If you accept Jesus, you are complete.

Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and [b]through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses. Acts 13:38-39

By: Carol McClain @carol_mcclain

I was raised in a church tradition that never offered complete eradication of sin. Always a stain remained and sacrifices had to be made to cleanse myself.

Then I found Jesus. Unfortunately the church I joined enjoyed its own set of rules in its quest for holiness.

Did you have a gift of teaching? In order to utilize it, you first had to prove yourself. Try scrubbing bathrooms.

Were you a faithful member? Prove it. Sell what you have and give to the body.

Believe in healing but didn't receive it? Check your faith. The healer, prophet, preacher wasn't wrong, you were lacking.

Silly me followed this dictate. It bled into my perfectionist tendencies. And I lost sight of the truth of the gospel.

If you accept Jesus Christ, you are complete. 

1. You do not have to volunteer to work in a church. 
2. You do not have to crawl up steps on your knees. 
3. You do not have to run around making all things right. 
4. You do not have to fast for days on end.

If you accept Jesus Christ, you are complete.

Of course, we cannot ignore the book of James. Christ will transform us. We will serve others. We will make things right. We will demonstrate our faith by our works. However, working doesn't make us whole because it's grace that saved us.

If we fall back on the laws of Moses and man and find our justification there, then the whole of the law becomes ours to carry out. Blood sacrifices and all.

I'll choose grace.

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If you accept Jesus Christ, you are complete. (click to tweet)

No works necessary. You are complete in Christ. (click to tweet)

God's Love--True Love: 7 Attributes

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. I John 4:16

By: Carol McClain @carol_mcclain

My husband loved me before I loved him.

God's love is greater than man's.

Don't get me wrong, from our first date, I knew Neil was a man I could marry. We shared core (and not so core) values.

1. We loved God.
2. We loved art.
3. We were low-keyed and enjoyed home and nature and quiet things.
4. He was a good-looking man with beautiful straight teeth and this head of silver hair that begged for fingers to run through it.

Guess which of the above weren't enduring values?

He wanted to spend time with me. Flowers regularly showed up at my house. Gifts were purchased as he wooed me.

When he proposed, I was shocked. It wasn't that I didn't want to spend my life with him. I needed a little more time, a little more faith, a little more courage to make that leap. 

If a human can love like Neil when someone's love wavers, then God's love is MUCH greater.

God loved us before we loved Him.

Seven Characteristics of God's Love

1. Has no limits. There's nothing we can do or have done that will limit God's love. (Rom. 8:31-39)
2. Has no expectations. (Rom. 5:8)
3. Is not dependent on us.  (Jer. 1:5)
4. Has our ultimate good in mind. It's life changing. (Rom. 8:38)
5. Can't be earned. (Eph. 2:8-9)
6. It's sacrificial. (Phil. 2-7)
7. It's eternal. Nothing's ever going to separate us from his love. (Ps. 1360

Neil expected nothing from me. He loved me as I was. I never earned his love. For more than a dozen years, he's loved me through my foibles and strengths.

If a man can love so well but imperfectly, how much greater is God's perfect love? Quit trying to be perfect. Perfection will come on its own--through natural responses to God's love.

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Seven characteristics of God's love. (Click to tweet)

Perfection will come on its own--through natural responses to God's love. (Click to tweet)

Love--Not Perfection: What God Expects

 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:35

By: Carol McClain @carol_mcclain


A young friend was expecting her first baby. Family prepared a baby shower on a Sunday afternoon and, of course, all those she loved were invited. This included her church family from the small congregation she attended.

The shower began, but no one from said church arrived. Someone explained they might not be able to make it because they were holding a meeting. 

A woman from the congregation had left her husband, and was going to marry her former boyfriend. On this Sunday afternoon, this church met to disfellowship her. Blacklisting a former member of their body proved more important than the celebration of life for a vibrant, dedicated believer.

Sadly, this was not the first time I'd seen the church do this--once, they "excommunicated" a man who spoke out against what he saw as wrong with the body. He was no longer a member, having left several months prior. His wife still attended faithfully. (I couldn't figure out how she, as a member, could have no fellowship with the husband she lived with). 

At least one other time, this church blacklisted a former member.

This body of believers loved to brag about how it was on the "cutting edge" of God's will. In order to keep this status it would:

• fast regularly
• expect perfect attendance of all members to all functions
• expect members to adhere to every facet of its beliefs
• strive for excellence in all things

On the surface, these are good things. However, God only expects on thing--love. 

1. First, to love Him. After all, He created us because He wanted us. He loved us. 
2. Next, we are to love others.

Aren't these the two greatest commandments? (Matt. 22: 36-40).

Love never fails.

Humans are sinful. They hurt us and betray their Creator.

However, God restored us through love and His bloody, torturous sacrifice of becoming human and dying on the cross. Only through love can we restore the people in our lives.

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Love--not perfection: what God expects. (click to tweet)

Love never fails. (click to tweet)

7 Reasons To Not Compare Ourselves

"For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ" Gal. 1:10.

By: Carol McClain @carol_mcclain

My latest glass:
My best--but can't compare to
God's glory

My sister Marianne recently resumed her stained glass construction. This doesn't bode well for my ego because everything she does is exquisite. You can guarantee her solder seams will be as straight as a computer generated line. Her cuttings and piecing, her foiling and patinas will rival Tiffany's. Color selection and design will create a work of art.

And there'll be no stupid white flux lines like the ones plaguing my finished pieces.

And that has thrown me into the comparison game once more. My work does not match hers--and only non-stop practice on my part and quitting stained glass on her end will every bring my talent up to her level.

This whirligig of comparisons destroys my joy and knocks me off the path God has chosen for me to walk. No good thing can come from it. It's stupid--see 2 Cor. 10:12).

Do you do this?

Comparisons destroy our joy. They cause us to forget that God loves us just as we are. It's not our works that bring us salvation or divine love or a coveted spot in heaven.

Instead, we must remember, God has given us enough to be pleasing to Him. Isn't that ample?

Reasons we shouldn't compare ourselves with others:

1. Egotists do this. Do you want to be in the same category as a narcissist? (Phil. 2:3)
2. Whose approval are you seeking--God's or man's? (Gal. 1:10)
3. Is your calling the same as everyone else's? (Rom. 12:2)
4. Our talents are given by God. Do we rebuke Him because we're not on the same level as Mozart or Einstein? (1 Cor. 4:7)
5. Our jealousy causes divisions. (Jude 1:19)
6. What are our motives? Do we wish to lord it over others as the greatest? Jesus didn't, and He is God. (Luke 22: 24-27)
7. Our arrogance will treat others with contempt. (Luke 18: 9-14)

I have to remember--I may never rival Marianne. She'll never equal Tiffany. He can't compete with the Creator of the universe.

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God has given us enough to be pleasing to Him. (click to tweet)

The whirligig of comparisons destroys joy. (click to tweet)