You Are Chosen

We all want to be chosen; whether it's for that job we've been applying for or that group we've been dreaming of being a part of, we all have places where we want to be chosen for. But have we forgotten that we are already chosen by the most high God? You are chosen.

We live in a world that demands us to fit in and find where we belong - to choose our own destiny and purpose. But the truth is, you weren't born to create your own purpose, rather you were born with a purpose.

You were chosen and handpicked by God for a unique purpose that only you were made to fulfill. 

It can be easy to spend our lives feeling depressed that we didn't get accepted to that job we've dreamed of being a part of or how we can't seem to fit in with certain groups of people. We must remember however that we have been chosen by the most high God for our own unique purpose. 

Jeremiah 1:5 says, "Before you were in your mother's womb, I chose you. I set you apart for a special work." God made each of us with a unique purpose in mind. Being chosen by God is far greater than being chosen by anything else in this world. Nothing in this world can give you purpose because God made you. God Hknows how you're wired, and he knows what's best for you. 

Being chosen by God is an honor that surpasses all. 

I grew up in college feeling quite depressed that I never got my dream job. 

Interview after interview, I thought I was getting closer to grasping my dream job and fulfilling what I called at the time was my purpose. But when I didn't get accepted to these companies, I lost my sense of purpose in life. I became weary and depressed because what I failed to realize at the time was that I was trying to chase a purpose that wasn't made for me. 

I was trying to fit different jobs that the world made and calling it my own purpose. I finally realized that my purpose was made in God's hand - not by my hands or the world, but by my heavenly father who made me. 

Fast forward to today, I thank God that no matter how far I was from God, he still pursued me with love and chose me to be the steward and founder of Living Revelations ministry. I'm still in awe that such a mighty God would choose me to be his servant and messenger of his beautiful word. 

Just as God chose me, he also chooses you. God has chosen you for your own unique purpose and has set you apart for a special work that only you were made to do. 

No matter how far you've gone from God, he is still calling you to be his own. Isaiah 41:9 says, "I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, you are my servant; I have chosen you and not rejected you."

Have you found your purpose and calling from God? If you're still trying to figure out what your purpose is in life, don't look to the world but look to God. God has a plan for your life and he has chosen you to serve him and to touch lives in your own unique way. Live today knowing you are chosen by the most high God. So remember, you are chosen. 

Prayer: Lord, I thank you that you have chosen me to be yours. Thank you for choosing to love me, save me, and use me. 

Shop the I AM CHOSEN TEE at this link: SHOP

Jealousy Blinds

Jealousy is an internal feeling that we all try to hide within ourselves. While jealousy may seem harmless, it actually has the power to hurt ourselves and others. Jealousy stops us from seeing the good happening around us. Jealousy blinds.

I hate to admit this, but I'm a jealous person.

It's easy for me to make everything a competition. I always want to be the best at everything - whether it's being the most fashionable person out there or beating my co-worker at work, I'm always striving to be number one. Yet what I failed to realize was that my jealous feelings were only hurting myself, others, and God.

God opened my eyes and showed me the harm that my own Jealousy was causing to His kingdom building. God's plan was for me to draw more people to Christ through showing love, yet my jealous actions were only stopping God from using me to love others.

Jealousy leads us to work against God rather than for God. 

My envious feelings were only torturing my joy, and I found myself hurting others without realizing it. When everything becomes about us, it's impossible to love others because we're focused on our own needs. Jealousy takes away God's perspective in our lives and replaces it with a selfish perspective that forgets the importance of others.

Jealousy blinds us from seeing the beautiful work that God is doing in others lives.

A great example of the dangers of jealousy is found in Acts 5 which talks about the jealousy of the high priests and Sadducees. Peter and the other Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and healed many people. While everyone was praising God for the miracles that were happening through the Apostles, the high priests were filled with jealousy and wanted the Apostles to stop preaching Jesus and to stop the miracles. 

Their jealousy blinded their own eyes from seeing the beautiful work that God was doing through the Apostles lives. Acts 5:17-18 says, "Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in public jail."

It's ironic that the high priest who were looked upon by society as experts in knowing God were the ones who ended up working against God's plans. The Sadducees' pride and jealousy blinded them from seeing the truth of Jesus that God revealed through the Apostles. The high priests couldn't accept the fact that uneducated men knew more than them. 

If we are not careful, we too can be blinded by jealousy. As much as we know God, we must still guard ourselves against Jealousy. Jealousy can creep in without us realizing and lead us to work against the will of God even when we never intended it. 

Jealousy stems from an "all about me" mentality that we must get rid of. When we're all about us, we can never be all about God. We must put God first before our own feelings and desires, and trust that God's way is best for us. When we humble ourselves and put others before ourselves, God will lift us up in his time. 

1 Peter 5:6 says, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time." When we try to lift ourselves up we will end up doing it at the expense of others, but when God lifts us up he becomes glorified to all. 

Are there people in your life that you find yourself being jealous over? Will you trust in God and put that other person's needs above your own knowing that in the right time, God will provide all you need? God is a good father, and he rewards those who are faithful to him. 

When we realize that what all we have and need comes from God, we no longer need to be jealous or take things into our own hands. Our job is to be faithful to God's word, and he will provide all else. God knows your deepest desires, so trust that he is the best one to provide for you. So remember, jealousy blinds. 

The Point of The Cross

We've all seen the cross and know what it means, but have we truly understood how the cross applies to our life today? Have we missed the point of the cross? 

I want to take us back to the story of Judas, whom we all know betrayed Jesus and delivered him to be arrested and later crucified for money. Judas has been the number one person looked down upon for his betrayal.

While what Judas did was wrong, we must remember that his wrong actions never stopped God from loving him.  In fact, Judas at the end felt guilty for what he did and didn't end up keeping the silver that was given to him for betraying Jesus.

Judas says in Matthew 27:4, "I have sinned...for I have betrayed innocent blood." Judas was already on the right track towards repentance and having a right relationship with God; he acknowledged his sin and decided to turn away from it by refusing to keep the silver, but the only thing that stopped Judas from receiving God's salvation was him not accepting Jesus's forgiveness and grace over his own life.

Judas missed the point of the cross. He missed the point of why Jesus came, which was to save us from our sins and give us another chance to be with God no matter what we've done.

Just like Judas, we too have betrayed Jesus through our sins and mistakes. We have all fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and that is why Jesus had to die on the cross to redeem us with his holy blood. Jesus gave up his life so that we could have life. Jesus was the only perfect sacrifice to redeem all of humanity.

Judas overlooked God's unconditional love for him and missed the point of the cross. Have you also overlooked God's unconditional love for you? Have you told yourself that your sins are too great for God to even love you?

If Judas would have just asked God for forgiveness and had the faith to believe that God already forgave him, he would have been saved. Instead, Judas took his own life away which stopped him from being able to have everlasting life with God. It's not Judas's sin that stopped him from entering heaven, but his own remorse that blinded him from seeing God's unconditional love.

God's unconditional love was pinned on the cross for us. Jesus gave up his life on the cross so that his holy blood would redeem us from all our sins. We not longer are subjects to death but have been made alive through Christ. The cross brought us life and made God's unconditional love real.

No greater love exists than the love we find on the cross. 

I don't know what you've done or where you've been, but what I do know is that Jesus loves you no matter what. He died on the cross so that you could have a fresh new start with no stains. Jesus chose to give his life for you because he saw your life was worth it. He saw the purpose and potential that God had placed in you and said you were worth the sacrifice. 

The point of the cross was to save you. We all need saving, and Jesus came just for that. The cross points to the grace we so undeservingly received. John 20:32 says, "...Jesus is the messiah, the son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." Through Jesus, we all have the opportunity to experience life to the fullest. So remember the point of the cross. 

There's More To Life Outside Your Sphere

It can be easy to stay in our same bubble of friends. We all have our own sphere of people that we're comfortable being around in, but have you restricted your life to your comfort zone? Have you told yourself that there's nothing more for you outside your sphere? The truth is, God has so much purpose and potential for you outside the people you know. There's more to life outside your sphere. 

I've always been a super shy person, and still a little today. 

Back in High School, you would rarely see me raise my hand for discussions. I was known as the quiet girl, the one who had least to say. 

But God transformed my life and taken me out of my shy self into the world for His glory. Through the Holy Spirit, I have been empowered to go beyond what I never thought I could do. I now have the boldness to share about Christ with my friends and family, my co-workers, and now God has taken it a step further and called me outside my sphere and into the world.

God has shown me the potential that He has for me to reach those in grocery stores, neighborhoods, malls, and anywhere else I might find myself at. I used to reserve myself to only those I knew, but now God has shown me that he too has a purpose and plan for me outside my sphere.

Life becomes more of an adventure when we see the potential and purpose God has for us beyond our sphere. 

Just recently, God put in my heart to join the evangelism outreach team on Saturdays. I was hesitant to go because I had always thought evangelism wasn't my thing.

But God kept nudging me to go, so I went.

Now I realize why God had wanted me to go to that outreach because from there, my eyes were opened to the potential God had for me outside my sphere. I was able to pray and invite complete strangers to accept Christ, and I couldn't help but wonder how many people I've passed by and ignored whom God might have wanted me to reach out to. 

Many times we keep our lives to ourselves and ignore those around us. But what if you were just one stranger away from helping someone change their life for the better? Open your life to God and you will see him use you in ways you never knew He could.

God calls all of us to go out into the world and share his good news. Jesus tells us in Mark 16:15, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." Go into all the world means to go into your world, which might include your work place, school, and other people you meet on any given day.

You have the power through God to change your world. God has given you the Holy Spirit to give you the power to witness about His goodness. Acts 1:8 says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Your Jerusalem is your family, your Judea and Samaria is your work or school, and the ends of the earth is wherever else God may call you outside your sphere.

Are there people outside your sphere that God may be calling you to reach? Maybe that classmate you always sit next to? Or that neighbor you've never said hi to? They all may be strangers, but just because their strangers doesn't mean God has no plan for you to be apart of their life. 

God has plans for you that are far greater than you know. True fulfillment comes when we open our lives to be used by God. Live life with the mission to love like Jesus and to point others to the only hope there is which is Jesus. So remember, there's more to life outside your sphere.

Prayer: Lord, help me to live a life that brings others to want to know you more.