This morning we continue our journey into this year, focusing on making “Intentional Progress.” I shared six steps to intentional progress with you, and I will continue to walk through them over the next few weeks. As a reminder, here are the six steps.
Here are the steps again:
1. Pray/Discern
2. Plan/Prepare
3. Wait/Discern God’s Timing
4. Execute/Measure Progress
5. Wait/Faith & Patience
6. Receive When Harvest Time Comes
Yesterday I introduced you to what I consider to be the actual “Lord’s prayer.” It is a prayer Jesus prayed in John 17. Since the prayer covers the entire chapter, I told you we will study it in bite-sized chunks. Yesterday we covered verses 1-5. This morning we look at verses 6-8.
(John 17:6-8 NLT)
6 “I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
7 Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you,
8 for I have passed on to them the message you gave me. They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Part of your purpose on this planet is to reveal the God who sent you here.
People often struggle to discover their specific purpose or feel a general sense of purpose overall. While God does have a specific purpose for each person, there are some things that apply to all people. We are all called to be transformed into the image of His Son, and we are all called to reveal God on this planet.
In His prayer, Jesus said, “I have revealed you… They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me.”
— Jesus was focused on revealing the Father while He was on this planet.
— Jesus found purpose in knowing that He came from the Father, and He did His best to get people to believe He came from God.
— One of the reasons why people believed Jesus and believed in the God who sent Him was because Jesus walked in the authenticity of His assignment.
— When you discover Jesus, you discover yourself. When you discover yourself, you are then able to walk in the authenticity of your assignment. If you do, they will get to know you for who you really are, and in the process, they will get to know the God who sent you because you will be representing him in this world.
— When you know who you are and you walk in your authentic self (knowing that God’s anointing only flows through the authentic), when people look at you, they will see the hand of God on your life, and they will want to know more about Him. People can’t see God, but they can see you. When you simply live as the man/woman God birthed you to be, the world will see God in, with, and through you!
— Jesus was not struggling to show God to anyone. He just lived as the man He was called to be, and the revelation of God through His life was natural. It’s the same with me. People see God in and through me all the time. They come to me and ask me about God. I am not trying to make anything happen. I am just living as my authentic self. When you embrace the grace to be YOU, the world will see God in you, and it will not be forced.
2. The people in your life belong to God.
In His prayer, Jesus said, “…the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me.”
Jesus appreciated the people He had in His life. He saw them as a gift from the Father, and He knew they ultimately belonged to the Father. You are supposed to live the same way.
— Thank God for your parents, spouse, children, friends, etc. Just never forget that they belong to God, just like you belong to God.
— Parenting is great and rewarding, but ultimately the children belong to God, and you must trust Him to do, in them, what He has called them to do.
— One of the greatest lessons I had to learn as a parent is that God is the God of my children. While, as parents, we may have been used by God to bring them into the world, in the end, they are God’s children. God has a purpose for them. As parents, we have to honor the God who brought them to this planet for a reason. While, as parents, we may have plans for our children, we must ultimately allow God’s plans to prevail!
— Having a spouse is a blessing, and the relationship should be amazing and enjoyable. Just don’t forget that your spouse belongs to God, and they have their own assignment. You should never Lord over your spouse, your children, or your friends. Jesus is Lord, so never mistreat, devalue or manipulate the people in your life.
— Life is better when enjoyed with others. We were not created to be lone rangers. But remember, the people in your life came to you as a gift from God, and they still belong to Him. When you keep that in mind, you will treat them with the respect, honor, and dignity God expects of you.
— Think about your children, your spouse, and your friends. Now, pray like Jesus prayed, “Father, I thank You for the amazing people you have placed in my life. I thank You for my family and friends. They were always yours. You gave them to me. As I honor them, I honor You!”
3. Everything you have is a gift from God.
As we learn life lessons from the life of Jesus, I pray you are gleaning things from Jesus’ perspective in life and applying it to yours. What we are about to look at now is one of the greatest lessons we can learn.
In His prayer, Jesus said, “Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, for I have passed on to them the message you gave me.”
— Everything you have is a gift from God.
— You don’t deserve anything. God has blessed you richly by His amazing and unearned grace.
— When you die to yourself and allow God to give you the words and perform the work in your life, people will know that everything you have came from Him. Becuase at that point, you will be living as a human conduit of the divine. Your life will be a RE-presentation of His!
— As you live this way, you will get up one morning and realize you have a lot to be thankful for. Divine surrender leads to divine prosperity.
— When God is free to flow through you, you will experience promotion, increase, preferential treatment, favor, advancement, and acceleration in every area of your life, because it will be God working through you, and God does not fail. If you are failing, then it is obvious that you are the one doing the work, and you are not allowing God to live through you. Said another way, if you yield to God in all things, you can’t help but be blessed, and you will have lots to be thankful for.
— When you acknowledge God in all things, you see Him as your source, and you know everything you have is a gift from Him, you will live an amazing life because you will see God in everything. This is the way He wants us to live.
— God wants us to get up every morning knowing that He is ON us, IN us, WITH us, and FOR us. He wants us to get up, acknowledging the fact that our CALLING is CALLING us! When we do, every day will be a day of thanksgiving. We will praise God continually, we will walk with Him intimately, and we will enjoy His best abundantly!
— Get up every morning and give God praise. Everything you have came from Him. This year is a Year of Progression. Your progress will have NO LIMITS (Prov 4:12). Greater is coming for you becuase everything you have comes from God, and you know your life is ALL ABOUT HIM!
That is enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for teaching me about Your amazing grace through Your amazing Son. In Jesus, I see how I am supposed to live. In Jesus, I see a man who was completely surrendered to You. In Jesus, I see a human who only said what You told Him to say and who only did what You led Him to do. Because of this, You were able to flow through Jesus freely, and You were ultimately glorified in the earth. I live just like Jesus. Everything I have came from You. You have blessed me beyond measure. I thank You for all the people You have surrounded me with. I thank You for my parents, spouse, children, and friends. I appreciate them. They came from You, and they belong to You. I will never devalue, disrespect, or disregard them because they are Yours, and I believe You will do, in them, what You planned to do before the foundations of the world. I honor You by honoring them. And lastly, Father, I thank You for everything You allow me to experience. As I die to me and allow You to live through me, I get to experience promotion, increase, preferential treatment, favor, advancement, and acceleration in every area of your life. Not because I am so good, but because You are! My progress will have NO LIMITS this year. GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
