Making something out of nothing
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
When I was a small child I remember looking to the heavens and feeling that God had something very special for me to do; at that time in my life it seemed almost a sure thing that God would somehow transform my life into a form of a man with superpowers. Of course when I was a boy the concept of there being a Superman was brand-new, and all I could see was a vision of myself with a red cape and a big red and yellow S across my chest. Little did I know at the time what it would truly take for a life to be transformed.
As I grew into adulthood I found myself fighting desperately against the price that I knew I would someday have to pay in order for this transformation to take place. If you have never had sleepless hours were spent hours crying your eyes out; if you have never had your heart swell in the presence of God as though it would burst, then I don't think that you will ever truly understand what it means to be touched and set aside for God's pleasure. You see when God touches someone's life many different things happen to them. There is a zeal that bursts forth from within them and cannot be hidden; but there is also a heaviness of heart that comes from knowing what must take place in your life in order to attain God's purpose within you. Anyone who has truly been called of God knows that kind of ache within them to keep going deeper with God's spirit, and the fear that comes from taking the next step in a blinding dark pathway that can only come by walking in a blind faith walk.
2 Corinthians 9:6 says "but this I say, he which sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully." I have found out the hard way that guns life does not germinate within us until we die to this world. Martin Luther once said "God it creates out of nothing. Therefore until a man is nothing, God can make nothing out of him". I have truly come to believe that unless we die completely to self God's purpose can never be completely fulfilled in our lives. I can truthfully say that I never understood that when I was younger. I never understood when someone would say I need to wait on God in order to use my talent for a ministry. I never understood why someone would hold back from displaying the glory that God has put into their lives, or fear the accolades of men and women until I began to see the need to first die to self.
There are many people today who do not know God who have made a claim to have made their"peace with God"in some form, but there is no peace with God without accepting the grace of God which is only given to those who repent and turn from self and from the influence of this world. Just as it says in the book of Galatians 1:4 "who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our father". You see Jesus willingly gave himself for the sins of the world, no one took his life from him... It was given. In the same manner we have to come to a point where we realize that we too must give our lives to God as a living sacrifice which is our reasonable service. I like the way Dr. Bill Bright wrote about the Christian life; "the Christian life is more than difficult; it is humanly impossible to live. Only Jesus Christ can live it through you and see dwells within you; the Christian life is not a person trying to imitate Christ; rather, it is Christ imparting his life to and living his life through the person. The Christian life is not what you do for him; it is what he does for and through you. He wants to think with your mind, express himself through your emotions, and speak through your voice, though you may be unconscious of it." The truth is that for any one of us to be a part of the kingdom of heaven there must first be at transformation within our hearts through our becoming nothing so that God might create something. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
When I was a small child I remember looking to the heavens and feeling that God had something very special for me to do; at that time in my life it seemed almost a sure thing that God would somehow transform my life into a form of a man with superpowers. Of course when I was a boy the concept of there being a Superman was brand-new, and all I could see was a vision of myself with a red cape and a big red and yellow S across my chest. Little did I know at the time what it would truly take for a life to be transformed.
As I grew into adulthood I found myself fighting desperately against the price that I knew I would someday have to pay in order for this transformation to take place. If you have never had sleepless hours were spent hours crying your eyes out; if you have never had your heart swell in the presence of God as though it would burst, then I don't think that you will ever truly understand what it means to be touched and set aside for God's pleasure. You see when God touches someone's life many different things happen to them. There is a zeal that bursts forth from within them and cannot be hidden; but there is also a heaviness of heart that comes from knowing what must take place in your life in order to attain God's purpose within you. Anyone who has truly been called of God knows that kind of ache within them to keep going deeper with God's spirit, and the fear that comes from taking the next step in a blinding dark pathway that can only come by walking in a blind faith walk.
2 Corinthians 9:6 says "but this I say, he which sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully." I have found out the hard way that guns life does not germinate within us until we die to this world. Martin Luther once said "God it creates out of nothing. Therefore until a man is nothing, God can make nothing out of him". I have truly come to believe that unless we die completely to self God's purpose can never be completely fulfilled in our lives. I can truthfully say that I never understood that when I was younger. I never understood when someone would say I need to wait on God in order to use my talent for a ministry. I never understood why someone would hold back from displaying the glory that God has put into their lives, or fear the accolades of men and women until I began to see the need to first die to self.
There are many people today who do not know God who have made a claim to have made their"peace with God"in some form, but there is no peace with God without accepting the grace of God which is only given to those who repent and turn from self and from the influence of this world. Just as it says in the book of Galatians 1:4 "who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our father". You see Jesus willingly gave himself for the sins of the world, no one took his life from him... It was given. In the same manner we have to come to a point where we realize that we too must give our lives to God as a living sacrifice which is our reasonable service. I like the way Dr. Bill Bright wrote about the Christian life; "the Christian life is more than difficult; it is humanly impossible to live. Only Jesus Christ can live it through you and see dwells within you; the Christian life is not a person trying to imitate Christ; rather, it is Christ imparting his life to and living his life through the person. The Christian life is not what you do for him; it is what he does for and through you. He wants to think with your mind, express himself through your emotions, and speak through your voice, though you may be unconscious of it." The truth is that for any one of us to be a part of the kingdom of heaven there must first be at transformation within our hearts through our becoming nothing so that God might create something. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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