We all have dreams, aspirations, a call to greatness, a yearning to make a difference. Ask any five year old. They know what they want. You’ll here answers that vary. Some want to be ballerinas, basketball players, doctors, astronauts, rappers, dancers and the list goes on. They all have a great dream. We had those dreams. Mine included most of those already mentioned, plus be a painter, writer and all around creative genius. Then we grow up. What happens to our dreams? Do we just let life carry us away on a path that we never wanted? Do our experiences, failures and lack of recognition deflate our dreams? In retrospect, I would have made a poor astronaut; I get sick on carnival rides…and my artistic talent falls a tad short of genius; however I do have gifts and talents. I think that though some of our dreams are just that, dreams, we can still accommodate, or alter slightly, those dreams that just seem to hang on. They crop up when we least expect it, that something tugging at our heart, that quiet whisper. What is your dream?
“It does not take a perfect church to introduce a man to the perfect Christ.” -Richard Woodsome
Ok, so the title is deceiving, because there is no “Perfect Church,” at least in our eyes. To the Father, the Perfect Church is His children, who love Him with all their hearts, growing His Family. We are human. Period. We have our good days and bad days. We can be the most wonderful person you ever met, and the next day is a pain in the neck. Truth. However, if we walk in love, forgiving each other our faults, and errors, then we can still fulfill God’s purpose for His Church here on this messed up place. We don’t have to be perfect to serve God. Look at Peter, David, Moses, the list goes on, they were by no means perfect, but all were used mightily by God. (For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God — and righteousness and sanctification and redemption — that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.” NKJV I Corinthians 1:26-31) It’s pretty simple. I am foolish, weak and base, so God will use me! We cannot leave the Church because there are imperfect people there. A wise man once told me that if there was a perfect church as soon as he started attending, it wouldn’t be perfect anymore! We also cannot use our faults and failures as an excuse to stop serving God, or to not even start. Our imperfections should drive us to lean on the “Perfect Christ”! Next time the enemy, whether it is your own flesh, or the devil, tries to tell you that you are messed up, just tell them to SHUT UP! And keep doing whatever it is that Our Father has asked us to do. Walk in the strength of the Holy Spirit, and trust Him to lead you rightly.
a powerful story.