Walk With Me

Good evening, everyone. I hope your weekend was blessed and you got some rest (I didn’t write that with the intention of rhyming, but there we go!). A recent little update on my life, I started a new job last week. I am still a full-time student at Luther Rice College and Seminary but I’m also working at a brand-new Chick-fil-A that just opened up in Jasper, Ga. I have the 5:30am-2pm shift 5 days a week and I do schoolwork after that, so my days are long but enjoyable. I am thankful I work for a Christian centered company and have Sundays off!

Let’s dive into scripture:

“Blessed be the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:1-6

“In him we have been obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” Ephesians 1:11

I was driving to my favorite coffee shop this afternoon to study and Josh Balwin’s “Made for More” song came up on my playlist. I could listen to that song every day and never get tired of hearing the words, “I wasn’t made to be tending a grave, I was called by name, born and raised back to life again, I was made for more!” When God decided to put each of us on this earth, he went into intricate detail to place every hair on our head, choose what color our eyes were going to be, place freckles and birthmarks on our skin, and place us in a family that would lead us to our purpose. You are not here by mistake. God did not make a mistake when creating you. He never looks at you and thinks you are not good enough. There is no other love like His.

God has called each one of us by name knowing full and well what our past looks like. He can and will still use you no matter what you have done. I know a woman who has such a beautiful testimony. She spent ten years highly addicted to drugs and lost custody of her kids. One day after those ten years she decided to give her life to Christ, sobered up, and now has brought the father of her kids to Christ, gotten her kids back, and they are now a happy, God-loving family. She now proudly shares that story with everyone to show that God can still use you for good. He still has a purpose for you, that never changes. He never gives up on you or loses hope. He is always ready to embrace you and love on you like a proud Father.

“Why would I make a bed in my shame when a fountain of grace is running my way? I know I am Yours, and I was made for more.”

If you are in a place where you feel like you are beyond repair, that God doesn’t want you anymore because of what you have done, look at yourself in the mirror and say, “I am made whole again through Christ, and I was made for more.” God wants you just as you are. The wonderful thing about God is that we never have to prove ourselves to Him. He created us and knows our hearts so well that nothing we do surprises Him. He knows our past, our current, and our future and still loves us. He wants to use our testimonies to show someone else that they are not alone and that they are loved. Let Him use you. You were made for more.

I want to encourage us all to look at ourselves and see what God sees when He looks at us. See the love Jesus had for us when He was hanging on the cross. He didn’t die for us to live our lives feeling worthless. He died so we could have a new life and never be weighed down by shackles again. We have a glorious, long future in Heaven so let’s make this little amount of time we have on earth worth it. Love yourselves because you are loved.

God loves you and is still using you.

Praying for your hearts,

Courtney