“I am writing to all who have been called by God the Father, who loves you and keeps you safe in the care of Jesus Christ.”Jude 1:1 NLT
I want you to know that today you don’t have to strive to take care of “number one” because you are already in the care of Jesus.
You don’t have to stress to win the approval of others because you are already accepted by Jesus.
You are called by God to come near to Him.
You don’t have to wait until tomorrow.
You don’t have to wait until someday when you are good enough or until you get your life all together or until you “get better” at whatever you are trying to get better at.
Today is the day to receive all His love and power.
Don’t wait for someday...live in the truth of God’s love for you today.
“By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going.”
Hebrews 11:8 MSG
God is calling you to step out of your comfort zone today.
To get where God has called you, you have to leave the place you are.
Maybe God is calling you to leave the shelter of some strategic comfort zones:
life as you know it
habits that hold you hostage
mindsets that mold your world
The good news is that for every comfort zone you step out of, Jesus has a promise for you to step into and His love to guide you.
God has a rich inheritance waiting to be claimed by you.
It is the inheritance of an unhindered relationship with Him every day.
It is more than a new plot of land, in Jesus, it is a new way to live your life.
Abraham left his country behind to go after his God-given destiny.
May your courage grow as you bravely choose to step out of your strategic comfort zones one “step of faith” at a time.
What “way of life” needs to go by the wayside today?
What habit is holding you hostage?
What mindset is holding you back from going after what God has called you to?
“By faith, barren Sarah was able to become pregnant, old woman as she was at the time, because she believed the One who made a promise would do what he said.” Hebrews 11:11 MSG
We are born dreamers.
As children, we see the world around us and dream about being a part of it.
We dream about what our place in the world will be, what we will do, and who we might become.
The dreams revolve around us and what it will mean for us if those dreams come true.
As we grow up, there are some dreams that hold onto us more than we hold onto them.
It is those dreams that feel devastating when they shatter and remain unfulfilled.
We put them in the realm of impossible.
When the Lord told Abraham that Sarah would give birth, she overheard it and laughed (Genesis 18:11). She laughed not because she thought it was funny but because she thought it ludicrous. The dream of having children probably died when she was in her 60s or 70s. She had accepted her barrenness.
My friend, God often challenges what you have already accepted.
He will speak a word to you that seems impossible.
Something that seems ludicrous.
Something that you gave up on and now He is asking you to pick up again.
He is asking you to dream again but this time to dream it differently.
How? By placing your hope not in what the dream will do for you but in what God wants to do through you.
God asked Sarah to dream again. She knew she could not make it happen, she already tried. But somewhere deep inside she chose to trust God to do the impossible.
My friend, put your hope in God today.
And when He calls you to believe in the ludicrous dream again, say yes.
You are made to do something as unique as you are.
Others may have similar gifts but there is a call that only you can fill.
Comparing yourself to others will sabotage it and envy will outright destroy it.
To truly fulfill your purpose you are going to have to accept that you are never going to fit in.
God didn’t create you to fit in and doesn’t expect you to.
He is calling you to stand up and stand out.
Be different.
Be unique.
Be you.
God broke the mold when He created you.
There is no one else on earth exactly like you.
“By an act of faith, he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise.”Hebrews 11:9 MSG
God didn’t call Abraham to go to the new country and blend in, He called Abraham to live like a stranger in a strange land.
He is calling you to do the same.
Embrace your unique calling and quit trying to fit in.
“From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.” Jonah 2:1 NIV
When is the best time to pray?
– when you are running from God.
– when you have been disobedient and rebellious.
– when you have done your own thing, your way and find yourself in the center of a devastating storm.
– when you realize that God is BIGGER than your fear and STRONGER than the storm.
– when you are in the very center of something that is far bigger than you and you have no power to get out of it.
– when you are ready to let go of your preconceived ideas of what God is calling you to and willing to serve wherever you are, with whatever God has given you, right now.
“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.”PSALM 68:19 NIV
Every day also brings old memories that linger, mistakes still bearing consequences, fears that refuse to die, emotional baggage that demands space and attention.
Every day brings new choices to make, new challenges to face, new fears to conquer, new burdens to bear.
God will bear your burdens every day.
Old, new, heavy or light.
Everyday.
You may not know what burdens will be thrust upon you today but God does.
He stands with open arms and strong shoulders to bear them for you.
“May God look you full in the face and make you prosper.”
Numbers 6:26 MSG
The word for “prosper” here in the original Hebrew is “shalom.”
It has become one of my favorite words.
At its core, “Shalom” means the type of wholeness that comes after being broken.
I think that the most difficult moment to look God full in the face is when you are broken.
When you have failed or fallen or lay wounded at another’s hand.
That is exactly when you need Him the most.
That is when you need to see the face of God and how He sees you.
That is when you need to see His love, mercy and grace as He gazes at you.
You need to know that when He looks you full in the face, He is looking at someone He loves, believes in and will put back together through the power of His love.
May God look you full in the face and make you prosper.
“When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do.”ROMANS 4:17-18 MSG
Dare to trust God wherever you are and in whatever you are facing.
Even if you’re feeling hopeless.
Stay on the journey.
Though everything in Abraham’s life seemed to indicate otherwise, he chose to focus on the power of God and not on the impossibility of the promise God had given him.
I am sure that there were times that Abraham barely believed and struggled with massive doubt. I am sure that there were days that he was holding on to a thread of hope, he was human.
God will not take away your humanity or your emotions.
His plan is to work through both.
God has called you to trust Him, lean on Him and rely on Him as you walk the road before you.
Stay on the road.
Keep going.
Walk forward with the confidence that you may not know where you are going, but God does.
His promises come with His power.
Power to base your faith on what God can do, not on what you can see.
Hold on, my friend, you may have only had a thread of hope but in Christ, that thread is stronger than what you face and will hold against that which you fear
Cindy Grasso 