{"id":163,"date":"2019-09-26T13:46:37","date_gmt":"2019-09-26T17:46:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tomme-stevenson.com\/website\/?p=163"},"modified":"2020-01-18T11:57:52","modified_gmt":"2020-01-18T16:57:52","slug":"i-am-not-billy-graham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomme-stevenson.com\/website\/i-am-not-billy-graham\/","title":{"rendered":"I am not Billy Graham"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Overcoming\nthe Old Me in Finding Purpose<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovering\nand chasing our purpose can be daunting. We not only have to deal with the\nuncertainty of what it is, we also have to struggle with why God would choose\nus in the first place.  I cannot think of\na single thing more damaging than a person thinking they are not worthy of their\nassignment. We need to stop believing that God would never choose us for great\nthings. This is especially true if we have never stepped out in faith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To a Christian, being worthy is kind of a contradiction. \u201cWe are saved by grace not by work so that none may boast\u201d (Ephesians 2:9<\/strong>) There is an unworthiness about us that we cannot deny. It is our sin nature that caused God to come to earth in the image of a man to be humiliated and hung on a cross for our sins. For that we are truly and totally unworthy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nunworthiness I am talking about here is that small voice in your head that\ntells you, because of your old sin you will never accomplish anything great for\nHis kingdom. Never. People will always see the old you, the sinner and say\n\u201cunderneath, deep down inside, you are that person\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

David\nlaments in Ecclesiastes 7:20<\/strong> \u201cSurely there is not a righteous man on\nearth who does good and never sins.\u201d Paul goes on to say in Romans 7:19<\/strong>\n\u201cFor the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do,\nthat I practice\u201d We are broken. We start to believe the great Christians who\nhave led hundreds of thousands to Christ are somehow better. More theologically\neducated, more morally upright, more indwelt by the Spirit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But 2\nCorinthians 5:17<\/strong> says \u201cTherefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new\ncreature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come\u201d. I am not\nthat old me. I still struggle with the ghost of my old sin. It is not so much a\nfear of going back, as it is a haunting of being there in the first place. I am\nwashed clean by Christ\u2019s blood, but I can\u2019t forget. This living in the past is\nwhat can stop me from moving forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the\nproblems I have with writing this blog is \u201chow can someone with my background\nhave the audacity to publish articles on how to find your true passion in\nChrist.\u201c. If you follow my lead, it is going to take you about forty years and\na there will be lot of collateral damage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Do I\nMove Forward?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is how\nI do it. I do it by admitting I am not Billy Graham. I (me, not you) will never\nfoster a worldwide movement or start a theological seminary. There is a good\nchance no one will remember my name. Ah but one will\u2026. God will always know my\nname and my heart\u2026 I do it because God sees us in a way that we can never see\nourselves. King David, wow, he and Bathsheba\u2026 and Bathsheba\u2019s husband\u2026. Paul,\nattacking the early church, attacking?… persecuting the early church\u2026  Moses, killed a man and had to go into hiding.\nEveryone has a past. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier I have talked about \u201cEach current season using the last season to build toward the next season\u201d. God does not waste anything. He will use who we were to make us who He wants us to be.  It is the trials, failures and frustration that gives us compassion and empathy for the lost. It is what we went through to find grace that causes us to pursue others. We are seasoned warriors on the battle field of life. Without our scars we would lack credibility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was\nin the prison yard, I was surrounded by a couple thousand inmates. They were\natheists, agnostics, Wiccans, Muslims, and some Christians. I realized that it\nwas my past that gave me credibility to talk about their future. Many felt\ntheir sins were beyond redemption. It was because I had sinned and continued to\nstruggle with sin that gave them hope for redemption. My redemption is the\nstory of their redemption. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing\nthis makes me think of this quote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, every\ntime I witness a strong person I want to know: \u201cwhat darkness did you conquer\nin your story? \u201c, mountains do not rise without earthquakes. \u2013 Katherine\nMacKenett<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God is our\nearthquake. He and He alone can rise us up above who we were to become a\nmovement for Him. We may only be a movement of one, but the ripple effect\nthrough eternity will make God jump with joy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have\nnot seen \u201cThe Bema\u201d, by Tim Stevenson, you should. Here is the link The Bema<\/a> . It is a fictional reenactment of 2 Corinthians\n5:10<\/strong> \u201cFor we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each\nreceive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly\nbody.\u201d For a Christian the judgement here is not about our sin, but about what\nwe have done for Christ since we knew Him.  It refers to the Crowns given by Christ to\nthose who have done His will (2 Timothy 4:7-8, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, 1\nThessalonians 2:19, 20, James 1:12<\/strong>). It does a great job of demonstrating\nthe many ways we can further God\u2019s kingdom here on earth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We do not\nhave to be Billy Graham; we just need to be the person God made us to be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1\nCorinthians 10:13 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo\ntemptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he\nwill not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he\nwill also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discovering and chasing our purpose can be daunting. We not only have to deal with the uncertainty of what it is, we also have to struggle with why God would choose us in the first place. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,6],"tags":[12,13,9],"class_list":["post-163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-motivation","category-purpose","tag-christian","tag-motivational","tag-purpose"],"yoast_head":"\nI am not Billy Graham - Tomme Stevenson<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tomme-stevenson.com\/website\/i-am-not-billy-graham\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I am not Billy Graham - Tomme Stevenson\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discovering and chasing our purpose can be daunting. 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