I Have Chosen You

No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:44.God has called His chosen, HE puts conviction in their heart making them repent, He put His Faith in them to cause them to believe & puts His Love in them to make them love Him & everyone with a godly love. Ephesians 1:3-4 ~Don Francisco~

Recently I shared with a friend my calling by The Lord to this blog ministry. Her reaction to it is so typical of similar reactions she has had with some ministers in general such as television ministers & others: " you have a demon spirit within you as you cannot be called by God since you aren't grounded in Scripture" she then proceeded to say "I could be wrong and may God forgive me if I am but that's my feeling about this".

For perhaps a millisecond I was taken aback. However the Spirit within me took it with love and I ended up embracing her thanking her for her thoughts.

I cannot help but think of one great man who in the Bible received a calling from God who was rather atypical by religionistic purposes also. Namely the Apostle Paul.

His conversion story found here at Acts 9:1-20 speaks of a man who was a persecutor of Christians! Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascas striking him blind. He was told to go to Damascas where he was there for 3 days before a Christian named Ananias appeared and through the power of Christ laid hands on him to restore his sight. Jesus had said to Ananias:

“Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
(Acts 1:15,16)

Saul the persecutor became the Apostle Paul. A man whose testimony and whose leadership reconciled Gentiles to Christ. Lots of them. A man still in high regard today as a significant minister for Christ and prophet.

Not that I am putting myself in the league of Paul per se but the idea is still the same. God chooses whom He calls even if they are not perfect and skilled in His Word and are still learning. God sees us far better and knows where His direction will lead.

Each of us have a gift or many that can be used for His glory. So if anyone tells you that you are not capable..think of Paul..think of Moses who had a speech impediment and feared at speaking publicly:

"And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before, nor since you have spoken unto your servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue."

~Exodus 4:10~

Yet Moses did speak and was the vessel used by God to liberate His people and to bring the Law unto them as well! Plus let's not forget through God's power his vessel parted The Red Sea!

Plus there are dozens and hundreds more I am sure. God has His purpose and one day His purpose will be fulfilled in you!

Below is a song that blew me away and spoke to me in volumes. Please take a moment to listen to Don Francisco's testimony and to the words of this song. Below is a solid segment of that testimony that speaks volumes more than anything else I could share myself. Don Francisco:

"There's nobody in this room tonight that God didn't choose or hand pick....one of the things we've learned as we've gone around is that the distinction in many of our religions, denominations or whatever you want to call it the distinction between laity and clergy is just nonsense.

The word laity comes from a Greek word that means "the nothings" God didn't call nothings. Every person in here is a son of God. Some of you are wearing female earth suits and some of you are wearing male earth suits..that's okay. But we're all sons of God.That's what the Scripture says : "In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek there is neither male nor female." That means the gifts of the Spirit are distributed without reference to gender.

You remember the story of when Peter and John went to pray? You probably even sung the song ya know. And they lifted that lame man up by the hand and said "In the name of Jesus Christ you are healed" Well you know the Sanhedrin called Peter and John before them and the Scripture says they took notice that "THOSE BOYS HAD BEEN TO SEMINARY!" No...that's not what they said...The Scripture says "they noticed that they had been with Jesus" they could tell...that's where the power comes from that's where the anointing comes from.. that's where the message comes from..it comes from spending time with Jesus.

I'm not knocking education don't misunderstand me; but lots of times we can come out with heads about this BIG and hearts about like this (blogger:picture a tiny pin prick hole) just tiny and hard. Jesus Has Chosen YOU and only YOU can know what He has chosen you to do. It's different from everyone else's calling. Your gifts are different. Your calling is different but it's just as real as anybody you might see up on a platform. Don't let anyone devalue it. In fact the first words you will probably hear any of you here that have tried to step out into your gifting and your calling the first words you probably heard are "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!!! JESUS??!! " Well no, not really I'm His brother...REALLY! yea really :) (Scripture that touches on this Matthew 12:46-50)

JESUS says "I've chosen you I BELIEVE in you even if no one else has ever believed in you. and I will ALWAYS BELIEVE in you."

LOVE the people who will try to devalue you. But don't let them do it! Stand up and say NO! I am not who you say I am. I am who JESUS says I am I am who my FATHER says I am. " "

~Don Francisco~

In truth it was revealed to me in 2005 by Jesus that I had an "anointing". It's taken me years to finally have the courage to step into that anointing. I am not hurt or bothered by my friend's assessment though. As Don says the only assessment I care about is His and as long as I listen to His promptings (which I have) then that's what matters. He has called me to speak of reconciling to Him and to teach of drawing closer to Him. Which is how I too am drawing closer as well. It's a blessing and labor of love. In short God has given you His gift He will definitely empower you with the means and Spirit to share that gift with others. To share His Love with the world.

And that's just...beautiful!