it is no secret that there are no secrets. When we find ourselves looking over our shoulder or searching for comments on facebook to see if we are part of the latest scandal, it is with deep sadness that our lives are reduced to one of reserve instead of one of passive innovation. Jesus says go and sin no more, he does not say hide in a corner so that you can never make a mistake. Our character is molded from the experiences we encounter and Jesus is the encourager of those experiences.
Consider the parable of the talents, when the boss gives three men certain amounts of money and tells them that while he is away go out and invest so that he may gain profit from their ventures. As you know the story tells us that two of the men invested wisely and were greatly rewarded for their efforts. The third hid the money in fear he may lose it by unwise investments. I think you know how the story ended. The two that were willing to make mistakes were given much and the one that feared loss was eternally punished. Friends the message is in the risk; it is in the mess; it is in the reform of humanity.
The greatest message from a mess ever told was the Saul to Paul conversion or it is the greatest message until now. If you believe that God created you to be the greatest miracle in the world then you must believe that the greatest conversion story and greatest message from a mess ever told comes from you.
Peace and love
Dale Childress
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