Where Would I Be Without Trust in God's Faithfulness?

I was praying recently and thanking God for all of the ways that He has been faithful in my life. I was thinking of all of the "little" things that He had done for me, as well as some of the big ways in which He was working. While I was praying, I got to thinking about how hard it would be if I didn't trust in God, if I didn't believe in His faithfulness.

I am writing about a character right now who has had a lot of bad things happen in his life and who is doubting God because of all that has happened. I know that there are people out there who are living just like him, those who are hurting because of all that has gone wrong and who don't believe that God truly is faithful and good. I feel for such people and I cannot imagine how scary life must be for them. I cannot imagine living without believing that God knows what He is doing and will always be faithful.

I think about my life and I know that I have not come through all of the hard stuff that others have come through. If I were to lose someone close to me in a tragic way, would I doubt God? I don't know how I would respond if I was put in a very tough situation, but I really hope that I will always cling tight to God. I know that if I don't do that, if I stop believing in His faithfulness, then I will have no reason to keep on living and no way of moving on.

By Emily Acker, co-author of No Longer Broken

God Uses Imperfect People For His Good

God uses imperfect people for his good.

He uses imperfect people to make his plans turn out perfectly.

We are all human. There is no way to change that. We are never going to be good enough, no matter how much good we do.

We are always going to fail. We are always going to feel that we have let God down.

But the important thing is that we get back up again. That we try harder the next time.

God wants to use us for his good. But he doesn't require perfection from us. He wants us to be willing to help orphans and widows, to love our enemies. But he doesn't hold this over our heads and say that if we do it we'll get into heaven, and if not, we won't.

No. God is all about grace.

He loves us no matter what.

But he does want us to follow his plan.

Imperfections and all, God has accepted us. He has loved us. He knows what we are capable of, and he knows our doubts.

He is there to help us. And we should be willing to help him. To be his hands and feet here on earth.

We will never be perfect, no matter how hard we try.

But maybe that doesn't matter.

Because God uses imperfect people for his good.

To all perfection I see a limit, but your commands are boundless.
Psalm 119:96


By Bethany Acker, Co-Author of No Longer Broken

Two Reminders About Love - Happy Valentine's Day

Two reminders this Valentine's Day...

God is love. 

His love his perfect. 

He loves unconditionally.

We should love like God does. 

To be more like him, to love more like him...

that should always be our goal. On Valentine's day or otherwise.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 

John 13:34

Happy Valentine's day!

By Bethany Acker, Co-Author of No Longer Broken

We Can't Earn Our Way Into Heaven.

It's not up to us to earn our way into Heaven.

It's not good works that are going to get us there.

How could we believe that anything that we could do would be good enough to earn God's love? To earn a place in his Kingdom?

He doesn't give up on us when we disobey him. He loves us.

He doesn't give us grace because we are good enough or because we deserve it. He gives us his grace and salvation because he is perfect.

God is perfect.

He doesn't expect us to be perfect.

He doesn't ask us to do good things to earn his love.

He loves us always.

We are blessed by his love always.

There is nothing that we could do that would separate us from his love.

God is there for us.

He saved me because he wanted to. Not because I am good enough.

He loved me because he created me and wanted me. Not because I am worthy of his love.

We can't earn our way into Heaven. Only God's grace and mercy will get us there.

He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. 
Titus 3:5


By Bethany Acker, Co-Author of No Longer Broken