You are God’s chosen instrument

But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.  Acts 9:15

As I was praying last night God really laid this verse on my heart and hit me with a beautiful and hard truth. Now if you read this at first glance you might be thinking what can you really learn from this verse. To give you some back ground this is what God was speaking to Ananias after the conversation of Paul, God was telling Ananias to go to him because God has a specific task for him. But what I want to focus in on is the word instrument, now when you think of instrument you can associate it with many things music, cooking, science, medical, and many other things. All instruments have a purpose and a design if used the right way and correct way, you can’t expect a doctor to use violin to perform open heart surgery. If you don’t have any musical talent then I would suppose trying to play a flute or any other musical instrument for that matter would not work out to well for yourself or for any other person for that matter. See an instrument is only good, if the person using the instrument knows how to you use it properly and correctly.

 As you see from the above verse God was telling Ananias, Paul was his chosen instrument you see Paul had spent much of his life thinking he was using his life to its full purpose but really it was what the Bible describes as a clanging symbol. Now think about it Paul had just radically had his life changed not too long ago on the road to Damascus and God was saying he is my chosen instrument.  Most of us would say now God are you sure he is your chosen instrument? Because Paul you know he is not that great and he has done some pretty bad things. I would submit that just like Paul, our lives are God’s chosen instruments as well. But here is the hard truth, we view ourselves as the master instrument player of our lives and yet we are not being used the right way or reaching our full potential.

Or here is another truth you might look at your life and say God you can’t or want use me because I just don’t have much to offer or my live is unusable. But I would submit that just like the conversation of a lying, arrogant, murder there are some things only Jesus can play and get the most out of. Like I stated earlier an instrument is only good if the person using it knows how and can use it better than anyone else let God use your life and watch how beautiful it sounds because I promise you nobody can use it better then Jesus. Paul went on to write half of the New Testament and after Jesus was probably one of the most well-known people associated with Christianity so let me ask you this, what can God not do with your life if you let him?

-Lance

Jesus is my Superhero.

Colossians 1:13,14 MSG: God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He’s set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep reapeating.

When we hear the word superhero we often think of Batman, Superman, Hulk, Thor, Ironman, Spiderman and of course we could go on and on and name many more. A superhero is defined as a fictional character with superhuman powers and according to its definition is simply fictional and not real. Now I’m not a comic book guy so I’m no expert on what the purpose of superhero’s where designed for, but from the many movies I’ve seen they serve an entertainment value and often we find ourselves wanting to do the things they do or live the way they live. I mean who wouldn’t want to have Batman’s car or even be able to fly around like Superman or even have the amazing strength like Hulk I know I have. Many superheros’ are always pouring their lives out to protect and defend people even the ones that we feel don’t deserve it. They are always putting others before themselves and simply come to realize they will never be normal because there weren’t designed to be normal. But if I can be honest the definition of superhero is incorrect see actually there is a superhero and his name is Jesus Christ and he is alive and well. Before comic books there was the Bible and in this very book we see many stories of Jesus doing what Mr. Superman couldn’t do. See Jesus is my superhero and my Jesus walked on water, fed 5000 people with a few pieces of fish and bread and even had leftovers, he raised people from the dead, and even gave himself up for me so I could be free take that Batman. My Bat signal is prayer and anytime I pray my Jesus always shows up, unlike Thor he lives in a beautiful place called heaven and one day I will be with him and just like Hulk he has amazing strength he saved me from a life of destruction and didn’t even break a sweat. My Ironman suit is the armor of Christ and unlike Ironman I only need one suit because mine doesn’t break or wear out. See my Jesus was a superhero before there were superheroes so he is an original and many people have spent years trying to make their own superhero’s Wealth, Pride, Lust, Power, and etc. but just like every other superhero after Jesus they have all been proven to be simply what the definition states fictional and not real. Jesus poured his life out for us and he is always saving those who call out to him, he holds the keys to everything so there is nothing he can’t do and unlike any other superhero’s we can actually do the things he does and more. So if you find yourself today needing to see what a superhero really is pick up a bible and read it and if you want to experience what being with a superhero is like all you need to do is call out to him and he will show up. So the next time someone asks who your favorite superhero is simply reply the one that’s real Jesus.

-Lance