Mustard Seed Moments

by Wes Altom

The Power of “Not Only” and “But Also”

We often shortchange and underestimate our Creator. Deep down, we know we are blessed, but our simple minds sometimes are just too concrete; we frequently gloss over both the vast enormity and the fine detail of the awesome nature of God, as concerns the messages for us in His word and the specific blessings he favors us with.

Try this: “NOT ONLY did God do ‘x’ for me, BUT ALSO He did ‘y’ for me. “NOT ONLY did God do ‘this’ in that Bible story, BUT ALSO He did ‘this’.

Here are two powerful examples: First, think about the times you have been around something burning…a campfire, burning leaves, someone smoking, or even a barbecue pit or restaurant. You simply can’t be near without the odor of the smoke permeating your person and clothing. Now consider the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego being cast into the fiery furnace in Daniel 3. NOT ONLY does scripture tell us God protected them from the flames, BUT ALSO when they came out, they didn’t even smell of smoke. God does big things in big ways. How does reflecting on this magnify our impression of this event?

Next, consider our sin. We all know Christ died so we can be forgiven, but we still struggle with guilt, forgiving ourselves, and accepting fully His grace. We learn from Micah 7 that NOT ONLY does God forgive us, BUT ALSO He “casts all our sin into the depths of the sea.” How comforting is it, as we daily struggle with sin, to be reinforced by how immeasurable His grace is?

Let’s NOT ONLY strive to examine our lives and His word with new eyes, BUT ALSO, in doing so, resolve to improve our understanding of the magnitude of our God and all He does for us.

STAGE RIGHT OF TEXAS 2022 - 2023

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