“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:29-31.

I was reminded of two very important facts this week that I’d like to share with you. The first was that “If the enemy can’t steal your salvation he’ll settle for your destiny.” Most people who attend church are either in need of salvation or have a real destiny in Christ Jesus. Many Christians are content to merely survive life and shy away from expectations of great and glorious lives. We may also know of people who have walked through the doors of a church building with a desire to meet with the living God, only to find themselves distracted by thoughts of what others might think, pride, self-loathing, or feeling just not good enough. They may leave with every intention of setting things straight and getting themselves in a better state in which to meet God. How often I feel like screaming out “You can’t get yourself right to come to God, first meet with God and He will make things right.” The second fact is from this wonderful passage of scripture in Romans 8, Paul reminds us of the powerful truths, that we are ‘Predestined—Called—Justified and Glorified.’ We need to be aware that this is not just a promise for the future, or as someone once said, “Pie in the sky, when you die, in the great by and by.” No, this is spoken in the past tense, it’s already done! We are in the centre of God’s will and plan now and have been from eternity past, and ever will be for eternity future. What a great inheritance and promise that we are not forgotten or alone because He fore-knew us. We are not without hope because He predestined us to be conformed to Christ’s image. We are not without purpose because He has called us. We do not need to listen to those who accuse or condemn us because we have been justified through Christ who loves us. We don’t have to build ourselves up or seek the praise of men, because He has glorified us! You may not feel too glorified today, you may be going through tough times, but God’s prom-ises are not dependent on our feelings. Someone may have given you a hard time this week and all you see is hardship and suffering, or perhaps you are the victim of injustice or harsh treatment. I would encourage you not to lower the bar of expectation and blessing. Instead, know that Christ understands what you’re going through and this too may bring about glory. “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” Romans 8:16-17. Satan tried to steal Christ’s destiny but he was always going to fail, don’t allow your destiny to be stolen. Put aside those feelings that could easily take over, and instead take hold of God’s promise that you ARE Justified and Glorified, make your decisions based on that. So justified and glorious one, all that remains is to remember that God is for you and that being the case, who can be against you? Be Blessed, Nigel

Labels: Called, Chosen, predestined

“If a man has not discovered something he will die for, he is not fit to live”
Martin Luther King, Equal rights Reformer

“He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Jim Elliot, Missionary to Ecuador

“Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity” Jesus Christ (John 12:25)

What do these three have in common, they all laid down their lives for the greater good of mankind and they will all spend eternity together.

They all cared little for their own life, this doesn’t mean they had a poor appreciation of the preciousness and sanctity of life, far from it, life to them on earth was a million opportunities to share the love of God.

When we read verses like this in the bible, we can become very defensive and shocked that someone would have the audacity to say such a thing, but then Christ could, because he lived it out to perfection and he had the authority as God to say something so outrageous.

Today many extremists will go to great length to destroy their lives for their agendas and causes, this is not your invitation to take your own life, but to give it over to someone else. It is like an all inclusive body transplant, you are the donor, God the Father is the recipient. But the rewards for the future ridiculously outweigh the giving in this world.

If we love our life as it is, why would we need Christ to come and sacrifice his life for ours, Our life without Christ is like looking into a scrap heap, no purpose all broken up and rusty. When we give him our life for his use we become a “new creation”, something sparkling and beautiful, and for a specific purpose and destiny.

Even as believers we can feel unworthy and not valued, we can feel useless and down, maybe it is because we have taken our eyes and our heart of our new life and started to enjoy the old one again.

The old one was never good enough before and will never be able to satisfy in the future, but when we are prepared to stand before God and say “all that I am is yours” we start to find fulfillment and excitement, which lasts far beyond the night.

Its your choice you only have one life on earth, make it the best by letting God mould you and take you to be the person that he predestined you to be.

Labels: Eternity, predestined, sanctity, satisfaction