Strong, Faithful and Appointed

"I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, appointing me to the ministry" - 1 Timothy 1:12

I love our Pastor. 
He has a heart for Jesus and a heart for people unlike any I've ever seen before. 
And he has a way of bringing the gospel to life that draws you in to the reality of just WHO Jesus is. 

Lately, I've been struggling with just what my purpose is for Christ. 
And Satan has been having a field day with my uncertainty. 


So, yesterday, I was fighting a particularly strong attack from the enemy, causing me to doubt everything I know to be true about who I am in Christ. 
We arrived at church, and after completing my tasks in setting up for our service, the Lord tapped me on the shoulder and said "Robin, you need to sit down and open up my word to 1 Timothy Chapter 1." 
Lemme tell ya, when you get this kind of direction, you listen. 
And you do it. 

But, that's not the best part of yesterday morning. 
Nope, not hardly. 

You see, at our church, we have a pre-service service for our core team that sets up and prepares for the worship time to come. 
So, our Pastor got up yesterday and read some scripture over us. 
Wanna guess what it was? 
Yes, it was. 1 Timothy Chapter 1. 


Folks, if you've never known the feeling of confirmation that you are on the right path - the plan that God has set out for you - can I just tell you that it's the most freeing thing to hear God shouting the truth to you through the words of another Christ follower.
As our Pastor led us through the scripture, I wanted to cry. Tears of joy, tears of release, tears of relief and tears of shame. I couldn't even pray. All I could do was just whisper Jesus' name over and over again, knowing that the Holy Spirit was interceding for me at the throne. 

Of course, I had to tell our Pastor what was up and when I shared this God-thing with him, he asked me what God had said to me through this scripture. As we spoke, he told me that through his own doubts and dealings with the lies of the enemy (no one is immune, most especially our Pastors), that the fact that Jesus has considered us faithful - even when we know we are nowhere near faithful - was what brought him peace. 

And as I read through the scripture again later and really contemplated it, this is where I ended up.

If Satan, who is the Father of lies, is whispering in your ear, you need to remember WHOM you belong to.
The Apostle Paul tells us in this verse that Christ Jesus has done three things for us:
 
1) He has given us strength.
2) He has considered us faithful
3) He has appointed us to ministry (to service)
 
It's no mistake the order in which this grace appears.

Jesus strengthens us to resist the Devil and his lies. Because of the victory that Jesus won over death, Hell and the grave, we can draw strength from Him to overcome any circumstance. Any lie that our sin nature would otherwise believe.

Jesus has considered us faithful. Even when we would consider that we are anything BUT faithful, because of His blood that covers over our sin, He counts us righteous, redeemed and free. Faithful to His word and truth.

Jesus has given us all a purpose, a mission. He has a unique plan for each of us that no lie of the enemy can defeat. It's up to us to believe the truth that we are all part of His plan. We are valuable and precious and treasured as His dearly loved children. When we daily put our trust in Jesus, to be open to His leading and choose to ignore the lies of Satan, He can use us to not only bring glory and honor to Himself, but to bless our lives in ways we cannot imagine.

Choose truth today friends. 
Choose to believe the reality that if King Jesus reigns in your heart, you are dearly loved. 
Valued. 
Cherished and treasured. 
You are part of His amazing plan to bring others to Himself and he has given you a heart of courage - even if you cannot feel it. 

With a Courageous Heart, 
~~Robin