Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mac . I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day . So grab your cup of coffee , sit back , relax and let me help you start your day right .
Good morning Johnny Mac here filling in again for Danny Mac . I really enjoy woodworking . I have a wood shop in the bottom floor of my house that I share with my father-in-law , who is also into it .
I like taking something simple like pine boards and turning them to a dining room table , or maybe something a little nicer like a block of padauk and turning that into a jewelry box for my wife . I even like to watch YouTube videos of woodworking , and some of the best ones that I have ever seen are of Japanese joinery .
The things these guys can do , usually with just a saw , a chisel and a mallet , are amazing . Everything needs to be so precise and it can take a long time to get it all just right so that it will all come together perfectly , but the end result is something truly beautiful to behold .
The other night , as I was watching one of these videos , my wife pointed out to me that they're a lot like our lives , and that got us talking . Jesus , who himself was a carpenter , comes in and works on us much the same way these Japanese masters do .
Sometimes it can be painful , as he asks us to remove something that we don't want to let go of , but the end result is that we can walk in what God has planned for us of . But the end result is that we can walk in what God has planned for us .
In his letter to the Ephesians , the Apostle Paul wrote in chapter 2 , verse 10 , for we are God's handiwork , created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do . You and I are God's handiwork and things might be uncomfortable right now , but that just means that God is still working .
He's taking the chisel and he's shaving off what needs to come off . He might be using the saw and cutting away something a little bit bigger . I know in my life sometimes it feels like he's using the mallet , but it just means that he's working .
Leighton Ford , the brother-in-law of Billy Graham , who traveled and preached with him for decades , once said God loves us the way we are , but too much to leave us that way Now . I don't know your circumstances . I don't know what you're currently facing . I don't know what you're going through , but I do know that the master carpenter is at work .
He's shaping everything up to come together perfectly and just like that Japanese joinery . The end result is going to be something beautiful to behold . I don't know where the saying originated from . I only remember my dad saying it and I'm not crediting it to him . As much as I love you , dad , I'm pretty sure it's from somewhere else .
It to him as much as I love you , dad , I'm pretty sure it's from somewhere else . But the thing is , if you're not dead , god is not done , and that's what I want to leave you with today . If you're not dead , god is not done . He is at work in your life and he is working things out for you .
Thank you for joining us today , and I invite you to join us every Monday to Friday , right here at Starting Right , with Danny Mac .