No one is too anything for God.
Now obviously this needs to be explained, but not too much, because I bet you get the gist. The idea would be to throw up any obstacle that you think might disqualify you for a relationship with God, such as “No one is too bad for God.” Or “No one is too stubborn… ornery… unfaithful… immoral… ugly… sinful… stupid… too anything for God.”
I still remember when Chandler was much younger and we witnessed a rainbow, and he blurted out, “I think that means God’s happy.”
I know a story about a Christian who was being harassed by an atheist for her beliefs. After the atheist gave some compelling reasons for his disbelief in God, the Christian replied, “Good, we’re both believers then.” The atheist, quite shocked by that statement, asked the Christian what she meant by calling him a believer. The Christian went on to explain, “Look, since we both have strong reasons for our beliefs, why don’t we sit down and talk about them.”
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Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:2)
If every stranger you met were a potential angel, how would you treat strangers? Pretty well, I would guess. We typically treat people we know with a level of respect and honor. What this verse suggests is that we should treat those we don’t know with the respect and honor you would give to an angel.
“Love ‘em all – Let God sort ‘em out.” This should be the mark of a Christian. Love everyone; leave the rest to God.
I am alive today because of God’s grace. The sun came up this morning because of God’s grace. The stars were out last night because of God’s grace. The breath I’m drawing into my lungs right now is because of God’s grace. Whatever health I enjoy right now, I enjoy because of God’s grace. I am forgiven of the sins I committed since I got up this morning because of God’s grace. I am forgiven of the sins I will commit today that I don’t even know about, because of God’s grace. I open God’s word today because God’s grace has given it to me. I can pray — I can have access to God’s presence right now — because of God’s grace. The birds are singing outside because of God’s grace. The car will start this morning because of God’s grace, and if it doesn’t, it will be God’s grace because of what it will teach me. There are a thousand natural and supernatural benefits we enjoy every day because of God’s grace. Most, if not all, of these phenomena go by unnoticed on a typical day.
On a park bench she sat looking
At the trees that lined the hill
Trying hard to find the words
When she knows she never will
So she watched the sad leaves shimmer
All innocent and shy
As she caught the golden sunset
In the corner of the sky
And I sat there with her wondering
Though she did not know my name
If she could see me smiling
And love me just the same
And I thought I saw a glimmer
Of all the years gone by
As I caught the golden sunset
In the corner of her eye
I searched for a man among them who would build up a wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. Ezekiel 22:30
One of our main goals here at the Catch is to help us all connect our faith to the real world. We need to learn what it is to think Christianly about everything. Unfortunately most Christians think Christianly about “Christian things” — things that are considered “Christian” already. But that is letting someone else do your thinking for you — trusting someone else to label what is “Christian” and what is not. That’s actually our job — ignore the labels and think Christianly about everything — to find truth everywhere.
Have you ever had a day when you ended up further behind than when you started? That was me yesterday. I actually spent half my day undoing what I did the first half of the day because no one told me what I did was not the best thing to do at the time. I was told later I needed to wait a couple months. (It would have been nice to have had that information ahead of time, but … oh well.) So now I am switching back phone carriers trying just to get back to where I was at the start of yesterday. I basically will be telling them today, “Make it like yesterday never happened.” Can they do that?
John Fischer The Catch 