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Mark and Carla Gilbert

You have a place in the Kingdom of God. God has a plan for your life. Your place is something that God set out just for you.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 New International Version (NIV)
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

You have a choice. You can fulfill God's plan for your life, or you can do your own thing. If you do not fulfill God's place for you, then something is missing. Something is missing that would have made a difference for the Body of Christ. Something that would have benifited the people you love. Something is missing that was important to God.

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 New International Version (NIV)
19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live. 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Satan also has a place or a plan for your life. Satan wants to destroy your family and God wants to bless your family. The choice is yours. You can choose life or you can choose death. You can have blessing or curses. It is all wrapped up in what you choose. Did you choose to spend time with God today? Did you choose to spend time in the Word? Did you choose to pay your tithe? Did you choose to obey God? Or did you choose to do your own thing? Everyday we make a lot of choices. The place we have in God is based on the choices we make everyday. I believe that you are making choices to live for God.

John 10:10 Amplified Bible (AMP)
10The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

Living a joyful, abundant, overflowing life is part of how you will take your place in God. As you work out God's plan for your life you will live a joyful, abundant, overflowing life. How do you go from a life of sorrow, lack, and dryness to the abundant life Jesus talked about? The answer is in the verses we just read. In John 10:10 Jesus said that he came so that we could have life and enjoy it. That abundant life is in Jesus. Abundant life is the fruit, or the result of a relationship with Jesus. It comes from spending time in prayer with Jesus and personal bible study. Abundant, overflowing life grows from being with Jesus. As you grow closer to Jesus you will become more like Him.

Deuteronomy 30:20 New International Version (NIV)
20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

We can find our place in God in this verse. This verse sets out 3 principals we need in our lives - love the Lord our God, listen to God's voice, and hold fast to God.

1 John 4:20-21 New International Version (NIV)
20If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Part of loving god is to love His family. Find the Church that God wants you to attend and serve them with all of your heart, mind, and strength. Our attendance, involvement, and commitment to God's Church is an expression of love for God. Express your love for God fully. Love those whom you have seen. When you put God's people first place in your life then you will be stepping into the place that God has prepared for you.

Another area you can express your love for God is through prayer. Free Bible Email has a prayer section. Everyday people ask for prayer. Spend sometime praying over those people. Intercede for their needs and give God a chance to work through your prayers. Step into your place in God through prayer.

Love is expressed is through money. When you love somebody you will spend your money on them. When you love God you will give some of your money to God's work. When you help to finance Free Bible Email or any other ministry that God is working through, you are expressing your love for God. It is one way that you can express to God your appreciation for all the wonderful things that God has done in your life. Step into your place by financing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In Deuteronomy we saw three principals - love the Lord our God, listen to God's voice, and hold fast to God. When listening to God you will hear His voice from several different sources. You will hear God through your conscience. Your conscience will try to lead away from what is evil and towards what is good. But with your conscience you will have to be careful. You can sear (or deaden) your conscience (1 Tim 4:2). A seared consciences is one that is numb to what is right and wrong. A seared conscience is no longer sensitive to God. The first step in listening to God's voice is through doing what is right. Listen to your conscience when it is telling you to do what is right. But always test what your conscience is telling you against what the Word of God says.

If something we believe or think does not line up with the Word of God, then we need to change that belief or thought. We need to make our thoughts and opinions line up with the Word of God. Sometimes that is tough because we tend to trust our own opinions and thoughts over anything else. That is where humility comes into play. Humility is when you willingly subject your thoughts and opinions to the scrutiny of the Word. If it does not line up with the Word of God then cast it out.

Another way that we can listen to God, is through his Pastors and Teachers. God has sent us gifts in the from of Men and Women. God has raised up Men and Women to lead and teach us. We will find our place in God and work out our future by listening to the Men and Women that God has sent to us. God has put in them a message designed to help us take our place and fulfill the God's plan for our lives.

From our 3 principals - love the Lord our God, listen to God's voice, and hold fast to God - let's take a look at the last one. Have you ever seen a child grab their parents leg and hold on tight. They are holding fast to them. When you hold fast to God you grab a hold of Him and don't let go.

When God gives you a vision for your life, hold fast and do not let go. Write down that vision. Make it plain. Run with the vision that God has put into your heart.

Maybe you are saying, "I don't have a vision from God." Start with what you are passionate about. What do you have a passion for? What do you like to do? Or what seems to irritate you? Do you find yourself saying, "Somebody should fix that!" or "We need to do something about that!" Those may be areas where God is calling you to fix or do something about it. Passion can be something you enjoy or it could be solving a problem that you believe is important.

Once you identify some things you are passionate about ask yourself, "How can I use this to glorify God?" or "How can I use this to bless the Body of Christ?" As work this out you will be taking your place in God.

You can hold fast to God by holding fast to His word. God is not a liar. If God said it in His Word, then God has obligated Himself to fulfilling what He said. God is a man of His Word. Holding fast to God's word is another way you can hold fast to God.

Holding fast to God is what you do when you mess things up. Run to God when you make a mess of things. A lot of times we have run away from God when we made a mess of things. When you run from God things just get worse and worse. Life does not start getting better until we turn our lives over to God. God can do a lot better job at cleaning up those mess then we can. Run to God as fast as you can get Him involved.

A joyful, abundant, overflowing life is waiting for you. Just love the Lord our God, listen to God's voice, and hold fast to God. Take your place in God, you will love the view!

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