This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing.” For the last few months we have looked at the amazing life of the Apostle Paul. When we met him he was a terrorist of sorts. He terrorized the church, he was unconsciously brutal to believers, and he did so with seemingly unparalleled passion and zeal. Paul had been groomed to be part of the Jewish elite, he was afforded the best possible Hebrew education, and he was well on his way to being a Pharisee’s Pharisee. However, the Lord got a hold of Paul, he was Born-Again, and his life changed forever.
Paul essentially changed sides, but he did not become a completely different person. Let me explain. Once Paul was Born-Again he still had his education. Paul was filled with God’s Spirit, but he still had his burning passion and zeal that was always on a short-fuse. Paul was headed in a new direction, but in many ways he was taking the passion and fire he once used against the church and now using it for the cause of Christ. Paul used to travel around persecuting Christians, but now he was ready to travel around to preach the Gospel. I bring this out because something similar happens with us.
When you come to God you come after years (in some cases decades) of development. Many of us had been to school, developed our personality, evolved our nature, formalized our disposition, and generally speaking, we came to God with a set way of being. While God does give us His Spirit, help develop in us a new nature, and help transform our character, I don’t want you to think that God started working on you the day you were Born-Again. No, God was working on you before you were born. When Paul came to Christ as a grown man, full of passion and zeal, God used what was already in Paul for His glory. God did not have to start from scratch, because many of the things God needed in Paul were placed in him before the foundations of the world. Paul was born predisposed to do certain things and to be a certain way. God used that for His glory.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
1. God wants to use YOU. When you are Born-Again, it is true that the Holy Spirit will work on you to change many things about your old ways. However, it should be noted that there are also many things He will not change, because those are things God placed in you before you were born and He had been helping you develop those things, in you, all your life.
2. You were born with purpose deep down inside you. You may have come to God in your teens, 20s, 30s, or 40s, but that does not mean that the day you were Born-Again is the first day God started working in your life. Before you were born God put things inside you. You grew up predisposed to be good at certain things that line up with your purpose. All your life God was training you for your life’s assignment — even before you accepted Jesus as Lord — and you did not even know it. God did not give you your purpose based upon your works. No, God gave you your purpose, before the foundations of the world, based upon His Grace.
3. God called you by Grace. You are not a mistake. Not only did God put certain things inside you, before you were born, by Grace, but He also called you by Grace as well. Paul would later write, “God has saved us and called us to a holy life–not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time” (2 Tim 1:19). Here we learn that: 1) we are saved, but we have also been called; 2) our calling is a holy calling, so our life can be about something much bigger than us; 3) God did not give us the opportunity to work for or earn this calling; 4) God gave us our purpose, and along with it the Grace to fulfill it, before the foundations of the world.
4. Discovering your purpose is critical. When you discover your purpose you will then know what to pray and exercise faith for, you will be able freely tap into God’s Grace, and the supernatural will flow through you like never before! God won’t change everything about your life, because you will find out that He won’t need to. You will find that many of your ways already line up with your purpose, because God had been working on you all your life, without you even realizing it.
Closing Confession: Father, Your Grace towards me is truly amazing. When I accepted Jesus as Lord You put Your Spirit down inside me, to lead, guide and direct me, and to reveal to me Your eternal purpose for my life. There were many things the Holy Spirit helped me to change and also many things that changed as a result of renewing my mind with Your Word. However, there were also many things I did not need to change, because I found out that You made me that way for a reason. All my life I was predisposed to be good at certain things. All my life I had certain desires, passions and pursuits. It was refreshing to find out that You placed those things inside me, before the foundations of the world. I am not a mistake. I was born for a divine purpose and along with the purpose, You have given me the Grace to fulfill my purpose. Thank You Father for calling me with a holy calling, not according to my own works, but according to Your own purpose and Grace, which You established in Christ Jesus, for me, before the world began. I now accept my assignment. I change the things I need to change, by Your power. And I don’t change the things You want me to keep the same. You had been working on me, all my life, and I did not even know it. You did not do it because of my faith, or because I was so good. No, You did it because of Your Grace! Thank You Father for being so good to me, even when I did not realize it! In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
