Qualified

This word has been going through my mind for quite some time now and maybe it's because I tend to be very hard on myself that I constantly need to remember that God has qualified me. God has called me. God has predestined me from the foundations of the earth for the specific dreams He has on his heart, desires he has shared with me. I am qualified. He doesn't look at where I am at right now, he looks at where I am going. He takes all of me, the good and the bad, and because I am willing he uses me. I can't think of any other "god" or person that does that. He uses imperfect human beings to bring about his perfect will. 2 Cor. 3:6 talks about this very subject matter. There are also several places that Paul basically says that the things he does has nothing to do with him and everything to do with the power of the Holy Spirit. He was just willing and open to God and his heart.
I have often, as I said, in my life felt under qualified. I knew that God could use me regardless of that, but it was still there. I had quite the past and to add to that there were several other things that I thought may disqualify me as well. I kept holding onto God's promises and kept listening to his voice through all the lies. I went to the places he wanted me to. All I am left to say now is this: "Old has GONE and the NEW has come!" God's grace and mercy is much stronger. The old "man" in me is dead so it's time to stop playing with dead things. He has qualified me. DONE.
Another thing about God's qualifications is that he enjoys using those who come from small, humble places. He enjoys using those that are messy. Look at the disciples that HE chose: Simon Peter was an unlearned fisherman, Matthew was a swindling tax collector, Judas Iscariot BETRAYED Jesus, and John wanted to send fire down on a bunch of people... These men were far from wise, prudent, well-washed, and educated men. Yet, Jesus chose them. He even chose the one who betrayed him because he knew who he was and where he needed to go.
You see, we don't understand God's ways. We don't understand his dreams, desires, and heart most of the time. We let other people, our past, our old sins, and lies dictate our life and what we do rather than the God who has qualified us for those, what I call, crazy, insane, elaborate, too big, out of this world, only God can do type dreams. Those types of things are just for an elect few... My deepest desire when I was a young teen was to see God do miracles... I wanted to experience these things first hand. I was NEVER satisfied with what has become the "norm" in the body of Christ. I wanted MORE. To be more specific, I wanted to be a missionary to Africa. I said that when I was 13 years old at a camp fire. I knew it. It took me 17 years to get there because of lies, other people, and a lot of what I have called attacks on my very soul and future calling. I think to varying degrees that the enemy of our souls, the very enemy of God, the one who comes to kill, steal, and destroy does just that. Some he knows are easier to knock out of the way. Others take much more. I have determined to be someone that will never be knocked down or out of the way because I know who God has called me to be and I know who my God is. You see, "The glory of God is MAN FULLY ALIVE." Not half alive at some job that he doesn't really enjoy but is working at it so he can just, ya know get by. Come brothers and sisters.... There is so much more than that. There is so much more he has called us to.
You are QUALIFIED. WE are QUALIFIED. You are CALLED. WE are CALLED. You are PREDESTINED for the works that God has set before you. WE are PREDESTINED for the works that God has set before US. Whatever that may look like. For me it looks like a trip to Dr Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, and Johannesburg, South Africa (again) to scope out the land and get more information for a project God has place on my heart. For you that might be a move you have needed to make to situate yourself in the community that God has intended for you to work. Maybe it's going into missions. Maybe it's sharing God's love with your co-workers and boss... Maybe it's giving away the excess that you have in order to bless someone that doesn't have. Nothing is small to God and nothing is too big to God. The dreams on my heart may look bigger than yours but it all works together for His GLORY. So COME ON BROTHERS AND SISTERS!!! Let's start building up that weighty of glory for the Lord! Let's GO ALL IN! Let's live a life FULLY ALIVE, FULLY LOVING, FULLY AWARE OF HIS PRESENCE!
I pray the Lord blesses you and keeps you and causes you to prosper in his love,grace, mercy and peace. I pray that he takes you deeper into his heart, his dreams, his desires. I pray that you would take risks and find him catching you in the midst of them, seeing that he is always there with you. I pray that ADOPTION would burn so insistently in your heart that it would cause you to reach out to the least of these with radical love and generosity. And I pray that you would know that you are qualified by a God who qualifies us not on merit, deed, work, education, or others opinions BUT on what Jesus did on the cross! AMEN