Journey of Shawn Peoples' Walk in Grace!

    As I was reading Philippians chapter one, something continues to ring in my head: "God doesn't waste our suffering". In fact, God doesn't waste a thing He allows or does. Paul had written to the Philippians and one of the first things Paul says is that the Gospel is growing because of His suffering and trials. Tons of people were hoping in Jesus because God put or allowed Paul to suffer imprisonment. God had not overlooked the fact that Paul was hurting, but instead lived His life through Paul and the Holy Spirit showed even the Roman guards that they needed Jesus.     Many times in my life, I have begged God to relieve pain and suffering. Heck, there are times recently that I begged God to stop with the waiting games and give me a job. I know being jobless right now is not suffering, but it is the same mindset I had when I went through depression, struggled for significance in ministry and dealt with rejection. God has never wasted my suffering, even when I in...

The last year has been one glorious journey in seeing my relationship with Christ become intimate. As I am not currently in a ministry position, I am taking the time to prep sermons just in case the Lord journeys me back into church leadership. I have decided to study Philippians for sermon prep and for my personal growth. I am only 2 days in into Philippians and am having a sweet time in the first 6 verses of Philippians. Today, I am both persuaded and being persuaded that Christ is not only the author and finisher of our faith, but He is the one who brings fruit. It is Christ that accomplishes the middle process. Pastor Tullian Tchividjian once said in his sermons through Colossians, "why do we as followers of Christ try to earn the right to keep our salvation when we never earned it in the first place?" (okay he might have said it differently but the thought is along the same line). Many of us (including me for many years), live in a way that we believe that we must make...