Did you know that YOU have been made in God’s image? Next time you take a look in that mirror – think on that… Instead of seeing yourself with critical eyes, look at it with the perspective of your Father.
HE CREATED YOU.
The Bible tells us in Jeremiah 1:5:
“I knew you when you were formed in your mother’s womb.”
GOD KNEW YOU. GOD KNOWS YOU. NO ONE KNOWS YOU MORE INTIMATELY THEN GOD, THE CREATOR – YOUR FATHER.
You are unique. You are special. He made you with specific gifts. You have a calling on your life. There are things that God wants you to do that He PURPOSELY has chosen YOU to do. He has plans for you to fulfill, you only have to seek Him out on it and find out JUST what those plans are… I am smiling as I write these words because I can remember as a new Christian, conversing with God in prayer, asking Him what His will was for my life. You see, ever since the age of 3 all I wanted to become was an actress. I LOVED musicals! I LOVED Shakespeare! I LOVED performing! I would spend hours in my room listening to my musical records and performing ALL the roles! So as I grew up, I studied acting, I went to auditions. I did improv. Imagine when I came to Christ at the age of 21 and while asking the Lord what it was He wanted me to do with my life, heard Him say these exact words verbatim… (Did you know that God has the greatest sense of humor? He truly does!) This is what He said:
“Kelly, it’s as plain as the nose on your face… I want you to write…”
Well, I was shocked… Writing was something I had ALWAYS done. I always kept a journal or a diary growing up. I always wrote short stories, English class was my favorite class, but I had never considered something I had always done as special. It was just something I did!
“You want me to write, Lord?” I said incredulous.
“Yes,” was His response.
“But I’ve always done that!” I said brushing it aside.
“I know.” He replied.
“Okaaaaaaay,” I said surprised.
I had never envisioned that a calling or a talent, it was something I had just always done… So I ask you as you contemplate on what God has called YOU to do – if you don’t know what that is, what is something you have done but never thought much of? Something you have a gift for, but never considered it a gift? Is it as “plain as the nose on YOUR face?” Perhaps it is so obvious that you are missing it! Perhaps the answer has always been right before you? When God answers you through Holy Spirit, you will feel a sense of completion. You will SEE it. Once you realize what it is that He is revealing to you, you then have the responsibility to walk IN that calling, and I can tell you there is NO greater sense of joy than knowing what your purpose in Him is. And here is the thing – the BEST thing of all, your calling serves a purpose – and that purpose will glorify God and bring others into the knowledge of Him. Your gifts that you have been created with serve a higher purpose when you realize that they have been given to you so that YOU in turn can glorify the One who gave them to you with them! You will be able to extend the right hand of fellowship behind you and allow others to see through that gift – CHRIST IN YOU.
Oh dear reader – there truly IS no greater joy than allowing yourself to be that “Called Remnant” for He who has called you by name! You will giggle at what He uses you to do! You will feel tremendous joy, overwhelming peace! Why? Because HE has become YOUR purpose! I can tell you that my grumpiest moments have been when I haven’t “applied the seat of my pants to the seat of my chair” and allowed Holy Spirit to flow out words from my fingers and onto the screen.
I WRITE TO LIFT YOU UP. I WRITE TO DRAW YOU CLOSER TO OUR FATHER. I WRITE TO GLORIFY THE ONE WHO SAVED ME.
When I don’t walk in obedience to my calling (which in my case is to write) I get “clogged up.” I start feeling polluted. I feel far away from God – why is that?
BECAUSE I AM COMPLETE IN HIM. I HAVE A HIGHER CALLING! And guess what? SO DO YOU!
We are meant to be vessels unto Him. The more He pours out of me, the more He fills me up. When I am depleted and exhausted, I have begun to realize it is because I have neglected allowing Him to “fill my cup.” The Bible tells us in John 15:1-8:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. you are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
Honestly, only what you do in Christ will last. When you stand before Him at the end of your life, what will you show Him? Did you live a life not wanting God in it? (If that is the case, and I pray it is not, you will spend an eternity getting exactly what you wanted – to be a part from a God who has done nothing other than loved you with an ever lasting love…). Did you live a life where you were all about yourself? A materialistic life where you strived to “keep up with the Jones’?” What will that matter when you can’t take any of it with you? Just spend an afternoon walking around a Thrift Shop like “Good Will” and you will see aisles of items that once belonged to someone else… Either because someone was cleaning house and gave it away or someone passed away and no one wanted “the stuff” they left. You CANNOT take it with you. So I ask you to think about this:
What are you living for? What are you accomplishing? What purpose is your life serving?”
Your response may be, “Kelly, I am just trying to be a good person. To live being kind and good to everyone. That’s all.”
Well, I have to tell you in all honesty, the Bible tells us in Isaiah 64:6:
“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
God’s whole purpose in leaving the glories of Heaven and coming down to the earth in the form of Man (Jesus) was to meet us right where we are at. Adam and Eve’s sin, disobedience to God in the Garden of Eden has been passed on to ALL their offspring (like something genetic). I’m sorry to tell you that you CANNOT earn Heaven. Your good works CANNOT get you to Heaven. But the Good News is that Jesus (the Second person in the Trinity) was born of the virgin Mary, lived a sin-less life and died on the cross a death He did NOT deserve. He took the sins of the world Yours and mine) on Himself, so that we could be redeemed. We could enter into a right relationship with God through His shed blood. Through His death on the cross. A death He did NOT deserve. He took the punishment FOR us. All we have to do is choose to receive the gift of Salvation that God, through His Son, Jesus provides for us, in other words, simply make a profession of faith as in the following as in Romans 10:9-10:
“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
In other words pray:
“Father, Thank You for providing the gift of salvation that redeems us from sin. I believe that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life and died on the cross for forgiveness of my sins. I choose to accept Him as my Savior and to make Him Lord of my life. Please forgive me for my sins and come live inside my heart. Holy Spirit, You are welcome here. In Jesus’ precious name I pray, Amen.”
That’s it. It seems simplistic – you acknowledge and receive the gift of salvation that Father God has provided for us. You CHOOSE to turn your life over to Him. The price He paid is the ONLY way of redemption. The ONLY way of restoration to enter into a RIGHT relationship with God. When I made a profession of faith, I had NO idea how much my life would change in SO many ways. But praise God for it. Making a profession of faith is the BEST thing I have ever done and will EVER do. He Reigns! His Word is REAL! And to know that I belong to Him – is sweeter than sweet. The Bible says in Psalm 34:8:
“Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
It is something that you have to determine to do for yourself, no one else can make that decision for you – YOU have to do it, on your own accord. It is your choice as to whether or not you will fulfill the destiny that God (when creating you) had in mind for you to fulfill. You choose because He has created you with free will. Will you accept the gift that He paid SO very much for you to have? Or will you reject it? Will you fulfill the purpose He has for you or will you just live your life as you see fit, how you see fit – which really is mediocre to ANYTHING God has planned for you. When you stand before Him, will what He tells you He had instore for you be something you fulfilled or will you wish that you had taken the time to discover your purpose in Him?
Please contemplate these words while you still have breath in your body. We are NOT promised tomorrow, so I pray you heed these words that Holy Spirit has brought you to my post to read… Because God LOVES you so much that He brought you here to read these words – you won’t be able to say “you didn’t know.” Pray on them. Contemplate them. Think on them and then ask God to personally speak to you and to give you ears to hear, eyes to see and a heart to receive ALL He wants you to know. There is no one who could love you more. And THAT is the honest to God truth. God’s truth.
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