Today we continue our series entitled “Destiny’s Child – You Are Not a Mistake!” We have been looking at Ephesians 2, and I told you that I would cover two major points from it:
1. You were saved by God’s unearned grace.
2. You were not saved to sit; you were saved to serve. There are “good works” God already planned for you to do.
We have covered both already, but I will share a few more things from this passage today.
(Eph 2:8-10 ERV)
8 I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God.
9 You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about.
10 God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.
So what does this mean for you today? Let’s get into it:
1. God looked past your faults, flaws, and failures in order to call you to your divine assignment. He knew all the mistakes you were going to make, and He called you anyway. This is the grace of God.
2. God ordained you to a specific assignment before the world began. He did this with foreknowledge of your decisions. He knew what you would do right and what you would do wrong, and He called you despite your shortcomings. He called you based on His goodness, not your own.
3. Once you open your heart to God’s purpose and you answer the call, you quickly realize that you CANNOT do what God has called you to do. It is beyond you. That’s because God does not call you to do things you can do without Him. When He calls you, He does not check your bank account balance. He is checking your faith. When He calls you, He does not host a panel to review your resume. He is looking for your faith. If you have the faith, He has the grace.
4. God’s call exceeds your power, ability, and strength. This puts you in a position that requires the grace of God. Not only did you have to accept God’s grace to be forgiven. But you must now embrace God’s grace to do what you were born to do because you could never do it without Him!
5. In Romans 11:6, Paul explains that you cannot work for the grace of God. If you work for something, then whatever you receive becomes payment and not a gift. Grace is a gift. It cannot be worked for or earned. But while you cannot work FOR grace, you most certainly do work BY grace. In Ephesians 2:10, Paul tells us that once we are Born-Again and we are in Christ Jesus, we are supposed to spend the rest of our lives doing the “good works” God predestined us to do. Understanding this, you can enter every day focused on working as hard as you can, knowing that you are not the one doing all the work. It is the Father who lives in you. He gives you the words, and He performs the work (John 14:10). Living this way, you will work harder than you ever have, with a realization that it is God, living IN you and performing His will THROUGH you!
6. God calls you by grace, and He gives you the grace to fulfill the call. This means that you must receive His assignment by grace, knowing you could never earn it. Once you are at peace with what God has called you to do, you then attempt to walk out your calling, stepping into your destiny by faith, fully embracing the grace of God every step of the way. You have to rely on God’s grace because you know that you will never be able to fulfill your calling without God.
— David understood this. This is how we went from shepherd boy to reigning king.
— Moses understood this. This is how he went from living in the wilderness by himself, as an outcast, to leading millions of people out of bondage.
— Gideon understood this. This is how he was transformed from the weakest man from the weakest clan into a Mighty Man of Valor who led an amazing revolution.
— Peter understood this. This is how he went from running a fishing business to leading a movement that birthed a global church that is still alive 2,000 years later.
I could go on, but I believe you get the point.
7. David said, “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days of my life were ordained for me; written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16). Paul said, “God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). While you are not saved BY works, it is clear that you have been saved FOR work! There are specific things that God sent you to this planet to accomplish. Your job is to FIND them, FOLLOW them, and FINISH them before you die. Not by your power, but by God’s amazing grace!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of LEVELING UP for me! I LEVEL UP because of Your amazing grace! I did not earn my call. You called me by Your unearned grace. But despite the fact that I could not qualify for the call without Your grace, I accept it, believe it, and pursue it by faith. I am determined to become the man/woman You have called me to be. I am not saved by my works. But I am surely saved FOR work! Therefore, I declare that I will work every day of my life. I will live as the man/woman You sent me to be. I can never retire from my purpose. I will work hard, but then again, it won’t be me doing it. It will be You, Father, living and working IN me and THROUGH me, for Your glory! I will live this way for the rest of my life, and I will not die until I am DONE! This is why I can boldly declare: GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
