Partnership
God has a plan to reach the world with the truth of His love and His mercy, and His justice. In His wisdom, God has chosen to partner with those who have chosen Him. If you are saved, He intends for you to have a part in His plans to extend the invitation of salvation to everyone, judge sin and unrighteousness, and make all things new!
There is a common thread in the experience of people being called by God that weaves through the story of the Bible: those God assigns to amazing plans FEEL least qualified.
When an honest heart meets the power of God and learns not just of God’s love and acceptance, but His invitation to be a part of what God is doing, the response is always the same: denial of ability! Isaiah and Peter claimed to be sinners when God called them, Jeremiah tried to disqualify himself based on being too young, Abraham and Sarah said they were too old, Moses said he couldn't speak, Ezekiel and John just basically passed out!...
The truth of our broken condition is inescapable when we are in the gaze of the author of truth...but God already knows who we are. God knew what He was getting into when He called you, and He knew what He was getting into when He called me. Before I knew anything about Him, He knew all of my weaknesses, all of my mistakes. My lack of follow through, my fear, careless words I had spoken, the cruel things I had done, the lies I had told and believed, He knew everything about me, and yet He still chose to invite me into His plans, and He has chosen you, too!
God uses weak and broken people to accomplish His purposes. Weak and broken people are the only kind of people there are! God has committed to partnering with people. There is a standing invitation to come closer to Him, to ask Him to reveal His open doors to you, and then to respond as you see the opportunities before you. Every day, if we will ask Him, God will make us aware of opportunities to agree with God's heart and step out in faith. When we respond to Him, step by step He will help us come more and more into agreement with His heart and His plans.
When God gives us an opportunity to draw near to Him or to reach into someone else’s life, we can imagine it to be much harder than it really is. We can imagine the messiness of reaching out to the addict who needs a prayer, or the homeless person who needs a meal, or the person who is really struggling with sin…but God doesn’t ask us to do more than we can handle. He doesn't call me to do everything, just those things He has revealed to me in the moment. I am tempted to think the things He places before me are too big for me, but He says "take a step and see what I do!"
If I embrace the truth that an honest relationship with God is the only common denominator of all the amazing stories in the Bible, then there is no limit to how Jesus can use me in His amazing plans!
Luke 5:8 When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, "Oh, Lord, please leave me—I'm too much of a sinner to be around you." 9 For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. 10 His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.
Jesus replied to Simon, "Don't be afraid! From now on you'll be fishing for people!" 11 And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.
There is a common thread in the experience of people being called by God that weaves through the story of the Bible: those God assigns to amazing plans FEEL least qualified.
When an honest heart meets the power of God and learns not just of God’s love and acceptance, but His invitation to be a part of what God is doing, the response is always the same: denial of ability! Isaiah and Peter claimed to be sinners when God called them, Jeremiah tried to disqualify himself based on being too young, Abraham and Sarah said they were too old, Moses said he couldn't speak, Ezekiel and John just basically passed out!...
The truth of our broken condition is inescapable when we are in the gaze of the author of truth...but God already knows who we are. God knew what He was getting into when He called you, and He knew what He was getting into when He called me. Before I knew anything about Him, He knew all of my weaknesses, all of my mistakes. My lack of follow through, my fear, careless words I had spoken, the cruel things I had done, the lies I had told and believed, He knew everything about me, and yet He still chose to invite me into His plans, and He has chosen you, too!
God uses weak and broken people to accomplish His purposes. Weak and broken people are the only kind of people there are! God has committed to partnering with people. There is a standing invitation to come closer to Him, to ask Him to reveal His open doors to you, and then to respond as you see the opportunities before you. Every day, if we will ask Him, God will make us aware of opportunities to agree with God's heart and step out in faith. When we respond to Him, step by step He will help us come more and more into agreement with His heart and His plans.
When God gives us an opportunity to draw near to Him or to reach into someone else’s life, we can imagine it to be much harder than it really is. We can imagine the messiness of reaching out to the addict who needs a prayer, or the homeless person who needs a meal, or the person who is really struggling with sin…but God doesn’t ask us to do more than we can handle. He doesn't call me to do everything, just those things He has revealed to me in the moment. I am tempted to think the things He places before me are too big for me, but He says "take a step and see what I do!"
If I embrace the truth that an honest relationship with God is the only common denominator of all the amazing stories in the Bible, then there is no limit to how Jesus can use me in His amazing plans!
Luke 5:8 When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, "Oh, Lord, please leave me—I'm too much of a sinner to be around you." 9 For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. 10 His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.
Jesus replied to Simon, "Don't be afraid! From now on you'll be fishing for people!" 11 And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.
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