I write of faith in God and of His greatness not because I’m a good or righteous man. It is exactly the opposite. It is because I know myself, how awful I have been, and how awful I remain. It is not that I have ascended a mountain and found God. It is quite the opposite. God pursued me and stayed with me in the sewers of my life. He has loved me when I have been most unlovable. He saved me and cleaned me because of who He is, not because of anything about me. God has loved me because God is in the business of loving. He cleaned me because He is righteous and He knows the beauty of righteousness, so He sent Jesus to provide my way to righteousness. He provided life to me when I was dead, giving me a life I cannot lose. Let it be known that I am still a wretch, unworthy of any good thing, yet, amazingly, He loves me. This unshakeable love from God cannot be explained by anything about me, but only by who He is. So, the words I share reveal nothing about me, but only about the greatness of Him. I am nothing, He is everything, and because He is, I, who deserve nothing, also have all. Romans 4:20-25 – 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
IHS 7/24/13