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If I were to get to know those who
know you best and ask them all the questions I could think of about you,
I would get to know you very well, wouldn’t I? Well, then it stands to
reason that if we get to know God’s best friends real well, we will get
to know a whole lot about God, won’t we? Let’s then make some
observations of those that he used, each in a mighty way. I call them,
“God’s Dirty Dozen.”
First, we have Abraham. His parents were idolaters and I’m sure as a
young man, you could see him with his Watch Tower Magazine under one arm
and the Pearl of Great Price book under the other, being chauffeured in
his stretch limo to the nearest name-it claim-it, go-go cult of carnal
hustlers in the name of Allah. And yet, god used him to emerge as the
father of the chosen nation.
Now we know that Joseph didn’t do it. Potipher’s wife knows he didn’t do
it. God knows he didn’t do it. And we all know he didn’t do it. But when
Joseph filled out the application to be Prime Minister of Egypt it read,
“Have you ever been convicted of a felony?” He was an ex-con with a
record of being a sex offender and yet God used him in a mighty way.
Let’s also remember Moses. He looked both ways, killed the Egyptian with
his bare hands and then had the audacity to dig a hole and bury him in
broad daylight in front of witnesses. That is a classic, premeditated,
first degree murder! If that happened today, he would be on death row
awaiting execution. And yet, God used him in a mighty way.
And what about David? He didn’t have the guts to assassinate so he
ordered a hit man to knock off Bathsheba’s husband so that they could
keep their torrid love affair going. David should have had a jail cell
next to Moses! And yet, God used him in a mighty way.
Do you really think the Priestess Rahab went around the temple
genuflecting and lighting holy candles? Of course not! She was a temple
prostitute that sold her body for dirty money just like any two-bit
trash on the waterfront. And yet, God used her in a mighty way.
“If the children turn out bad, it must mean that the parents weren’t any
good!” It ain’t necessarily so. There aren’t any fathers that raised
their sons worse than Eli and Samuel and yet God used them both in a
mighty way.
And have you ever heard the saying, “When the going gets tough, the
touch get going?” Some Christians have turned tail and ran when the Lord
needed them the most. Just like Mark did, so quickly that he left his
clothing in the clutches of a cop and escaped naked.! And yet, God used
him in a mighty way.
Can you imagine saying, “No, dammit! I have never known this criminal
named Jesus!” God forbid, it would never leave my lips even in the
torment of torture. But with the gentle pressure of a teenage servant
girl, Peter the Rock, turned into a little pebble when he denied the
Lord quicker than a New York heartbeat, not once but three times within
a couple of hours. His eyes met those to his Lord and he realized the
shallowness of his commitment. And yet, God used him in a mighty way.
I am blessed that Paul did not divulge to us the gruesome particulars of
all the atrocities he inflicted on blameless Christians or I would be
less given to read and study his Epistles. I suspect that I might
forgive him but I would not forget. The captivity, injustice and even
annihilation of these gentle souls might possibly raise a doubt about
Paul’s conversion experience. Was he beyond being saved? And yet, God
used him in a mighty way.
If you have been counting, that’s just ten. Including you and I, it
makes an even dozen. My life was so depraved that I cursed God, shook my
fist at heaven and demanded that if He existed, to kill me to end the
nightmare I was living.
He saved me that night and I have been sharing the Gospel in jails and
prisons ever since.
And what about you?
Mission Gate Ministry
PO Box 6644
Chesterfield MO 63005
636-391-8560
MissionGteMinistry@msn.com
www.MissionGateMinistry.org
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