Day 20 of 31 Days of Chasing THE Light

-
Obedient Light



But when He who set me apart before I was born and called me by His grace was pleased to reveal Himself to me that I might…” ~Galatians 1:15


I’m parked right here with this verse because three words have captivated me…But when He. These words are extremely powerful and I think about them in my own life.

In this verse Paul states what God’s grace did for him…what He does for me, you.
           
            1.  He was set apart.  We were set apart before we were born.
            2. He was “called” by God’s grace.  We are called by God’s grace.
            3. Jesus was revealed to him.  Jesus is revealed to us.


In the notes part of my Bible for this verse it says: “set me apart before I was born…the emphasis is again on God’s initiative: Paul was not called because of anything he himself accomplished.”

It’s not about what our accomplishments are…how many diplomas I have…or how many initials are behind by name. Sure those are all good but God does not look at the things we look at. He looks at the heart. He chooses us for our heart and our obedience and it’s up to us to take the next step in faith.


If we take a look at the people God handpicked to use for His works – we know that it isn’t about accomplishments.

2 Timothy 1:9 says that God’s calling is by grace not according to our work.

If I think for a moment that it’s about my accomplishments in my life – then that nullifies what Jesus did on the cross. I don’t have to climb up a ladder to get to God. Jesus came down for me. Jesus saved my life and He didn’t do it because I followed a set of rules.  No, I’m a mess and have definitely broken some rules. He did it because He loves me. The Cross is enough. I don’t have to do more – I just have to trust and have faith in Jesus.
 
“Jesus is our ladder. We don’t have to climb up because He comes down to us.” ~Ann Voskamp

But when God set me apart before I was born and called me by His grace – ME – the messed up me – the rule breaker me – the do it all on my own me – when He set me apart and revealed His son Jesus to me…so that I can be formed into the image of His son and show others Jesus through me. That is a But When God moment.


God does not look at the things we look at – He looks at the heart.

But When God said to me, “Michelle, it’s not about your past…it’s about your willingness. I want to use you because of your obedience and because of your heart. Trust me to go with you and finish the work I have started in you. Trust me to develop you. I have chosen you.”
 
“The Christian life is always, always on-the-job training.” ~Christine Caine

Today, let’s not try to climb the ladder to get to Him. Let’s be still and sit at His feet and when it’s time to move throughout our day, let’s walk humbly following The Light.
 
  
write31days.com





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Worry? Proverbs 31 OBS Blog Hop

-
Image
  This week's blog topic from Proverbs 31 OBS is on “Worry”… AND I know a thing or two about worry.  I’m betting a lot of you reading this do as well.  Dictionary.com defines worry as: “ to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret. ” Torment oneself.  Suffer.  Fret.  That’s what I can do to myself sometimes.   I’ve heard that if you worry you don’t really trust that God can handle it.  You don’t trust God with it.  That’s hard to swallow for me.  Because I worry about my kids, my family, me, friends, etc.  But I’m in the Bible every single day.  I am a Jesus girl.  So for me to worry and then see that my worry means I don’t trust that God can handle it is hard.  UGH.   I am getting better about it though.  My time with God every morning is helping.  When I start to worry about something…I begin to pray.  I stop the tormenting in it...
Read more

A Raging Battle.... Proverbs 31 OBS Blog Hop

-
Image
On Sunday of this week, we started a new online Bible study with Proverbs 31!  I am so excited because I love anything Proverbs 31!  Our study this time around is by one of my favorite authors, Lysa TerKeurst….and her book, Made to Crave !  I have read this book already and it is amazing.  If you want to jump in on the study…please do!  Go here to sign up:  http://proverbs31.org/online-bible-studies/ This week for my blog topic I picked “A Raging Battle”   because food is not something I crave more than God…I crave other things.  God has shown me some things that I crave more than Him and it’s not pretty.  “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord ; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”  Psalm 84:2 For three years now I have been doing a 365 photo a day blog and last year I started writing every Thursday about my faith and whatever was on my heart.  I felt...
Read more

Palms Up! { Day 220 }

-
Image
This week, I started a new Bible study with Proverbs 31 on a book called “What Happens When Women Say Yes to God” by Lysa TerKeurst….and I’m excited for this study.  Really Excited!!   I haven’t always said Yes to God…in fact I have ignored Him and said no to Him a lot in my life.  Makes me sad to think of how many times I have been blind to all He has for me or to all the times He has tried to lead me in a different direction.  Fear and lack of confidence have always held me back from saying YES to Him.  Sometimes I think that I know which path is better for me to take and sometimes I feel like I could do it better.  Ouch!  Or sometimes I just feel like its too scary and I don’t like change too much.  Lysa TerKeurst talks in her book, “What Happens When Women Say Yes to God” about “Surprise Parties” and how it must break God’s heart when He has planned something for us and we are too tired to notice, too blind to see or we...
Read more