Disqualified.  You are disqualified.  You don’t deserve that.  You’ve done too many things to even think that you could qualify for that.  Do you really think you are included in that group?  Do you really think that the grace that you hear preached about, sung about, talked about, and celebrated will actually cover you and all of the things that you’ve done?  How many people have thoughts such as these mulling around in their heads even as the Word of God is being preached, ministered, sung, demonstrated in areas of the arts, etc.?  They come in one way and leave the way they came in, unable to open up and receive all that is there for them.  Lies are being told and those lies are accepted as facts by many whom God is attempting to help set free from wrong thinking, from bondage, from condemnation, and from strongholds that have plagued them and their families for generations.

Do not allow the self-appointed accuser of the brethren, the enemy of your very soul, to fool you into thinking that you are to be on the outside, looking in… sitting in the back, not allowed in the front  where the action is. Stop limiting yourself to the things that you just happen to “catch” as you sit as an observer watching the parade go by, just grabbing bits and pieces of what may be tossed to you as you stand on the sidelines. God is calling you to jump in, to get completely immersed, to drop the legalism, and to drop religious views and ways of approaching your relationship with God.  Put away the checklist of things you think you need to get right before you can be qualified for the grace.  The tighter your relationship becomes with God, the more things will begin to fall off… interest in certain things will begin to wane…  desires will begin to shift… and above all, the love and appreciation for that grace that God bestows upon you will motivate you to first of all, have a strong desire to do the things that please Him.  You will begin to understand that the same grace that you celebrate is available to help you want to change and not only that, it will assist you, equip you, empower you, and enable you to change.

So…  as my pastor said the other week, get your behind up and get back in the game!!!  You disqualified yourself. God did not disqualify you.  Your journey, your story, your experiences… don’t let them cause you to lag behind. On the contrary, let those things propel you to the front because all they have done is magnify the need that you have for that close relationship with the “Grace Giver” who is waiting to give you all He has set aside for you.  Disqualified?  Who told you that?

Philippians 1:6 (AMP) – And I am  convinced and  sure of this very thing, that he Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and  perfecting and  bringing it to full completion in you.  

Philippians 2:13 (AMP) – [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire] both to will and to work for His good pleasure and  satisfaction and  delight.