More than anything I want God to use me to ______________.

“His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.” – Acts 7:58.

In Acts 8:3, we read, “But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church.  He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.”

 “Saul, Saul!  Why are you persecuting me?” – Acts 9:4.

Saul asks, “Who are you, lord?” – Acts 9:5.

And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!  Now, get up and go into the city, and you will be told what to do.” – Acts 9:5.

How sad if some of us think God looks at us and sees an overdue expiration date.

When it comes to serving God, many people have the attitude of, “God doesn’t want me.  Not after what I’ve done.”

Coming to the end of me means allowing Jesus to put an end to the guilt and shame of the past.  He deletes your permanent record and offers you a new beginning with a new purpose.

Through Christ, God refuses to look at our past.  That’s all been handled, set right, and paid for.  God wants us to forget what is behind and move forward toward what is ahead.

God determines your future, not others.  If God says go, then go.

“’But Lord,’ said Ananias, ‘I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem!  And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.” – Acts 9:13-14.

The Lord replies in the next verse. “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.” – Acts 9:15.

His plan and His will are all that matter, because the lesson He’s teaching almost always flips our assumptions on their head.

Maybe it’s your turn.  Jesus has a message for you.  It has nothing to do with your qualifications.  It has to do with coming to the end of yourself, because that’s when God can use you in the very best way.  By his grace, and by nothing you can offer, HE CHOOSES YOU.

It’s actually one of God’s favorite strategies.  Your “disqualifier” becomes God’s qualifier.

In 1st Corinthians 1:18, Paul writes, “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction!  But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.”

The end of me, the gutter and grave of my life experience, is where I encounter the power and redemption of God, who is glorified through the writer of that great hymn Amazing Grace, John Newton’s slave trading and Saul the hunter, who tried to destroy the church and then spearhead its expansion throughout the known world.

No way to argue with the biblical account and God’s track record after that – He can use anybody, even you.  But we have last excuse card to play: “I’m not ready!”

If you wait until you’re ready to do something, you’re never going to do whatever it is you’re called to do, because you’ll never be ready.

Just jump!  Jump BEFORE YOU’RE READY TO JUMP.

 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” – 2nd Timothy 1:7.

When God chooses you, He equips you. Every time.

Get to the end of yourself and you’ll find you are in the right place to be used significantly by God.

What’s your point of disqualification?  How is God going to use it?