"It's in There!"

In the 1980's, I remember a commercial for Prego Spaghetti Sauce which claimed that this brand of canned sauce contained everything that a made from scratch sauce by mamma contained and it tasted just as good.  The tag line for Prego Spaghetti Sauce was, "It's in there!". Here is one of those 30 second commercials from the 1980's.

Like the father in this commercial, most believers do not believe that they actually contain the real spiritual 'sauce' to be competent ministers of the New Covenant (2 Cor. 3:6). This understanding has lead to more passive church goers instead of passionate disciples who believe that God has [super]naturally formed every one of His followers to be powerful ministers (diakonous - deacons or servants) to impact the world.

When competency has been limited to the trained and ordained, the impact on the world has been restricted to the confines of church meetings lead by 'the competent' ones.  Today many people think that they must enter holy buildings to experience the presence of the Holy effectively.  But is this what the Scriptures teach us?

"I planted you in the land, like a special vine of the very best stock."

Jeremiah 2:21a (NET)

When God chose the nation Israel, He intended for every Israelite to be a faithful seed of power and impact in the land they inhabited. God made each of them from the very best stock so the could grow and produce a goodness that could not be known apart from relationship with God.

In the New Testament God states this truth in powerful ways;

3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ. 4 For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished in his sight in love. 5 He did this by predestining us to adoption as his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will. 

Ephesians 1:3-5 (NET) emphasis is mine

All believers have every blessing God could possibly give without reserve! He blessed every follower of His '...according to the pleasure of his will'. God is pleased to impart to everyone of His followers (to you) the ability to make a strong and direct positive impact in the communities that they travel.

'...his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the right knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence.'

2 Peter 1:3 (NET) emphasis is mine

You have been gifted everything necessary to be a powerful tool in God's hand from the moment you became a follower of Jesus Christ. This is done by God's divine power. Certainly maturity, knowledge and experience will be coaxed out of a person throughout their life by the Holy Spirit and mentors but from the beginning of our faith in Christ, we have everything we need to be impactful in our world.

"It's in there".  The divine ability to be a competent minister of the New Covenant is in you right now.  It is up to you to live this out. We must each discover how God wants these amazing qualities to be lived out throughout your lifetime. Your life matters to God and to those around you. You are a permanent possibly in God's hands and He means for you to be generous in living out this deep truth. A powerful impacting life for Christ is meant for the youngest, newest, oldest and most mature of believers.

There are weeds and pressures in life that want to come against us and steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10) this ability. We have the choice to believe the lie that you are not able (too much sin, not enough training or simply too common of a person) or to believe the truth that you are all God has placed in you immediately at the time of your allegiance to Him.

So which will you believe; that you are to live a common life or an uncommon one?  Will you take the responsibility to explore with Jesus how to live out this truth about you or will you live passively and watch others do what God craves for you to experience first hand? Will you move in truth or stagnate and be spiritually mundane?

I want to encourage you to choose to move out when you don't know what to do.  Choose to take risks of loving more deeply than you thought possible. Expose your life to the peril of rejection and failure and watch God stand up and cheer you on. He has already given you everything you need to live in this way. When the world is full of believers who walk in this truth, we will see God glorified like never before.

I would love to hear your comments on this important topic. 

"It will come about at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men who are stagnant in spirit, who say in their hearts, 'The LORD will not do good or evil!'  

Zephaniah 1:12 (NET)

"18 Others are the ones sown among thorns: They are those who hear the word, 19 but worldly cares, the seductiveness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it produces nothing."  

Mark 3:18-29 NET