Jim as a Christian man serving my Church

Can God use me despite my sinful past? I have found that God uses unqualified people to accomplish God’s spiritual purposes. Here are the following God’s CHOSEN/CALLED unqualified people to serve Him.
1. Lot got drunk and committed incest.
2. Abraham doubted God and committed adultery.
3. Jacob deceived his father.
4. Moses murdered.
5. David murdered and committed adultery.
6. Jonah got angry with God (in a sinful way)
7. Paul (Saul) murdered Christians
8. All 12 of Jesus disciples were not qualified to be the Apostles however Jesus called them.

God will use ordinary good people as well as ordinary very sinful people to accomplish great things. Through out the history (in the past 2,000 years), God uses people of limitless backgrounds who can minister “together” (unity) for Christ. God works all things together for His purposes. I have learned that even though God does not always permit such serious life-changing situations in my life, but He did lead me into life-changing experiences that heighten my effectiveness in the ministry (or ministries) whenever and wherever He put me. God knows how to get results using people like me. I read somewhere that “There’s no higher calling in the world than to be an instrument of God’s grace.” (John MacArthur). God uses people with the right life experiences by putting them through the right spiritual directions and teaching them the right spiritual lessons. God knows my heart and He will honor my search for truth. God will use me as long as my heart is pure with proper motives. My goal is to concentrate on my present purity before God and allow Him to bless my future ministries whenever I may be involved as He sees fit. In God’s hands, I can be a wonderful and effective instrument in whatever I do for Him.

How can I get involved? This is my own "self-examination" regarding my relationship with God and my local Church. My human nature (old nature) is built upon a balance of my personal interests. Selfish personal interest is the motive behind all sinners conduct. As a Christian, I still can have sinful desires, foolish desires, and proud desires and at the same time, have godly desires. How can I distinguish my desires? As a forgiven sinner, I am not basically good without Christ in me because I live in body that carries sin and my struggle will be in the core of my heart. Obviously, my human heart is very selfish. My heart is the source of my emotions, thoughts and motives. My heart is the place of conscience. My heart is the part of my being where I desire, deliberate, and decide. I just have to know what God wants and if I don't glorify God within my local church correctly, my spiritual actions will be worthless. As a Christian man, I should not allow myself to get so busy that I lose my focus on what God wants me to do.  Sometimes I let my sinful nature get in the way of spiritual fruits. I realized that Christ in me does not mean that I am no longer without sin. My old sinful nature is not ripped out from my heart. Christ is in my heart and with the help from the Holy Spirit through my sanctification process. I have been thinking that Carole and I do have our inward conversations with Christ and private worship in spirit on a daily basis but we lacked commitment with our local Church.

At the same time, I lack spiritual leadership within my home and my church.  I want to get involved.  But, I am so busy with work and family that I am not even sure what am really going on in my local church.  If I don't really know what is going on and there is "no connection", how can I get involved and help my church? How can I connect and really help my local church? I cannot serve God if I do not make time to serve Him. The enemy of opportunity is pre-occupation of selfishness that I got too busy to notice any opportunities that God have been giving me. To allow my spiritual gifts to go to waste makes God's opportunities to go to waste.