"I've done too much for God to love me, much less use me."

 Have you ever thought that?  Said it?  Turned your back on God because you believed it?  Looked for life in other places because you were sure you had blown it too badly?  Today I want to look at one example that might help put some of those lies to rest.

Acts 7:23-24 says, "When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites.  He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian."  So Moses is a murderer.  He was defending someone else, but still, he killed someone.  

But then Stephen continues in verses 35-38, "This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.  He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.  This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’ He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us."  So God used him anyway.

If you study the life of Moses (which I recommend, read Exodus-Deuteronomy to get the whole picture), you will see that he made a lot of excuses.  He ran away.  He was afraid.  And yes, he was a killer.  But God . . .   I love those words.  Whenever you see them in scripture (or they are just implied in a life), you know that something awesome is going to happen.  Moses also rescued an entire nation from slavery.  We are talking as many as 2 million people (depending on the sources you use to figure the population).  Moses met with God.  Met.  With.  God.  Himself.  Wow!  He was God's chosen leader.  He even was chosen to meet with Christ on earth (Matthew 17:3).  Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible.  He guided the people to the Promised Land.  This is a man who was loved by God and used by Him for amazing things.  

So how did Moses go from killer, excuse maker, and runner to leader, author, and prophet?  He repented and believed.  He let go and let God be in charge.  And God changed him and then He changed the world through him.  

Don't let Satan shackle you with his lies!  No matter where you have been, what you have done, as long as you have breath in your body you can surrender to Christ, believe He paid the price for those sins and they are forgiven.  Then move forward in surrender and watch God work.