words by coco

Picture this: you arrive at a friend’s house, a friend you’ve only recently become acquainted with, and you are starving. As you arrive and sit on their sofa, they tell you, “make yourself at home.. what’s mine is yours.. there’s plenty of good stuff in the kitchen that you’re more than welcome to.. seriously, we just went to the store so there is PLENTY..” and you sit there, with your stomach growling, and politely say, “I’m good, but thank you!” For one reason or another, so many of us have done this!

Don’t we do this with God, too? He welcomes you and puts Himself out there to you saying, “make yourself at home! What’s mine is yours! Here I Am, here is everything I have, completely and fully at your disposal, for your use, and you are MORE than welcome to it. And be rest assured, there is not just ‘plenty’, there is no limit to my offerings.” And God didn’t just “go to the store” to bring you His blessings and favor and strength, etc. God sacrificed His Son.. Jesus willingly went to the cross and died the worst death imaginable so that God could give all of Himself to you. Jesus paid it all for blessings and strength that will cost us nothing. It is freely offered to you daily, yet so often we still say, “I’m good.”

All you have to do to accept God’s help is stop saying, “I’m good”. Stop trying to carry all of your burdens, responsibilities, and worries on your own. Humbly admit that by yourself, you really aren’t “good” sometimes. God doesn’t expect you to try and carry all of this on your own! He sent His Son to die so that through His grace, you are GREAT! I know this illustration may be extremely cheesy but it is to be taken seriously. Don’t let the Blood of Jesus go to waste in your life. Choose to faithfully accept the amazing gifts that God is longing to shower you with and allow Him to strengthen you with His power and peace so that you may go through every single moment with victory and might! This is God’s gracious design for His children. 

The very first step is choosing faith. Choose to trust God in all of the glory and goodness that He is. Trust that everything He says is Truth.. that He has great, hopeful plans for you, and most of all – that He seriously loves you so stinking much!! With a love that truly isn’t fathomable in our limited minds. It is through being convinced of these things that you will be able to make what I like to call The Divine Exchange: sincerely giving God your struggles, worries, failures, weaknesses, heartache, anxiety, whatever it may be, and in exchange, receiving His peace, His guidance, His strength, His power, His righteousness, His energy to move forward, and His motivation to press on.

Those who walk in this lifestyle, those who make it a habit of making “The Divine Exchange” and faithfully accept God’s gifts, it is these who go on to do great things for the Kingdom of God because they are walking in His power and strength. They live from the basis of God’s love for them and go forward from a place of victory never doubting themselves because they understand who they are in Christ and know God’s power resides within them.

Again I say, do not let the blood of Jesus go to waste in your life. God, the King of Kings, is extending His favor over you! He is reaching out, offering everything that He is, so that you may live a victorious life, full of faith, joy, and peace..and best of all – full of Him.

It is time that the children of God make use of what Christ died for us to have. To be used by God we must use what God gives. He’s offering Himself completely and fully to you! And He is so worthy of our acceptance of Him and His gifts. Bring glory and honor to our Abba Father by taking advantage of His great gifts. He is waiting with open arms. All you have to do is make yourself at home.

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” – Hebrews 4:16 (ESV)