“ … and after giving thanks to God, He broke it and said, “This is My body, broken for you. Keep doing this so that you and all who come after will have a vivid reminder of Me.” After they had finished dinner, He took the cup and in the same way said, “This cup is the new covenant, executed in My blood. Keep doing this; and whenever you drink it, you and all who come after will have a vivid reminder of Me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24-25 Voice)

Everyday of our lives, we are to be reminded of Him Who called us as His own, as His royal priesthood, as His holy nation and as His special treasured possession.  His ownership of us marks our heavenly identity to be called His sons and daughters because we received Him, welcomed Him and believed in His Name, Jesus Christ.

Many believers believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world, but not all have received Him as their personal Lord and Savior.  Our experiential knowledge of Him is only achieved when we receive Him in our hearts.  More so, our divine encounters with Him as sons and daughters of the Most High God are only participated in and made possible through Him.  To enjoy life is to receive Him.  Jesus said, “I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).” (John 10:10 AMPC).  To enjoy all that He has completed, prepared and waiting for all who believe is to receive Him.

“But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the right [the authority, the privilege] to become children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His Name—”.  (John 1:12 AMP)

When someone promises to give us a gift, we rejoice.  But real enjoyment only comes when we receive the gift and open it.  Every time we remember the goodness and thoughtfulness of the giver, and the joy that such gift brought into our lives, it always warms our hearts. 

We REMEMBER that Jesus is the Gift of God clothed in human form, for God SO LOVED the world that He GAVE His only Begotten and Beloved Son that whosoever believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.   The Son of God became the Son of Man so that we, who are sons of men, may become sons of God.  Oh what an awesome divine exchange brought forth by the Blood of the Lamb of God. 

We REMEMBER that apart from being grafted in into the family of God through His Son, we cannot flow according to His thoughts, will, purpose and plan?  Many may think that because their lives are evidenced by their successes, they are walking according to His will.   But, remember what Jesus said, “Pointing to His disciples, He said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.’” (Matthew 12:49-50).  It surely is possible to be successful by world’s definition independent of God, but the fullness and divine satisfaction of who He created us to be and to do can only be attained BY HIM, IN HIM and THROUGH HIM.

We REMEMBER that for us to do the will of our Heavenly Father is akin to being branches of The True Vine, Jesus Christ, Whom He has sent.  You see, branches can only explore and experience what The True Vine has.  To be fruit-bearing branches, it is imperative to be intimately connected to the life of the Vine, for what The Vine has, the branches have.  Apart from Him, we can only become dried twigs, unfruitful in every way in His Kingdom.  No one has seen a cut off branch lying on the ground disconnected from the tree that is alive, let alone bearing fruit.

Jesus said, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”  (John 15:4-5)

For me, one of the definitions of divine fruitfulness is having testimonies of His goodness in our lives.  It is when His life is being lived in and through us by the Holy Spirit resident in us. When we move and live and have our being in Him, our eyes get unveiled to witness Who He is, the Father to His children, the Healer to the sick, the Good Shepherd to the lost, the Light in darkness, the Provider to the needy, The Counselor to those who seek counsel, The Comforter to those seeking comfort, The Strength to the weak, The Strong Tower to those who seek refuge, The Deliverer to the bound and MUCH MORE.  HE IS THE GREAT I AM Who is well able to exceedingly and gloriously meet our every need according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus.

What we expect Him to be today, SURELY, HE SHALL BE.  It may not be packaged according to the way we think, but He is on the move, for He is alive forevermore.  He is our Living Hope, thus, a confident expectation and a joyful anticipation of what is to come is at hand.  What we see may be a small potential seed for us to sow to position us to His beyond-comprehension answer.  It may be a progressive increase to the fullness of His plan for us.  It may be a diversion or a detour for our greater breakthrough.  It may be a stubborn opposition right in front of us for us to overcome that we may be strengthened in our innermost being, not by our might nor by our power, but by His Spirit.  These are just to name a few.  He has innumerable ways to show Himself strong to us, for us and through us.   He said in His Word that He busies Himself with our every step.  With His promises that are Yes in Christ, we put our trust in Him that all things work together for our good to those who love Him and are called to His purpose.

“The steps of a [good] man are directed and established by the Lord when He delights in his way [and He busies Himself with his every step]”. (Psalm 37:23 AMP)

I composed songs after songs a couple of decades ago.  Because I did not have the knowledge of His Word then, I succumbed to fear of failure, fear of rejection and fear of not being good enough.  At one point, I pushed to record them in cassettes and cds, shared them with my friends with fear and trembling hahaha!  It was not a pleasant and privileged way to glorify God from my perspective, all because I was coming from a defeated position of fear, but I did it anyway.  Thank God for His grace that saw me through.   

Years later, I stopped composing and arranging songs because I did have the inner strength to pursue, but I continued to praise and worship Him with my keyboards and at times sang my own songs in the privacy of my home.  There came a time when I sold some of my gadgets with the thought of not composing any longer.  I only settled to have one digital keyboard for my personal worship.

Yet, in the course of it, I REMEMBERED or shall I say, He caused me to be reminded of His Word that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29).   The Amplified Version says, “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable [for He does not withdraw what He has given, nor does He change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call].”

Although these words came into mind so often, my “not-so-renewed” thinking regarding my composed songs quickly dismissed the issue.  In addition to suppress my ability, being surrounded by professional band players speedily put me to a halt.  Oh my my my!  Our praise and worship team was awesomely good.  They were international band players.  I thought then, “What chance do I have?” Hmmmm … that defeated mindset!  See what lack of knowledge of His Word does?  In Hosea 4:6, it says, “My people are destroyed due to lack of knowledge.”

But God Who is rich in mercy and abounding in love is definitely not done with me yet.  After all, He is the Author and the Finisher of our faith.  He caused my heart to be captivated by the Word of His Truth.  He put such passionate desire in me to pursue His Word.  He positioned me to be under the leadership of my Bible Teacher who was zealous for His Word and stirred my innermost being to constantly and consistently hunger and thirst for His Word.  Little by little I gained revelation knowledge of Him, for He and His Word are one.  As my knowledge of Him increased, so did my confidence.  There is growing in knowing.  His Word says, “REMEMBER this, and do not abandon your confidence, which will lead to rich rewards. Simply endure, for when you have done as God requires of you, you will receive the promise.”  (Hebrews 10:35-36 Voice)

Many years later of being in famine of composing songs, the Lord showed Himself strong to me through someone He used like a willing chess piece to bless me with new instruments.  Out of the blue, I got a call telling me to canvass all the gadgets that I needed as this person was inspired after watching a video concerning the life of a famous music icon in the country.

Ohhhh how amazing He is and His Ways that are beyond the reach of our intellect.  His inconceivable suddenlies are mighty and powerful that put me back on track.  This time, I had a different perspective of the gift that He put in me.  My focus was no longer on my weaknesses, but on Him Who became my strength.  My outlook in being surrounded by professional musicians changed.  They were not a hindrance to my musicality.  Instead, they were a huge blessing to my songs.  In fact, our musical director beautifully arranged four of them.  See what knowledge of our heavenly identity can do and shift our standpoint for our benefit and advancement?

REMEMBER, the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.  No matter how we dislodge ourselves from His divine train tracks, He has His surprising and supernatural ways of redirecting us back, because now He found us more equipped in His Word to fight a good fight of faith when fear arises and comes to view.  When we come to know that He has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love and of power and of a sound mind, victory over fear prevails.  The Amplified Classic says, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7 AMPC)

All by His grace and mercy, I am about to release one of my composed songs in Spotify and Youtube, armed with His Word as the sword of my spirit against fear.  The Lord has put this gift in me, therefore, nothing and no one can snatch it away from me, and I will give Him all the honor, glory and praise that He deserves.

How timely it is that I saw and love what Vanessa Horabuena said. “My biggest advice to you would be, no matter what you create, no matter how you may want to compare yourself with someone else, my biggest encouragement is that you affirm your work right were you’re at and every time you create something, to say, IT’S GOOD!  That’s what God did when He created the world.  Every time He created something, He created the light and He saw that it was good.  My encouragement to you is that CREATE, BE FREE, AFFIRM YOUR WORK, SAY THAT IT IS GOOD.  And every single time, you’re gonna learn something new, you’re gonna get a little better and you will be amazed at how you far you’ll get in a matter of weeks by taking my advice, just affirming the creativity that is already inside of you.  God didn’t make you without that element.  It’s already in you.  It’s in your DNA.  It’s a part of who you are.  So, if you have the desire to create, my encouragement to you is do it with all your heart, affirm your work and enjoy the journey.

How these words immensely brought courage and strength to me.  Thank You, Jesus.  Her own testimony brought light and illumined my path, and she doesn’t even know the impact of those words released.  See what our testimonies can do even without our knowledge? 

We REMEMBER that our own testimony of Jesus is a spirit of prophecy that speaks to those who have ears to hear.  These testimonies are seeds sown for hope to arise in someone else’s life.  They, too, are water to the seeds that have already been sown for them to grow and bear fruit. 

We REMEMBER that our being NEW CREATIONS IN CHRIST, as we receive Him as our Lord and Savior, brings forth testimonies that demonstrate how God has privileged us in Christ Jesus to live and experience above the ordinary life, walking out His gifts and calling that not only glorifies Him but blesses those He positioned to be blessed and influenced by us.  This unique heavenly identity that He gifted us in Christ enlarges our capacity to serve at a higher place, compelled by His love to do what He called us to do.

What gift that the Lord our God, the Creator of all, has put in you?  Be of good courage!  Be confident!  Be undaunted!  Be filled with joy to walk it out!  Be unstoppable!  Just as Jesus said, “not My will, but Yours be done”, may we have the boldness to say the same for it is never by our might, never by our power, BUT BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD resident in us.

Photo Credits: Edna Arriola, NZ