Endure in Obedience!
This morning through the lyrics of a song by Casting Crowns crooning from my alarm, the Lord told me to stop holding on and just be held. I woke up to that. Last night I remember saying to a friend that I was holding on to my faith. I still am, but this morning the Lord was telling me to just be held by Him. And wouldn’t you know that holding on to Him IS indeed holding on to faith, because He is a faithful Father!
Yesterday I received a book in the mail. This book was written by the guy who sold me my new truck. Last year I went to test drive the Kia Telluride. These trucks were so popular that the dealership here in my city could not keep them on the lot. I mean as soon as the truck pulled in with a few Tellurides, they were sold that day!
I test drove a black Telluride and honestly I didn’t want another black SUV. But remember, these trucks were selling like hotcakes. The day I test drove, the sales guy Jim made sure I knew that time was of the essence on deciding. I knew I needed to get God’s permission to purchase though and I wasn’t hearing, “go for it!” while I was at the dealership so after many hours of sitting in the dealership trying to hear God, I closed the place out and told him that I would go home and pray about it and let him know in the morning.
I did just that. And guess what God said? He said that’s not your truck! A part of me felt relieved because I would have been settling for the color. How many of you know that God never wants us to settle for 2nd best? But not only did God say that wasn’t my truck, he told me to go back to the dealership and tell Jim that, plus a few other assignments. I was to tell Jim a message from God. Now this was my first time (that I can recall) doing this type of, “God told me to tell you” assignment. I fought against it. I was like, Lord, can’t I just text him? Nope! I was to go back to the dealership in person. Tell Jim no on the truck. Give him a copy of my book Permission Slips. Invite Jim to church. Give him the $25 gift card that had been riding around in my purse for months. And tell Jim that God still had work for him to do. YIKES!!
I remember being the most nervous I had ever been. I was like this is sooooo crazy. Most people don’t come back to the dealership to say NO on the vehicle. But this is what God has assigned me to do. So trembling with major nervousness, I did it. I remember tearing up as I was doing it. I didn’t know how Jim would receive the No or the other messages and gifts. But I did it.
Well more than a year later, I got the truck that I ordered in faith with no money. Jim kept in touch and called me a few times after my initial NO and on one of those occasions said his manager would allow me to order the truck I wanted with no money down. It typically was $1000 to do this, but I could come in and do it at no cost. So I did. Went back to that dealership nervous as I don’t know what and ordered the exact truck that now sits in my garage!! I am about to shout!!
But that’s not where the story ends.
Back when I gave Jim my book and the gift card and the messages, he told me that he was a writer and had a blog! He gave me the website. I tried to view it but sent to me a page that said it was not available. When I let him know, he said, that he probably needed to pay the website bill with Go Daddy. Guess what? God used me to pay that bill with the gift card! I’m about to shout again! I had no idea why I was giving this man a $25 gift card. It was soooo crazy!
But back to the part about Jim being a writer!!! God used MY BOOK to spark Jim to write a book! And I got the published book in the mail yesterday!!!! Cue the shouting!! Did yall hear me? Jim wrote a devotional for sales people!!! The book title specifically is: The Inspired Salesperson: Inspiring Reflections for God-Centered Sales Professionals by James McMechan and is available on Amazon!
I was in such awe when Jim called me with this news last Friday y’all! I mean it took me a while to just process how God had used me. And when I say HOW, I really mean HOW HE DID IT!! It was so crazy. His ways are truly not our ways. There is no way I would have gone back to any place to tell the salesperson no I don’t want to buy the item. I would have just let them assume it was a no by no communication or at minimum sent them a text. Then to be able to go back up there, say no to the truck, and deliver a message and stuff God told to give them? CRAZY!!!!!! But God had a plan.
Plus I had this revelation too…that first truck really wasn’t mine. The truck I have now is mine and I prayed to not pay for it and I still haven’t paid a cent! Don’t miss that! I have yet to pay for the truck that God blessed me with DURING A PANDEMIC! Who’s shouting again with me!!!!!!! My God is FAITHFUL!
And look at the ripple effect of obedience. Ain’t no telling how many people will give their life to Christ through Jim’s book!!!! God gets the glory!!!!!!!!!!!! Hallelujah!!!
I share this testimony to encourage you and inspire you to obey God. Do what He says, no matter how crazy it seems! God is faithful to perform!! And today, I think all of this is happening as a VISIBLE reminder to me to not give up or get weary in well-doing, but to keep the running the race that God has set before me. And you too!
Now that brings us right into Hebrews 12 for our Scriptural Bible Study! Verse 1 says, let us run with endurance the race that lies before us. Verse 2 says, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Here are a full stand outs for me in this chapter:
We must strip away anything from our lives that can trip us up. When we are running the race that God has given us, we don’t need sin or people who aren’t any good for us, weighing us down.
Regardless of what’s going on, don’t grow weary and give up. Jesus made it through Friday by keeping His eyes on Sunday! He knew that Sunday would be when He would go back to the Father in heaven and sit down at the right hand of the throne of God.
We must be disciplined and willing to be disciplined by our heavenly Father. Discipline includes both positive and negative repercussions, and both instruction and correction. We can’t get mad at God or lose heart when God disciplines us because He disciplines the ones he loves. We must remember this as parents too.
If we want to receive the inheritance (God’s Kingdom blessings in history and eternal) we must be willing to submit to the Father’s discipline.
Regular submission to godly discipline leads to increased strength and righteousness.
Don’t throw away your blessings for temporary gratification. That would be foolish and not very wise.
Only Jesus can make you everything God wants you to be.
God disrupts the natural order of things in the physical earthly realm in order to reveal his spiritual eternal kingdom, that can’t be shaken!
When God applies a consuming fire to our lives, it’s not to ruin us, it’s to refine us, so that we can be the masterpieces He created us to be!
Sing it with me: Lord I’m available to you. My will I give to you. I’ll do what you say do. Use me Lord, to show someone the way and enable me say…my storage is empty and I am available to you!
Be encouraged today to endure in obedience to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
SALVATION PRAYER
If you don’t know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior and you’re not a believer, but you have a desire to be, all you have to do is openly confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). When you pray that prayer, you are saved. Get connected with a good, bible-based church in your community, stay connected to other believers, and start having daily conversations through prayer with God every single day. Welcome to your new life with Jesus Christ!!!
ASSIGNMENTS
What did Holy Spirit say to you in your conversation with Him this morning?
Are you available today to be used by God?
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