LET GOD USE YOU TOO

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“For it is God who works in you to will
and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”
(Philippians 2:13)

MEDITATION:
Take a moment and imagine this is your situation:
    You feel like you are being pulled in many different directions,
    it seems like you are juggling several balls in the air at the same
    time, you are facing the stresses of a job and/or raising a family,
    and you feel you will unravel if there is just one more demand
    on you and your time. And, then it happens! From out of nowhere,
    you feel that God is calling you to serve Him in some way!

How do you respond to His call? Do you start debating with God about
your availability? Do you basically yell out, “I don’t have time for this
right now?” Do you feel like God is not aware of all that you have on
your plate right now? Do you get the idea that God is not aware of, or
sensitive to the challenges you have in your life? Do you try to explain
to God that you are not qualified for the area He wants you to serve?

We can react in many different ways, but at the root of all the ‘bad
reactions’ is the Father of Lies (Satan), and he wants to ‘pile on’ to
our stresses and convince us that God is giving us an unfair and an
uncaring demand. When he is successful with ‘infiltrating our minds’,
we will miss out on the important thoughts we should be having such as:
    My Heavenly Father loves and cares about me so much
    that He has given me a new opportunity to serve Him.
    How exciting it is to feel closer to Him at this moment.
    I know that He would not call me to do anything without
    providing me with everything I need.

    I am excited, enthusiastic and cannot wait to see how He is
    going to prepare me, help me, and give me new joys in my
    life. God knows what is going on in my life and He knows
    that serving Him in this way will benefit me. I can trust Him
    to provide me what I need at the very time I need it. Even though
    the timing of His call might seem bad from my viewpoint, I know
    that He sees the big picture and everything from Him is for my
    good, and the good of others.

Many have been in this situation and those who have answered His
call have experienced the joy of trusting Him and ignoring the
negative thoughts created by the evil one. God may call us to serve
in an area that we never even considered before. Why would He do
that? It is because He created us and has prepared us to do the things
He wants us to do. He has prepared us to do whatever He asks whenever
He asks us to do them.
    For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus
    to do good works, which God prepared in advance
    for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

Slowly read the scripture in Ephesians and look at how God has created us.
First of all, we are reminded that we are His ‘handiwork’. One definition
of ‘handiwork’ is:
    the characteristic quality of a particular doer or maker.
It includes this example of using the word:
    In all of Mozart’s music we discover the handiwork of a genius.
When it comes to serving the Lord, we discover that we are the ‘handiwork’
of our all powerful, all knowing, ever present, loving, and caring God of the
universe!

When it says, “created in Christ Jesus”, it is saying that we have been
created with the potential of having the same characteristics of Jesus,
which includes things like loving and encouraging others. The scripture
focuses on a very important area of being like Jesus – ‘to do good works’.
We should ask ourselves this question,
    “How will I know where I can ‘do good works’
     (from God’s perspective) unless He calls me to serve Him?”

Lastly it says, “God prepared in advance for us to do”. Think about the
magnitude of that statement. It assures us that we were not created just
to exist without a real purpose in our lives. God loves us way too much
to just create us and basically say, “Good luck”. No, He has given every
individual a specific purpose and equipped us with all we need to fulfill
that purpose. If we miss out on fulfilling His purpose, we will miss out
on all of the benefits of responding to His call.

ACTION:
When we respond to God’s call, we need to remember that He doesn’t
want us to do anything “for” Him, He wants to do something “through”
us. He wants us to avoid hindering His work so that He can flow through
us and reach others in ways we may not even be aware of.

Have you felt that God is saying to you, “It’s time for you to start doing
the things I have prepared you in advance to do”? If so, then don’t allow
Satan to fill your mind with tons of negative thoughts, but choose to
trust that God has prepared you for this ‘moment’ and enjoy the new
excitement of knowing that He is speaking to you, has prepared you
for this time, and will be with you as you begin this new journey.
Choose today to let the Lord work through you!

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your words that assure
me when I was born, You created me with the ability to do
good works. Thank You for loving me so much that You
are showing me how You can use me as a venue for You
to reach others as You see fit. Forgive me for any negative
thoughts I might have and help me to be enthusiastic about
the new journey You have prepared especially for me, and
are now are calling me to action. I trust that You will be with
me in every way I need to fulfill what You have called me to
do. Thank You for loving me so much that You have given
me a purpose for living!”

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