As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 1 Peter 4:10.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
The sanctified life is a life enjoying your gifts, your place, and your grace. It is the joy of knowing who you are in Me and finding your place of grace with Me. It is about being the YOU I made you to be. I made you to be amazing, and you already are.
But you will only find your gift and enjoy your life if you are grateful for your life. It is My gift to you that you exist and that you continue to do so. I have honored you by willing you to be. From before I laid the foundation of the world, I knew you. Ephesians 1:4. And I loved you and will never stop loving you now and forever. You cannot begin to grasp the height, the depth, the length and the breadth of My love for you. It surpasses human understanding. You need to be filled with My love poured into your heart by the gift of My Holy Spirit to even begin to fathom the greatness and the beauty of My love for you.
You are My workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which I prepared beforehand so that you would walk in them. Ephesians 2:10. I made everything for you to richly enjoy, and not just things, but your own life and self as well. You are fearfully wonderfully made! Do you realize how valuable and precious you are? If you do you will not sin or despise your life, you would cherish and honor it with integrity and wisdom.
Please pay attention to what I am telling you. You have nothing to fear about your life. If you follow the leads I give you, it is all prepared in advance and you are well covered and provided for. It is a life of good not of evil—a life triumphant and fruitful. My plans for each of you are peace and prosperity, not disaster and woe. A future filled with hope. Jeremiah 29:11. And hope is confident, joyful expectation, and hope does not disappoint. Romans 5:5. It is a life for good works that will bless you and others. I have planned for each of you to bless all the people on earth. Genesis 12:1-3. Yes, all. You have a place set out for you, your Promised Land, and a special gift.
But you have to understand, this is not automatic. You are not forced to do My Will for your life. You are free. You choose whether you want My plan or not. But I must tell you the truth, you will never be happy outside the plan I have for your life because that is where your skills will be giving full expression. That is the life where you will find rest. Where you find who I made you to be and that is finding the true place where you know you belong. Many people go through life never finding the place where they belong so they wander in the wilderness, like the Israelites who refused to go with My plan and enter the Promised Land.
What I want is for each of you to be aware of the greatness I have put in you and given you. It is grace. You have an assignment to do, and not just one, and I have given you the skill and power to will and to do it.
This may surprise you, but I have put each of you in the Bible. Yes, you can find yourself in Scripture just as John the Baptist did (remember? He said he was a “voice crying out in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His path” from Isaiah 40:3) and Jesus did (He quoted Isaiah also “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, He has anointed Me, to bring good news to the poor . . .” from Isaiah 61:1-2). You are there too. Ask Me where and I will show you.
It could be in the vocations listed in Romans 12:3-8 such as prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, and showing mercy. Or in those listed in Ephesians 4:11 such as apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors, and evangelists. It could be composing and singing My songs for the world to hear. 1 Chronicles 25:5-7. It could be governing My people, like I called David to do, or it could be leading a nation to a land of milk and honey, like Joshua. Or it could be being a hero that saves your nation, like Gideon. Or raising a champion child, like Hannah. Or starting a church in your home, like Lydia. Building Me a church, like Solomon. Raising up a household of faith, like Abraham. Leading people out of bondage and slavery, like Moses. Or providing a home for a prophet, like the widow in the time of famine in Israel did for Elijah. Just know this, your assignment will be unique and different from all others.
Each of you has a special gift to use to serve others. 1 Peter 4:10. I did not leave you or anyone out. And each of you can find your gift somewhere in Scripture. And in more places than one.
So I know you want to live the life you were born to live. You will only be truly happy in your Promised Land exercising your special gift. How do you find it?
Look to Scripture to see. How did the Israelites find the Promised Land?
Well, first they had to realize they were not happy in slavery and that they were meant for something higher. When they realized this, they cried out to Me. So the first step is to realize it if you are not functioning at your highest potential, if you are not enjoying your life, if things are not flowing and glowing, you are not where you were created to be. It is time to seek Me for deliverance and direction. Call and I will answer you and tell you great and mighty things you could not know. Ask and you will receive.
I then spoke to Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery to freedom. I will speak to you or send someone to you to show you the way to your place and your grace. I am able to get the message to you. I have used prophets, dreams, books, preachers, teachers, visions, angels, and direct revelation. You sometimes hear an announcement or see an ad or a friend tells you about an opportunity that witnesses with your spirit. It could be an idea, an invention, or a song. It could just be an attraction or a knowing the gives you light. I have even used a donkey to deliver My message! Numbers 22:30. Be ready, but it must witness with your spirit and line up with My Word as written in the Bible. I never do anything contrary to My Word. I cannot.
You must cooperate by obeying My Word to you. You must be willing to listen and obey. Like little Samuel who said “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.” Or Abraham who the moment He discerned My voice replied “Ready!” Or Mary who said “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to Me according to your word.” If you do not follow My lead, you will never find your place or your grace. That is what happened to the Israelites when I got them to their place, they would not go in and take it, even though I told them I would be with them and send My angel ahead of them to clear the way. They listened to fear and disobeyed My Word to them. They lost their destiny.
Do not be afraid to step out in faith before you see the provision and know all the details. When I told Abraham to go, he went, not knowing where he was going. When Moses and the Israelites got to the Red Sea, I told Moses to part it and all the Israelites to go through and they went though it looked threatening with the water like a wall on either side. And Nehemiah, when he felt the longing in his heart to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, dared to speak out about it to a pagan king, who then paid for it. And Joseph never let go of his dream and saw it realized.
Next you must follow My direction as you go along the path that you have begun at My Word. The Israelites had My presence with them. I led them by a cloud in the day and a pillar of fire in the night. When the cloud lifted from the meeting tent and moved, they went. When the cloud stayed, they stayed. Learn to follow the promptings and Words I give you. Look for Me. If you are mindful of Me in all your ways, I will direct your steps.
Now, I must stop here for a moment to talk more about the key to following Me. My Son told you at the Last Supper. It is to abide in Me. Abide means stay. They have perfect peace whose minds are stayed on Me. Isaiah 26:3. I am not a God of confusion but of peace. 1 Corinthians 14:33. To hear Me and follow My direction you must be at peace. You must be like a branch attached to the Vine of My Son. Then you will be fruitful without strife. And by “staying in Me” I mean being aware of Me and what My Word tells you at all times so that you will not be fearful and upset at things that look contrary to My Word but will be able to speak what My Word tells you and act on that.
I do not leave you orphans. I send My Holy Spirit to live in you and guide you to all truth. All who are My children are led by My Spirit. My sheep know My voice and they follow Me.
And to find your place and operate in your special gift that I give you by grace you must have wisdom. Wisdom is the principal thing. It is knowing the right thing to do at the right time. So ask Me for wisdom and I will give it to you generously. But you must ask without doubting. When you ask, believe that you have received it and it shall be yours.
And do not worry or fret that you cannot find your place and your gift. You will if you seek Me with all your heart. I who call you am faithful and I will bring it to pass. 1 Thessalonians 5:24. When I begin a good work in you, if you are willing and obey, I will perfect and complete it. Philippians 1:6. You have nothing to fear. I am for you, not against you. I want you to live the life I have planned for you from before the foundation of the world.
And do not complain, grumble, or look back. This is what the Israelites did in the desert and they never got to their place or exercised their gifts as they should have. It was there for them but they refused to take it.
And that is the last step in finding your place and exercising your special gift there—you must take it. Seize the opportunity when it comes and do not retreat as the Israelites did. They lost their destiny. There was only one opportunity and they rejected it. My gifts and call are irrevocable but you can still miss ever entering into them.
And how do you take it? The way the children of the disobedient Israelites finally did—by faith. You step out and start pursuing My call by faith, you do it by faith, continue to pursue it in faith, and finish it by faith. My servant Paul did this. He fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. Faith in My Word, faith in My love for you. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. He is the Way.
The fact that you exist means there is a place designed for you, prepared in advance, where you fit perfectly that is calling to you and something in you is calling for that place. And ultimately, as Jesus told you He was going to do, I have prepared your true place for you in Heaven, the amazing Kingdom where all is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, and there you have so much to do that you never have to sleep and there is no darkness. It is a place of wondrous celebration of life, eternal life, but it is vast and it is a government. And the banner over all, the flag of the Kingdom, is love with liberty and justification for all. You are all made perfect in Heaven. It is your true home and promised land.
But even now you can spend days of Heaven on earth in your place of grace where you exercise your special gift that I have put in you by My grace. It is there you will bear abundant fruit that will remain. You will bless every nation on earth. Do not ignore so great a salvation when it is there for you to receive freely by My grace.
I love you. Receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness and you will reign in life, now and forever, through Jesus Christ. Come reign with Me!