Conde Basey, MIT

1 Timothy 1:12-14 (NIV)

He Saw the Best In Me 

In the song "He Saw The Best In Me" Marvin Sapp says, "It doesn't matter what I did cause he only sees me for who I am." I am so thankful that unlike humankind God does not look at us from a perspective of what we have done; as the songwriter put it, "He looked beyond my faults and saw my needs."

The Apostle, who wrote this letter to Timothy, certainly knows what it means for God to see the best in someone. Paul was a highly educated man and a devout Jew. When it came to upholding the law Paul was one in whom no fault could be found. But Paul had a down side. In Paul's plight of pure religion he began to persecute the Christians. Paul, formerly known as Saul, was a feared man in his past, but now he is a revered man.

Just yesterday I was talking to a friend who 'knew me when.' She asked me, "What happened? The Conde I knew stayed in trouble." God happened! He saw in me what I knew was there, but was afraid to show to people. I was part of the in crowd. I received my calling at 17. I was so much in ‘with the crowd’, that unlike Paul, I refused to abandon all I was doing and go the way that God directed me. I must confess that it wasn't until just a few years ago that I began to totally walk in the path God had laid before me. I walked along the path, but not on it. And I must say since I began to walk on the path . . .

That is why often times when I preach I close with that great testimony that has been passed down through generations of black preachers...
"I was traveling on a downward road, no hat on my head and no shoes on my feet, no God on my side, no heaven in view, not fit to live, and too mean to die, the handcuffs of hell on my hands and the shackles of damnation on my feet. But God picked me up and turned me around, cut loose my stammering tongue, and sent me on my way. And ever since that day, I’m sometimes rising and I've been sometimes falling. I made my vow to the Lord that I will never turn back no more, I'm gonna run on to see what the ends go be".

Prayer 

Thank you God for seeing the best in me!!!

Thought for the day 

Start seeing yourself as God sees you and live accordingly.