YOU'VE BEEN CHOSEN!

From beginning man has been part of God's plan, even before the earth was created. You have been chosen by God. Ephesians 1 vs 4 "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love"

The bible in 1 peter 12 vs 20, says that Christ was forordained before the foundations of the world but was made manifest in the last times for you and I. Revelations 13 vs 8 makes it clear that Christ was slain from the foundation of the world. You are probably wondering how this is related, you are the reason why that happened. God had a purpose for man before he made man, he wanted you to have an inheritance. You wouldn't be able to fulfill your purpose if Christ wasn't slained for you. For God to make you in his image says alot. This just shows you are special and loved by God.

PREDESTINATION
Before you were born, you existed in God's plan. He saw you. You were predestined and chosen for a purpose. No one on earth is a mistake, both the believers and unbelievers. You have a special place in God's heart. You were not born at the wrong time too. The very minute you came forth from the womb was planned. Jeremiah 1 vs 5
"Before I formed you in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained  thee a prophet unto the nations".
God formed you just perfectly with all you need to fulfill your purpose.

QUALIFICATION/ORDINATION/CALLING
From Jeremiah 1 vs 5, We can see that we've already been sanctified (prepared, dedicated, consecrated, procliamed, equipped) for our callings before we were born.
You are not under qualified for it. Your calling is not too big for you, you are more than able for the task.  Read 1 Samuel 16 vs 7,10,12,13.
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart".
This was when Samuel thought the older, taller and bigger sons of Jesse were the ones called. Size, looks or age isn't a criteria for God. Jeremiah thought he was not qualified to fulfill his calling as a prophet but God is never too early or too late when he calls a man. If you feel too old he will give you vigour and renew your strength. If you feel too young, he will make you fearless and your words and actions will be more than that of a child. When God gives you the mantle, you can do anything. He will put the words in your mouth to speak and guide you on and when to speak. God calling you is him authorising you. Your calling is beyond your Job or degree. 

JUSTIFICATION/GLORIFICATION
Accepting Christ into your life makes you justified and righteous. Your calling can only be fulfilled or accomplished when you have Christ. The Holy spirit who is an evidence of your recipient of Christ guides, leads, teaches, encourages and comforts you in the course of your calling. He begins with you too. Without Christ you can do nothing. You may have been predestined for a purpose but if you don't receive Christ into your life you can't accomplish it.
John 15 vs 4-5
4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15 vs 8
8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Colosians 1 vs 27
27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
When you have Christ, the Glory of God is revealed in you.

 
If you feel you don't have a revelation of what your calling is, ask God to reveal to you and he will. Also, know you have what it takes. If you feel you are not going far enough in the area you were called to or you've been in your calling for years but nothing to show for it, hold on to God, pray for more of him and stay in his rest. Every journey starts from somewhere. Being called is a journey, you need to hold on to God patiently and let him take the wheel. John 15 vs 2a "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away". The greek word for "taketh away" in this context means to support, to lift up or take up, to strengthen, to bear and to anchor. God strengthens and supports you to become fruitful because that has been the plan from the beginning. 

 Never compare your journey to another person's, the calling might seem similar but trust me there's why yours is unique and requires you for the job. 

 When the time for Jesus to be crucified was nigh, while praying in the garden he prayed for the cup he was to drink to pass him according to the Father's will and the angel of the Lord appeared and strengthened him- Luke 22 vs 42-43. Days may come when you face some challenges or trials in the line of your calling just look up to God. If he called you to it he will see you through it. He is the one who sustains the throne. 

2 Timothy 4 vs 7

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

LET THE PAST GO

You've probably thought about certain things that happened in your life in the past, for alot of people going down that lane brings a whole lot of regret or pain.
It could be what you did and you can't forgive yourself for, you wish it was done differently or you wish it had happened differently. That situation may have had a really strong impact in your life and made you go down the drain. It may be a bad growing up experience. It could be some kind of hurt from people you trusted or  from a complete stranger.

The devil tries to hold alot of people hostage with their past especially through their minds, if they allow it. Some even believe this repercussions means they are paying for their past and they end up having no peace or are not happy with thier lives. When you give a lot of consideration to a painful or regretful past, manifestations show forth. Letting the devil in can affect your focus in life and affect your focus in the place of prayer. 

Have you ever played a prank on someone, maybe you lied to them that they had something scary on thier hair or clothes or behind them and they completely freak out because of the fear of being harmed. Only to laugh it off and tell them it was just a prank! That's the game the devil tries to play with our minds concerning the past. You freak out about your past and you carry this burden around refusing to let go.
Romans 6 vs 6-8

6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

Once you've accepted Christ into your life, you are brand new, not adjusted. There is a difference between cooking a new pot of soup and warming stale food.
2 corinthians 5 vs 17
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
Your old self died with Christ and he gave you a new one. The past is erased completely.  Go into God's rest knowing this. Stop raising your hands to carry a burden that already been lifted from your head. You will only get your hands cramped!

You can't pay for something in which evidence of its occurrence isn't there. You are not gonna pay for that past. God is so loving and gracious. You don't have that past anymore, who ever had that past went with it. Even if the world is pointing fingers at you. If the Devil can't get into your mind he tries to do it through the world. Jesus already declared you discharged and acquitted from all accusations and that makes you free and innocent. Even if you sin while in Christ,  God doesn't hold it against you because you've been made righteous through Christ. Romans 4 vs 8 says "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not count his sin against".

Jesus needed(had ) to pass through Samaria according to the bible in John 4. Why do you think so? Because a woman with a past needed to be made anew and leave behind  her burden. She needed redemption. She was indeed made new without condemnation. She was continually thirsty and burdened because she didn't drink from the right source but Jesus didnt just give her the living water he made a living spring in her that she might have no cause to want and that spring flowed through and people in her community drank from it. That's how precious we are to God. He would go miles for your redemption. He so loves you. This is grace!

You may have been hurt by several people in the past and this hurt has stopped you from moving on, the anger, tears etc. Isaiah 43 vs 18-19
18 Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.
God will make use of your hurt and pain to do great things in your life and give it a turn around.  After Joseph was brutalised by his brethren and sold into Egypt. God used that situation to make a way for him and elevate him. Infact when his brethren visited Egypt to buy food, he saw them and cried because he was hurt but he forgave them and reassured them that God used that situation to send him ahead of them for the purpose of that famine in the land and to save lives, according to Genesis 45 vs 5. Joseph was the most honorable man in Egypt at that time. Consider the story of Daniel, Esther. Shedrach, Meschach and Abednego were thrown into the fire but God was in it with them. God is in that pain with you to work things out for your favour. Just forgive and let go because the spirit of Christ dwells in you and with that spirit is exceeding love that you should extend to the people who hurt you. Esther had a story she hid from the king. The enemy Haman tried to use it against her and to hurt her people but the God who sits on the throne with full control over earthly kings used the revelation of that story and Haman's intentions to save her people, Esther 7.
The devil might want to use that hurt and anger to hold you down and give you unrest but God wants rest for you. You deserve to be free. The people who hurt you might even be going around free so why carry some burden caused by another? Let it go.
Pray for them. Praying for them will lead them to Christ. It will help you let go and forgive them easily. It fills you with strength and peace to move on and most importantly rekindle love for this people. Your kind act of forgiveness can lead someone to Christ. Isn't that a good thing?
I pray that the broken hearted and the burdened ones will receive God's rest and healing. Amen

IN HIS NAME

 I trust you all had a wonderful week.

In the book of Mathew 8 vs 5-13, a Centurion came unto Jesus beseeching him to heal his servant who was sick. The centurion understood and had the revelation of the lordship of Jesus over all as a man of authority himself. He understood Jesus did not have to come all the way to his house for what was troubling his servant to obey. He just needed to speak a word and that was it. Philipians 2 vs 9

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Lordship according to the dictionary means a position of dominion, power, control and authority. It also means to reign

For example, if a governor needs to favour a person he doesn't necessarily need to go all the way to another location to work things out, he can write a letter and sign it or stamp it or both. It is enough to get the people in that location to obey and favour this person accordingly. A phone call is enough too. The order dare not be disobeyed because there will consequences. If this describes the power of an earthly authority then consider the authority in the name of Jesus, it can't be disregarded, there are fatal consequences. In the former days, a ring from a king as a seal could signify authority as in the case of King Ahasuerus, Queen Esther's husband when he wrote letters to the various provinces. 

When someone receives Christ into thier life, they now live in the authority in the name of Jesus. They have a seal which is the Holy spirit. The Holy spirit backs this authority/office. 1 corinthians 12 vs 3
Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

Do you understand the authority you function in?

Remember when the scribes, pharisees and some other people came to arrest Jesus led by Judas iscariot. When he asked who they wanted and they replied "Jesus of Nazareth", Jesus said "I am he" and the people who came to arrest him drew back and fell to ground. He revealed his person and authority and they fell under that anointing. John 18 vs 5-6

From the example i gave , In the case of a man sent by a governor, if he forgets the authorising letter with the signature or stamp then he is on a fruitless journey. If he carries the letter and refuses to show it because he has no faith in it, then it is a fruitless effort. For example too, If the actual son of the governor himself decides not to walk in that conciousness of who he is as a governor's son or disregards this fact, he might not be able to function in this authority compared to the one who regards it, accepts it and understands who his father is, his name and place in the state and also walks in this conciousness. He will function better in this authority. Infact, alot of times he will not request for things to be done and they will be done. Nobody dares disregard or mistreat this particular son.

The sons of God who are heirs must know and understand  who they are in Christ. You dare not be messed with, there are consequences. The Father will always watch out for his own. Believe in God and rest in his authority. Understand the authority you function in and know he has given you his name to function in. Mathew 28 vs 18-20
18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

19 Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in THE NAME of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I AM WITH YOU  always, to the very end of the age." Amen

Note the places in between the verses I used capital letters. When you function in the name of Jesus, have the revelation of the authority in it.

In the book of Exodus chp 7, When God sent Moses to Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. God made Moses a god over Pharaoh, that was the authority Moses functioned in to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt. Pharaoh did not obey till the last minute and there were fatal consequences. That is how precious God's children are to him. God has made you a god over that situation, work in that conciousness.

Back to the Centurion, when Jesus spoke a word of healing concerning the Centurion's servant. The Centurion went home believing the word and that it was a command which was enough to change that situation. God has spoken over your life and situation, realise this and go into his rest knowing his words has broken bounds. Embrace the word of God and believe in the authority in it. The words God speaks are commands over your life, it carries power. This is why you have the bible to study, confess it and see it work for you. You sit with Jesus were he sits so you sit above all. Christ made this possible. 1 john 4 vs 17 "In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him". You are like Christ in this world. Study the word of God and embrace it. Believe his word has healed all part of you, believe you are the righteousness of God through Christ. The one who sits at the highest place has spoken this words over you. Jesus spoke and calmed the tempest (Mathew 8 vs 26). Creation obeys! Everything thing or being does too. Psalm 99 vs 1

 1. The LORD reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake.

Make sure to read Revelations 17 vs 14,
I Timothy 6 vs 15. Have a blessed weekend!