40 Reasons God DELIGHTS in YOU

Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Reasons God DELIGHTS in YOU
Day 21 | OUR LIVES HAVE MEANING
OUR LIVES HAVE MEANING

Ephesians 2:8-10
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
 (NIV)

Have you ever wondered what value you were to anyone? Maybe you didn’t feel like you were doing anything meaningful at work, home, church, or in your community. You just went to work, came home, watched TV, and then repeated it again… perhaps five or six days a week.

One of the things I’ve noticed is that everyone needs something meaningful to do.  And that meaningful living starts by first coming to Jesus by faith and accepting Him as your Lord and Savior. Then, the Holy Spirit comes in, takes up residence inside you, and becomes your Guide in all things. We must LET HIM lead and say YES to His nudging if we want to benefit from His presence in us.

So, we come to Christ through faith, accepting this free gift from Almighty God! But then the Apostle Paul – writing under the influence of the Holy Spirit – shares that WE (you and me) are God’s “handiwork.”

Stop and ponder that.

You may not FEEL like God’s handiwork; perhaps you feel defeated, discouraged, or frustrated, but YOU ARE God’s handiwork. And therefore – because you are – you are “created in Christ Jesus to do good works.”

We all need to do “good works,” which can run the gamut of activities: helping at church in the children’s department, volunteering in the local Sheriff Safety Patrol, helping deliver food with Meals-on-Wheels, volunteering to help local 4th graders understand math, serving as a greeter at church… something.

If your life seems to lack meaning and purpose, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to GUIDE you to do something within your capability, which helps others somehow.

Prayer: LORD, please help me as I find meaningful good works to help others and glorify YOU. Amen.