Reading the title to this post, you are either raising an amused eyebrow at me or furrowing that same eyebrow… Hopefully this post will bring about a sigh of relief once you read it, which is the intent.
We carry so much upon us that God did not intend for us to carry, especially those of us who are “fixers.” Honestly, although God has called us to be vessels to be used for His purposes (and there truly is NO greater joy), we cannot and we should not try to take on tasks that are meant ONLY to be the job of the Creator. How do you know the difference between something God wants you to do and something God does not expect you to do?
YOU ASK HIM
As hard as it may feel sometimes, that wonderful/not-so-wonderful thing called “free will” that our loving Father created us with is not “freeing” at all…
WE CAN’T CHANGE HEARTS, NEITHER CAN WE CHANGE MINDS
BUT GOD CAN…
I think one of the most difficult things we encounter as part of God’s Called Remnant, is when we first come to Christ, that time when Holy Spirit opened up our spiritually blind eyes to the love and living Word of God, and we were made aware that up until that point we lived unaware of the spiritual war that has gone on around us. A Sleeping Beauty affect! Holy Spirit kissed our minds and in the decision to receive that “kiss” we found ourselves waking up to a reality we knew NOTHING of!
THE LOVE OF GOD IN CHRIST!
THE TRUE REALITY THAT WE WERE BLINDED FROM KNOWING!
While all around us loved ones still live in that Zombie Pod-like living, spiritually blind from living in God’s truth. Deceived, believing that living by faith is a “crutch” or a “weakness” or (here is the biggest deception of the evil one) that the Bible is NOT the Word of God. (As if the God who created the universe could NOT keep it error-free, or written by “God Inspired” authors)! I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t EVER plan to go toe-to-toe with the Father in telling Him what He is capable (or in their eyes) INcapable of doing!
No, we can’t turn hearts toward the Father, but we CAN do is what we know He has called us to do:
AND THAT IS TO PRAY… TO INTERCEDE… TO TRUST GOD TO TOUCH HEARTS AND CHANGE MINDS
As God’s Called Remnant (followers of Jesus) we have to remember that He alone is God. I find the hardest thing in my walk, is NOT being able to GIVE my faith away to someone(s) I love, who desperately need the Lord but just don’t see it. The enemy has spiritually blinded their eyes to the truth! It is like seeing someone who is sick and needs medicine and you are TRYING to give them the medicine, but they keep shaking their heads in refusal. Not realizing what it is that they are rejecting.
WE ARE CALLED TO INTERCEDE THROUGH PRAYER
Only Holy Spirit can change hearts. We can’t. Only Holy Spirit can open eyes. We can’t. Only Holy Spirit can make ears hear and hearts receive. We can’t. BUT what we CAN do is PRAY! So many people belittle what prayer can do (and does). People treat it like a little pat on the back of someone’s hand when they say:
“I’ll pray for you…”
But prayer IS a powerful weapon when you recognize what it can do. Many, MANY examples of the results of prayer are shown throughout the Bible! If you have been a blood-bought warrior of Christ for a while, I’m quite sure you can look back upon your walk with Him and SEE the results of prayer. Want me to encourage you further? Let me share what God has done in my own walk with Him (which has at the time of the writing of this post been 35 years).
- I come from an agnostic family, I grew up in a predominantly orthodox Jewish neighborhood, Jesus was really not mentioned AT ALL. Did you know you can be a missionary right there in your own neighborhood? You’d be surprised how many people have not heard what Jesus has done for them. I hadn’t… If you want to hear more about my testimony please click on the pink link below:
Pardon Me, I Should Have Begun with My Testimony
- As a new Christian, I began to seek God’s will for my life. All my life had been geared to becoming an actress, there had been no question as to what I had wanted to be growing up. I studied theatre, performed Shakespeare, played Juliet, Lady Macbeth, musical theatre, improv etc… I had ALWAYS known that I wanted to pursue acting – until I met Jesus. The first time I heard God’s audible voice was when I asked Him:
“Lord, what is it YOU want me to do with my life?”
And much to my surprise, He said with humor (did you know the God who created a sense of humor, has one? He TRULY does! 🙂 )
“Kelly, it is as plain as the nose on your face!”
(And I tell you, He said it in such a way that if felt like He actually had reached out and tweaked my nose! 🙂 )
“What do You mean, Father?”
I asked puzzled.
“Sometimes the gifts I have bestowed upon My children go unnoticed by them because they are talents that they use every day, so they don’t identify them with their calling… Kelly, I have called you to write.”
I was flabbergasted. I’d always kept journals, diaries, written short stories and never thought much about it.
“But Father, I’ve always written!”
“Exactly!”
God’s calling on my life (as indicated on my Home Page and now reiterated in this post) is to be a Scribe for Him. And oh can I tell you the joy in knowing what it is God has called me to do? There is honestly NO GREATER pleasure than walking in your calling. When you pray and seek God, Beloved – He answers. But you have to SEEK Him. You have to TRULY believe that HE IS GOD. Do a self-inspection, think of the things you enjoy doing… Think on the things you are GOOD at… Your gifts may be obvious to others – but NOT to you! But they are RIGHT there! If you, through prayer, talk with the Father, as I talked to Him – I assure you, He will answer you! You just have to seek Him. Matthew 6:33 tells us:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Faith means believing God, even when you don’t see with your eyes what it is He is doing. I know this is hard to do sometimes, God doesn’t always SHOW us what is going on behind the scenes of the situations in our lives, but we can TRUST God. He DOES know what He is doing, nothing comes as a surprise to Him. The Bible tells us in Isaiah 55:8-9:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Be glad you are NOT God. Be glad You are who God created you to be! And if you don’t know WHO the person that is you really is – ask the One Who created you! You are special in your own right!
GOD MADE YOU SPECIAL! GOD MADE YOU WITH A PURPOSE IN MIND!
YOUR JOB IS TO DISCOVER WHAT THAT PURPOSE IS AND LIVE IT!
- God healed me BOTH of diabetes AND of Stage II Triple Negative Breast Cancer! I do NOT believe in remission, remission means you are expecting and waiting for it to come back! I’M NOT!
I AM A WITNESS THAT GOD IS STILL IN THE HEALING BUSINESS – GOD HEALED ME!
These are just a few examples of how God has answered my prayers, and what it is like to be in a personal relationship with Him… I pray those examples have encouraged you and motivated you to take a good long look at your own life, and see God’s hand upon your life! I pray it encourages you to seek God for yourself! He is there! He is interested in you and He is waiting! He delights in you! If you give yourself a chance, you will find YOU delight in HIM!
Listen, if you read your Bible, truly study it – God’s Word will remain in your heart and Holy Spirit will bring to the forefront of your mind as you go through different points and experiences in your walk with Him, that God TRULY is the same! Just as in Hebrews 13:8:
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
I don’t know about you, but I have never been fond of change, I am a creature of habit! Unfortunately (and most of the time fortunately…) life changes! But I find comfort (and I hope you do too) that:
God IS faithful! God IS reliable! God IS trustworthy! God IS unchanging! You CAN rely on God!
You just have to believe Him! Now, my story is not your story, my journey is NOT your journey! We are not carbon copies of each other, so perhaps your experiences differ from mine – but if you are part of God’s Called Remnant (and if you want to know what I mean by that term, click on the pink link I have provided below):
What Do I Mean By “The Called Remnant”?
God REALLY does have a purpose for your life! No, we are not called to be God, quite honestly I never understood why anyone would want to be God. Shucks – In my eyes, God’s got a full plate!
NO ONE CAN BE GOD, AND NO ONE SHOULD WANT TO! GOD SHARES HIS GLORY WITH NO ONE
IT IS A VERY DANGEROUS PLACE TO ASSUME YOU ARE “LIKE GOD” – ASK THE *devil
(I’ll never capitalize my references to him, that is done purposefully…)
There is no pain like seeing those we love around us who don’t know Jesus or who are not interested in having a relationship with Him, or for those who have “made a profession of faith” chosen mediocre lives, where they have chosen to be spiritually stunted or have the “spirit of religion” and do not show fruit of the spirit of walking with Him… (That is not a judgement statement, it is a mere fact) pot stirrers, gossips, those who profess to know Christ but do not act accordingly, are those that we are warned about in the Bible (See below Matthew 7:15-20):
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
And Colossians 2:18 Tells us:
“Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.”
God sees ALL things… God knows ALL hearts, we don’t because we are NOT God. But IF you have made a profession of faith, IF you have acknowledged Jesus as Savior AND made Him Lord OVER your life, than YOU are part of God’s Called Remnant. And as such, you are called NOT to BE God, but to be used BY God and intercede for those that are spiritually blind or immature in Christ. What a privilege God has given us to be a part of His body. We ARE the body of Christ, He is the head. Romans 12:4-5 tells us:
“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”
I am so grateful of the place I have in Christ. Our prayer should be that God would use as as the vessels He has called us to be in WHATEVER manner He deems appropriate. There is NO greater joy than being given the privilege to be used by God… If only ONE person comes to Christ through the writings Holy Spirit has given me, my life will have been well worth it. May you be GLAD that you are NOT called to BE GOD, but to be used BY God. He IS worthy to be praised, He alone IS God. Glory to His name.
“Is Holy Spirit speaking to your heart through this word? If so, leave a comment below! I love hearing from you!
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