I am thankful God looked at me and said, “I love you”.  The world always says you need to be ‘this that and this’ and God says to come as you are.  The world says you need to prove yourself and earn love to see if anyone will stick around and God said, “BEFORE I FORMED YOU IN THE WOMB I KNEW YOU, BEFORE YOU WERE BORN I SET YOU APART” (Jeremiah 1:5).

Since last week I’ve had anxiety and insecurities over the most trivial of things.  God gave me a great opportunity and my doubts about not being good enough are flaring up.  This is why God doesn’t give me “nice things” because my fear creeps in and ruins good things before they ever have a chance to manifest.

Not this time.  God has brought me through too much to let my fear win.  He has shown up and carried me too far for me to let this overtake me.  My God is bigger than my insecurities (that don’t even make sense, mind you).

He can always split a sea in a second, but a lot of times there’s a process that involves time and a lot of refinement.  One of the things He is currently working on me with is relationships.  It’s easy for me to run and I’d much rather be alone because there’s no rejection in being by yourself.  He fine tunes us in the little things.  Inch by inch we overcome our issues by His grace.  He is with us each step of the way and He lets us go through things and brings us into situations to expose our hearts so we can see our problems and He can deliver us.

We may see a goal or desire for ourselves.  “Set a goal so big you can’t achieve it until you grow into the person who can.”  In order to get where God wants us He brings us from glory to glory.

He doesn’t care about what we can or cannot do.  He doesn’t care how much school you have or what kind of career you earned.  He doesn’t care about the size of your salary or how much you make an hour.  The world looks at that.  He doesn’t care what the world would qualify you for a particular job.  All God requires of us is reading His word,  following His commandments, and remaining obedient to Him.

Moses did not have a communications degree nor did he run as a politician.  He had a speech impediment and didn’t want to lead the people.

God said, “Who made man’s mouth?”.  When did God ever see Moses’ problems or reasons he wouldn’t be good to be used?  It was God who put Moses in Egypt.  He was raised in the house of Pharaoh and did all of what those laws required.  In the world’s eyes Moses got demoted when he left.

God planted Moses in a spot for a season and called him out, but he wasn’t able to stay where he was to be used for the purpose God had him for.  He was called into Egypt to lead God’s people out.  God could’ve changed everything in an instant to get the Israelites out of Egypt and where they needed to be.  God already knew the plan.  But, to test everyone’s hearts and show Who He was (“I AM”) he hardened Pharoah’s heart so He could do  all these signs and wonders one after the other.

He was showing Who He was and all His majesty.  He didn’t do it for Himself.  It wasn’t for everyone because God already knew not everyone would choose Him.  God already knew who would trust Him, but it was to show the people their own hearts and to allow everyone to witness the same things so they would be without excuse.

God already knew every detail of how it would go and who would turn to Him, but He set it all up for a given season.  He had them wander in the desert to weed out all the unbelieving who would not enter the Promised Land out of their own stubborn and unbelieving choices.  Not everyone who started with them ended with them even though they all went through the same trials.  Not everyone had the same heart after God.  They were irritated with Moses because they could have stayed comfortable where they were.  They couldn’t see the end that God wanted them to live free in the land He promised for them.  All they had to do was remain stedfast and obedient and trust Him.

The world puts so much pressure on going after the American Dream… What about God’s dream for us?  The American Dream has a lot of debt which you become enslaved to.  If you analyze most of society it looks very pretty on the outside, but inside is rotten and hollow.  The world looks to satisfy the void with everything except the only thing that would: Jesus.

Look at Jesus’ career as a Carpenter.  Isn’t that the most perfect job?  The Creator of the Heavens and the earth and all that is in it came here to build and shape things out of nothing.  He spoke light into existence.  He created all of the animals, plants, trees, seeds, insects, fish…. Everything that is was made by His hand.

“ALL THINGS WERE MADE BY HIM; AND WITHOUT HIM WAS NOT ANY THING MADE THAT WAS MADE.” – JOHN 1:3

He never stops creating something out of nothing.  He’s the finest craftsman who loves to shape and mold things from something ordinary.  He wasn’t put on this earth to be a Carpenter.  He was put on this earth to free the captives and heal the sick.  He was put here so that we would all have a chance at receiving eternal life.

He didn’t come here to prove Himself.  He didn’t come to set his kingdom up because His kingdom is not of this world.  He came to do the will of His father in Heaven.

He came to be spat upon and despised and rejected. He came to be the perfect sacrifice and atone for our sins.  He came to be the sacrificial lamb and to call people out of darkness and into the light.  He came to be torn up and bruised.  He came to build and shape our hearts.  He came to take what was nothing and make us into His image and likeness.  He came to make something new and put His mark on it.

Everything we buy has a stamp from where it was made or came from.  Royalty places their seals on what they own.  Jesus, the potter… the carpenter… the King of Kings and Royal of Royalties put His mark on us so people will know we are His.  He did it so WE will know we are His.

He never asks anything from us except to be obedient.  We can’t earn His love.

“FOR BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH; AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES: IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD: NOT OF WORKS, LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST.” – EPHESIANS 2:8-9

We can’t go to school for Him to accept us.  We don’t have to prove we are worthy because we would never be able to work hard enough to earn His gift of salvation.  We can come as we are.  Our tired and broken… our beat up and bruised.  Jesus wants all of that.  He loves to make beauty from the ashes.  He loves to make something out of nothing.  The messiest ones are the ones God says, “Wait til they see what I do with this…”

When the world casts the “junk” aside Jesus paid the highest price for it.

How many people in the bible followed after the world?  Some had high profiles and Jesus told them to leave it all behind.

Matthew was a publican… or a tax collector.  He probably had a lot of money and lived a comfortable life.  Paul was a pharisee who persecuted Christians in the name of following the law.  Men were afraid of him.

Both of these men left everything behind.  They walked away from their life of comfort and social standards to follow after the only source of life and gain.  Paul wrote a lot of the most encouraging letters in the New Testament and is one of the most talked about people God used.  Anyone who is a true Christian could read anything in Romans…or Corinthians… or Titus… or basically any of them and say, “He wrote that for me”.  How?  Because Paul is all of us.  We are Paul.  We all were filthy sinners saved and redeemed only by Grace of God through the blood of Jesus Christ.

God doesn’t call the qualified.  He qualifies the called.

Now, what are you worried for??? 🙂

A strong root is formed in darkness…