Your birth was not an accident; I don't care what circumstances brought you into this world. As one pastor said, there may be illegitimate relationships, but there are no illegitimate children.
When you live as if you were created on purpose and for a purpose, then you stop believing the enemy's lies that attack your worth and start believing what God says about you.
Today's word to describe God is "Creator."
Devotion
A little known fact about me is that I find cemeteries fascinating. One of the required classes when I was in nursing school was called "Death and Dying." As part of the class, we took a field trip to one of the local historical cemeteries. Our tour guide showed us selected headstones and told us intriguing tales about the people who were buried beneath each one.
On a few occasions, I've visited cemeteries on my own. As I studied the headstones, I imagined the people buried there as they might have been in life. They too had laughed, cried, lost, and loved. They had hopes and dreams. Perhaps some of these dreams were fulfilled; perhaps not. Yet while they lived, all of them had the opportunity to get to know God through Jesus Christ (see Romans 1:18-22).
The sad thing is, most of them refused the opportunity. They missed real life while they were alive! Jesus said in Matthew 7:14, "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."
Here is one thing for you to celebrate as a believer in Jesus Christ; you got the most important decision in life right. You can experience abundant life while you live.
I once read a simple, but sobering epitaph on a website, purported to be on Arthur C. Homan of Cleveland, Ohio's headstone:
"Once I wasn't
Then I was
Now I ain't again."
That sums up how brief our life on Earth is, doesn't it? Consider all of the centuries that passed before you were born (once I wasn't). Then, God planned the exact date of your birth (then I was). Unless you are still alive when the rapture comes, there is a planned date in the future when you will be "ain't again" on this Earth.
The big question is, will your world be better because you lived?
One of my favorite scriptures is Jeremiah 1:5 in which God told the prophet: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations."
Jeremiah wasn't special; God formed you and me with a purpose in mind too. While God is the ultimate Creator, I believe He expects us to create in life too. We can create beautiful relationships, works of art, books of wisdom, acts of service, praise songs, or whatever He puts into your heart to do.
However, if you neglect fulfilling your God-given purpose then you are subject to the description in Proverbs 18:9: "He who is slothful in his work Is a brother to him who is a great destroyer." You weren't created as a brother (or sister) to the enemy who steals, kills, and destroys; you were created as a child of the Most High King who restores, revives, and creates!
Today, why not take a prayer walk and enjoy God's beautiful creation? Then ask Him during the journey to show you what you were uniquely made to create to glorify Him. I believe He will be pleased with the request and you will have the trip of a lifetime, experiencing the knowledge of God as you create something wonderful together.
Meditation Scripture
· Genesis 1:25-27: Then God said, "Let us make
man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
· Psalm 139:14: For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous
are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
· Proverbs 22:2: The rich and the poor have this in common, The LORD is the maker of them all.
· Isaiah 37:16: O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
· Amos 5:8:
He made the Pleiades and Orion; He turns the shadow of death into morning And makes the day dark as night; He calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of the earth; The LORD is His name.
· Amos 9:6:
He who builds His layers in the sky, And has founded His strata in the earth; Who calls for the waters of the sea, And pours them out on the face of the earth - The LORD is His name.
Be blessed in Health, Healing, and Wholeness,
Kimberly Taylor
Take Back Your Temple
www.takebackyourtemple.com
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