Usually I'll have a title for whatever it is that I will be speaking about whenever God gives me something to share. This time it's different. I have no title. All I have is what I believe is a tug from the Holy Spirit telling me, "TYPE." I'm writing this in real time. Right now I'm actually sitting in Stafford Creek's unit H2 dayroom, listening to Donny Mcclurkin's song Great Is Your Mercy. As I'm listening to the song (repeatedly) I'm thinking about how merciful God has been towards me. How merciful God has been to my family and my friends. I'm always super sensitive and I have a tendency to become very emotional whenever I start to think about God's mercy and His love.
The reason being is because I know me, and if I were God I would've left me right where He found me. However, God didn't treat me that way. God's patience, mercy, and love continued and continues to chase me down everyday. I don't know why, but I see it. I promise you, I didn't earn anything with God. I didn't one day figure out some master formula on how to obtain God's attention. Just like I didn't do anything to be born. I just was. I don't know all the ways of God. After all, how could I. He's the fullness of everything. Therefore, if someone were to ask me, "Michael, why do you think God chose you?" I'd have to say, 'I don't know. I'm just an living example of experiencing just a piece of God's character, of Him being rich in mercy. That's it.' In hindsight I can identify where His mercy and His love intervened in my life. I can't figure out why, and it's truly humbling. At this point, figuring out 'why' God chooses to do what He does is not that important to me. I'm just glad that He has shown me that His ways are higher than my ways. So I don't have to 'figure it out.' Now that I think about, If I were to have some type of *formula* or some type of *blueprint* on how to please God, I would say, first you must acknowledge that God is. Believing *IN* God is the initial thing. It's a good starting point. However Believing IN God, is not the same as BELIEVING GOD!!! Secondly, The Scriptures is the *blueprint*, the *manual* on how to live and be pleasing to God. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you how to walk in Christ. I say this because I know when I first got *saved* I use to get caught up in rituals. I felt I had to do *stuff* to earn something from God. Ask God to show you HIS character and the way that He loves. I KNOW FOR A FACT (because this happened to me) while I was reading Romans chapter 5 God revealed to me of how much He loves me. "while you were STILL SINNERS He sent His Son to die." Basically, while I was at my WORST, God sent Jesus. He didn't wait for me, or tell me I needed to clean up my act before He sent His Son to be the sacrifice for MY DIRT. He sent Jesus while I was STILL DIRTY. God didn't say, "before I send my Son, you must prove yourself first." He didn't do that. He just did it, and He has blessed me with a sensitivity of the manifestation of His love for us through the Holy Spirit. In my own right, I'm no one special. I just acknowledge God's Touch. And finally third. Share with people the same patience, the mercy, the forgiveness and the same love that you can identify that God has freely given to you. Everything that God has blessed you and given you, He gave it, so you can give it. I'm talking beyond material things. I'm talking about the things that can weigh the heart down of you don't give it. Which, I think the two biggest things, maybe in some cases there's three, :-) patience, mercy and forgiveness. However, when we realize the depth of God's love for us, that revelation will make our being patient, being merciful and being forgiving that more easier.
I love you guys
God Bless. My prayer is for all who read this that God will touch your heart in such a way that you will call out to God, right where you're at and ask for a personal encounter, a personal relationship with Jesus. I pray that God will give you the desire to want to really really know Him.
In Jesus name, Amen
Sincerely,
Brother Michael