SPRING FORTH NOW 2023

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

So abandon every form of evil, deceit, hypocrisy, feelings of jealousy and slander. In the same way that nursing infants cry for milk, you must intensely crave the pure spiritual milk of God’s Word. For this “milk” will cause you to grow into maturity, fully nourished and strong for life — especially now that you have had a taste of the goodness of Yahweh and have experienced his kindness. So keep coming to him who is the Living Stone —though he was rejected and discarded by men but chosen by God and is priceless in God’s sight. Come and be his “living stones” who are continually being assembled into a sanctuary for God. For now you serve as holy priests, offering up spiritual sacrifices that he readily accepts through Jesus Christ. For it says in Scripture: Look! I lay a cornerstone in Zion, a chosen and priceless stone! And whoever believes in him will certainly not be disappointed. As believers you know his great worth—indeed, his preciousness is imparted to you. But for those who do not believe: The stone that the builders rejected and discarded has now become the cornerstone and a stone that makes them stumble and a rock to trip over. They keep stumbling over the message because they refuse to believe it. And this they were destined to do. But you are God’s chosen treasure —priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience his marvelous light, and now he claims you as his very own. He did this so that you would broadcast his glorious wonders throughout the world.

I Peter 2:1-9 (TPT)

God has Set Apart our lives because we choose to be His vehicle so that we can shine. Our shining is not of our own or by happenstance or accident, we shine because we have chosen to be the vehicle for God’s revelation, glory in the world. Never think that your shining is because of you, it happens because you choose God’s purpose and plan for your life, and the more you allow it to be the driver of your narrative, the more God shines in and through you. Remember, God is so much bigger than you and I, and when we allow Him, His Word for our lives to take priority, offering ourselves fully to His Word being made real in our lives, the largeness of God inhabits and runs over in and through us. You have been Set Apart so that you might live, move, and have your being in a Most Favored Status, the chosen of God, the very lively stone of God’s Word made real, flesh.