SET APART.... BY GOD, FOR GOD

Devotional for today is about being set apart (set apart = holy = set apart by God, for God).

http://www.thehighcalling.org/Library/ViewLibrary.asp?LibraryID=5682&DID=2898&T=H&SID=15305

You can be sure of this:
      The LORD set apart the godly for himself.
      The LORD will answer when I call to him.

Psalm 4:3

Gracious Lord, first of all, I thank you today that you have set me apart on the basis of your sovereign grace, not because of anything I have done.

And thank you as well for setting me apart for you, not just for your work, but first of all for relationship with you. 

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: Do you think of God as having set you apart for himself? Why or why not? How might this idea make a difference in your life if you really believed it? 

I do think of myself as set apart for God, especially after having looked deeper into the word holy, and knowing that we do not choose God... God chooses us.  I used to think our job on earth here is to convince others to follow God, to become "Christians".  But a few years ago I learned that we could talk till we are blue in the face, use our best sales pitch or witnessing package BUT unless the Holy Spirit was working in this person's life and speaking to them, what we say won't matter.  First God's work has to happen in them and THEN we may be used by God to help them on their journey in following Him.  What a weight lifted off my shoulders... no more guilt for not witnessing, or being too scared to witness.  So really all we need to be doing is listening for the Father's prompting in every moment and He will let us know when we need to be there for someone.  

Even as a child I believed in God.  I cannot pinpoint a time when in one moment I all of the sudden believed.  God was always with me.  Even the story of my birth shows signs of God's hand in my life.  

I remember as a teenager really wanting to have that "fireworks" conversion testimony that was very popular at my church at the time.  Everybody had an AMAZING GRACE experience of Jesus saving them.... and by golly I wanted that too.  I tried to make it happen on many occasions, but I never got it.  For a few years I thought it was maybe because God didn't want me.  I didn't have a spiritual mentor at the time to go and discuss this with but that didn't stop me from believing in God.  I continued to go to church.  It wasn't until I was older I came to realize that my story was never to have the fireworks conversion story because God had always been with me, we were already connected.  :o)

One other experience that sticks out in my mind is a Wednesday night bible study and prayer meeting that I went to as a teen.  I don't quite remember how old I was at the time.  Anyway, after the Bible study the pastor invited the group to the front of the sanctuary for prayers.  We were standing in a circle and he was in the middle praying and then he started to go to people in the circle and pray over them.  This was also one of my first experiences of someone praying in tongues (not the pastor, but a congregation member).  Well as the pastor was going around the circle, and stopping at certain individuals to pray, I was saying to myself - "please don't stop at me, please don't stop at me!".  You see I was very shy and did not like any attention in my direction.  And guess what happened????  Pastor Dave stopped in front of me, put his hand on my shoulder, and started praying.  I was mortified!!!  But his words have always stuck with me.  He said that God was going to do a mighty work through me.  What?  Who me?  Really?

Well those words have always stuck with me.  In the last few years I have seen glimpses of God working through me, and I wonder if this is what He meant all those years ago?  Maybe, but I don't dwell on those words waiting for them to happen, but instead just continue to put one foot in front of the other, listening for any instruction He may have for me, looking for where He wants to use me.