Do you believe in destiny? The kind that resonates somewhere inside and stirs one’s whole being from the crown of the head down to the tips of the toes? God does. He has created destiny in you that says: born just as you are with a unique purpose.

Maybe there are some questions bubbling up when you consider the concept of destiny: “Who me? My sibling, best friend, co-worker or neighbor who is the special one not me.” Or, “I have a destiny but I’m not there yet. Maybe after I finish my education, find a job, settle down, then I will feel more like I have a destiny.”  Or even,”God’s got bigger things to worry about than giving me a destiny.”

Romans 12:6 MSG  “So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts of Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.”

How many times do we compare ourselves or try to be something we aren’t? Facebook, Instagram and media in general feed into the trap of comparison. When we aren’t careful we can get stuck comparing our lives to that of others.

Comparison robs us of discovering and celebrating the unique purpose  God has created for each of us. To get away from comparison we have to shift our perspective; we have to change the lense that we look through everyday. God’s invitation is to come just as we are, we don’t need what everyone else has. He has both formed and created us for the moment that we are in.

Consider these questions today:

1. How has God has created you with unique wiring, abilities and gifts?

2. When you consider your uniqueness how may this offer clues about your God created destiny?

3. Do you find that comparing yourself to others is easier to do than being who you are made to be? If so, how may God be inviting you to view yourself differently?

May the God of goodness, grace, redemption and love continue to light your path brightly as you journey to embracing your wholeness in Him.

Romans 11:33-36

33 Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

34 For who can know the Lord’s thoughts?

   Who knows enough to give him advice?

35 And who has given him so much

   that he needs to pay it back?

36 For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.

Romans 11 gives us a glimpse into the vastness and mystery of God the Father. His knowledge and plan surpasses all of our own understanding and capacity.

Earlier in the chapter Paul describes us, as believers, as a branch on the olive tree and Jesus as the root. As you sit this morning, or this evening, and pray, take a moment to bask in the size and power of the God that you believe in.

We get wrapped up in our work, our responsibilities, or our struggles and lose sight of God’s vastness. Take just five minutes and ponder how big God is and how small you are. How branch-like you are.

As you think about God’s vastness, consider these questions:

1. How has God impacted me in ways I didn’t notice?
2. How can I take my negative situation and see it through the lens of Jesus?
3. How can I actively recognize God in my life?

Find humility; let go of insecurity and pride. Bask in the person who created you, the One who is the root of the whole world. May all glory be to him forever and always.

From the time we toddle around as two year olds, we enter a world of rules. Regulations that are meant to steer us away from perceived danger. But if we’re not careful we can grow up living bound by regulations with freedom nowhere to be found. Before Jesus descended to earth, the way people connected with god was through laws and regulations. People were on a journey to make atonement for every sin they committed in an attempt to sanctify their lives and be right with God.

Despite striving towards righteousness in the law, the regulations weren’t providing a meaningful relationship with God. In Romans 7:10 Paul writes that the law that was supposed to bring life actually brought spiritual death. There was no spiritual freedom in the bounds of the law, just exhaustive rules and regulations.

Romans 10:4 “For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.”

Today we no longer have to be bound by the law. We don’t have to earn a rightful status or check off a list of sacrifices to find righteousness. At the point of surrender in salvation we are made right with God.

Following laws doesn’t lead to a relationship full of joy with the Lord, but rather makes way for legalism much like we see in the faith of the Pharisees. When we chase rules, we lose sight of God’s grace and mercy provided to us on the cross.

As you review the laws binding you, consider these questions:

1.  What regulations am I putting on my faith?
2. What does it look like to live in spiritual freedom?
3. What is something I can change this week to walk away from rules and towards spiritual freedom?

As Paul writes “the message is very close at hand it is on your lips and in your heart”. Encourage someone today in the grace that God has extended. Share the spiritual freedom that we find in Jesus.

“6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives.” Romans 6:6

What happens to us when we receive salvation? What happens when I pray “The Prayer?” In Romans 6, Paul explains what transpires in the heart of a new believer. Simply put, our old heart dies and we’re given a new one.

So there is simply no way we as Christians can continue in our old ways of life. We don’t have the same operating system anymore. The redemptive work of Christ has literally unlocked our rebellious heart from the chains of sin. We are saved people!

So since we’re given a new heart by God through salvation, can we continue in our old ways?

Consider this:
1. When you see a person in need what do you do?
2. What do you say / do when do nobody is around?
3. How do you handle your money? Do you give generously?

All of our decisions in these moments are a manifestation of the transformative work of Christ. If salvation means we’re set free from the bondage of sin, how then can we continue to sin without remorse?

“Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?” Romans 6:1

Please understand that this passage doesn’t say you will never sin again! Because sin is present at this very moment in all of our hearts, but my question: what does your response to sin look like? Does it break your heart?

Romans 8:12-14 MSG “So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!”

Imagine the joy of having your home paid off, or maybe a school loan, or even a car loan. Now imagine going to the bank after it’s paid off and continuing to try to pay the debt even though it doesn’t exist.

Our debt was paid in full through the blood of Christ. Yet many of us still try to continue to pay on this debt even though it does not exist! The enemy of our lives wants us to feel unworthy and indebted.

God sent his Son as a final payment for all sin, for all time. Christ reconciled us to God in spite of who we are. We are worthy because of the the blood of Christ, not because of what we do, are doing, or will do.

As the Romans 8:12-14 notes “God’s Spirit beckons”. If we are living in the Spirit, we understand that God wants us to extend grace to others as grace has been extended to us. That is to say we should not believe the lie that we must work to earn grace.

The enemy wants us paralyzed with fear, holding on to our inequities, believing that we are not good enough or are not doing enough. But as we follow Christ we are to lay down the burden of that debt and accept His grace. The debt is paid. We have new life.

As you assess your debt, consider these questions:

What do you need to lay down at the cross and give to God, so that you can accept His grace and acknowledge that you don’t have to earn my way into his favor?

Why do you hold onto the idea that you must earn grace?

What Scriptural truth can you speak when the enemy casts doubt on my worth and insists that you are not good enough for God?

Break away from the burden of your debt, Christ has paid to free you forevermore. Find new life in Him today. May God bless you and may his face shine upon you.

Romans 7:4

4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.

As Christians, we belong to a family that is unified by Christ’s sacrifice. Through Jesus’ death on the cross our transgressions were covered and the law that previously bound people fell to a new grace filled life. As we accept the gift of salvation and repent for our sins, God grants us forgiveness covering all of our past. His grace bridges the gaps that our inequities carved and lends us to a life of freedom.

Living in light of the grace extended to us, means extending that same grace to others. A life marked by His grace stands out from the average and looks different than most. When we operate differently from the world we are able to work across cultural boundaries, find friends in unlikely places and minister in every moment.

Belonging to the body of Christ brings unity that threads all of our broken pieces together. Where one might be weak, another can encourage. Where one lacks, another can complement. Together, unified, we bear fruit that works beyond what each of us could do individually.

As you evaluate the impact of unification, consider these questions:

1. What divisions do you feel between you and others? How can you work to remove these?
2. Have you been the recipient of someone else’s generosity or grace? How did that impact you?
3. Is there an area in which you could lend your strength to help someone else?

By ourselves our efforts are minimal, but together we can bear fruit that changes the world. May you be impassioned by the grace God has extended you and empowered by His body broken for you.