4GIVEN

We didn’t choose God, rather God chose us before He poured the earth’s ‘slab’ (Eph 1:4, John 15:16). This ‘architectural’ truth was ‘cemented’ in Deut 7:9 and Moses said, “GOD wasn’t attracted to you and didn’t choose you because you were big and important—the fact is, there was almost nothing to you. He did it out of sheer love, keeping the promise he made to your ancestors. GOD stepped in and mightily bought you back out of that world of slavery, freed you from the iron grip of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know this: GOD, your God, is God indeed, a God you can depend upon. He keeps his covenant of loyal love with those who love him and observe his commandments for a thousand generations. But he also pays back those who hate him, pays them the wages of death; he isn’t slow to pay them off—those who hate him, he pays right on time (MSG ).” Point being, God chose us so that we could join His work in the world. Ephesians 2:10 says God has prepared good works in advance for us to do! Deut 7:9 simply reminds us that God’s love is not based on the merit of a particular person or nation, but solely on His love and faithfulness. He chose you and me to demonstrate His character. He chose you and me so that we may know Him and love Him. He chose you and me because He is love (1 John 4:8), He is gracious, He is merciful, and He has a glorious plan for you.

We all need to be delivered from something(s) in our lives and we become disillusioned if we think for a second that we’re not in need of deliverance. The real question is, what do you need to be delivered from? You see, deliverance is the action of being rescued or set free. Psalms 34:17 reminds us, “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.” Crying out to God is an act of humility, desperation, and total concentration. It is a fervent expression of faith in God and trust in His goodness and power to act on your behalf. Crying out to God expresses our need to be healed, delivered, and restored. The good news is God’’s promise, purpose, and provision for every Christian is a life of victory in Christ Jesus. Therefore, deliverance from sin, being rescued from trials, and escaping the influence of a world in control of the evil one derives only through Christ, the Son of God who has come and “has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:19-20).

God has given each believer a spiritual gift(s) that He wants us to use for His glory, but we often don’t use them. We often deny that we actually have a spiritual gift or if we do acknowledge it, we may doubt its usefulness to glorify God, and then just bury them. Do you remember reading, the “Parable of the Talents”, in Matthew 25:14–30? In short, it tells of a Master [God] who left his house to travel, and, before leaving, He entrusted his property to his servants. … Upon returning home, after a long absence, the Master asks his three servants for an account of the talents he entrusted to them. 2 of the three servant profited while the one who received one talent buried his portion. Listen, I don’t care what people tell you and this includes clergy…you have a spiritual gift. No gift, is more important than the other and all gifts were dispensed by God to bring people to the knowledge of God! If you don’t know what your spiritual gift(s) are pray and ask…I guarantee you that God will reveal it to you. If you know what your gifts are and refuse to use them….STOP IT! There people waiting on you specifically! Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. (1 Pet. 4:10) It has been said, “He who buries his talent is making a grave mistake.”

Try this:

https://spiritualgiftstest.com/

Irrevocably, I have been crucified and resurrected in Christ. Undoubtedly, I no longer live but Christ lives in me. The Message paraphrase of Galatians 2:20 is spot on and it reads, “What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.” Simply put, I can’t “out-do”what Christ did. Personally, I mess up (sin) everyday and thanks to the revelatory conviction of the Holy Spirit, I learned (“way back in the days of old”) that I could never stand before a Holy and Righteous God alone! Therefore, I surrendered my life to Christ and I have no plans of backpedaling on that decision!

#HeLivesInMe

#HeLivesInYou

God has dropped several DM’s, IM’s, emails, texts, and voice mails to get your attention but you often fail to acknowledge or respond until something in your life is turned upside down. Beloved, you can’t truly hear nor identify God’s voice if you don’t spend enough time getting to know God’s voice. God is not a shouter; He is a whisperer. When He commanded us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to pray without ceasing ((communicate to Him regularly)), He is simply desiring to hear our ((voices)) so that we can distinctively and intrinsically learn His voice amongst the plethora of voices that stream in minds! So the next time you believe that God is ignoring you perhaps you need to check your SPAM and JUNK mail. “The LORD waits for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait [RESPONDS TO] for him to help them” (Isaiah 30:18).

If someone or something has broken your heart make note: the best Way to heal a broken heart is to give God all the pieces! I Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” Charles Spurgeon reminded us that, “There are many sorts of broken hearts, and Christ is good at healing them all.” God is the only Physician who can fully heal a broken heart, and He has never failed in his ability to heal. QOTD: Have you ever experience worshipping God with a broken heart?? Well, if you haven’t you need to certainly try it because sex, drugs, nor alcohol can do what God is able to do in the crux of your pain. You see, worship places your pain in its rightful place — under the reign of an already victorious Father! So today, let your heartfelt praise and worship remind you of God’s great love and absolute sovereignty, and let these reminders bring healing to your broken heart. I have heard it said, “Worship is a balm for even the deepest of wounds!”

”Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” Hebrews 12:2 MSG

To all my peeps that like to hold grudges; take a look at The Message Bible’s paraphrase of Matthew 6:14 and Jesus said, “In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.” Charles Stanley said, “If there are those we have not forgiven when we ourselves pray for forgiveness, then practically speaking we are asking God not to restore a right relationship with us after we sin. To emphasize the importance of restoring broken relationships with our brothers and sisters, Jesus states that asking for God’s forgiveness for one’s own sins, all the while withholding forgiveness from someone else, is not only bizarre but hypocritical.” Point being, it’s impossible to walk with God in true fellowship if we can’t walk in true fellowship with others and not to mention it’s just irresponsible to experience God’s forgiveness for yourself and not extend that same forgiveness to someone else! BTW, being the best you consist of forgiving others for committing the same sin you do. Our relationships grow stronger when both are willing to understand that we are all imperfect people living imperfect lives and we are all beings perfected in Christ (Phil 1:6).

Are you living your #bestlife or your #blesslife? What’s the difference?” We often see people’s ‘best life’ displayed on social media (e.g. I can’t believe how beautiful Jamaica’s beach is! I just bought a brand new car! hashtag #livingmybestlife.

There’s nothing wrong with celebrating a meaningful event. But what’s the real motive? Is it genuine, or is it a subtle way of showing off? A “humble brag?” I have yet to see a post on Social Media that says, I can’t pay my light bill! I can’t pay my mortgage!! I was diagnosed with a ________! Hashtag #livingmybestlife.

The difference between the two is trusting that regardless of how hard life gets, we are still blessed despite our trials, situation, and/or circumstance! Paul said in Philippians 4:11-12, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”

The “living your best life” philosophy is nothing more than the old “power of positive thinking” lie repackaged to scratch the itching ears of the current generation. If we know Jesus Christ as our Savior, our best lives await us in heaven where we will spend eternity in joy and bliss, enjoying a life which is far better than the “best” we could have now.

#BeBlessOnPurpose

God said I don’t want to be forgotten. I want to be remembered. It has always pleased the Lord for people to remember Him. Throughout the Bible God has reminded His people not to forget Him. In a hundred different ways the Bible says, “Don’t forget God” 1 example is written in Jeremiah 2:32. So today remember not to forget about God’s word, God’s worship, and God’s warnings! Trust me when I say that it’s never us waiting on God to respond—in most cases, it’s God waiting us to comply to His response!

#FACTS