Message THE PERSON GOD USES - 05-15-16

Brothers and sisters, God chose you to be his. Think about that! Not many of you were wise in

the way the world judges wisdom.

Not many of you had great influence, and not many of you came from important families.

But God chose the foolish things

of the world to shame the wise. He chose the weak things of

the world to shame the strong. And God chose what the world thinks is not important—what the world hates and thinks is

nothing.

He chose these to destroy what the world thinks is important.

God did this so that no one can stand before him and boast

about anything. It is God who has made you part of Christ

Jesus. And Christ has become for us wisdom from God.

He is the reason we are right with God and pure enough to

be in his presence. Christ is the one who set us free from sin.

So, as the Scriptures say, “Whoever boasts should

boast only about the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31 – Easy To Read Version)

God uses ordinary people in extraordinary ways for His glory. Think of your favorite biblical character or person from church history. Before

they were “well-known” they were unknown.

The Lord takes nobodies and makes them somebody all by His grace. God took a

shepherd boy and made Him King of Israel.

God used a donkey to deliver

a message. God uses ordinary people in

extraordinary ways.

God uses those who are grateful because they never forget all

they have been given!

I plead with you to give your lives completely to God. Let

them be a living sacrifice, holy—the kind he can accept. When you think of what he has done

for you, is this too much to ask?

(Romans 12:1 – Living Bible)

God uses those who are weak because they know how much they

need God’s help!

God said, “I am with you; that is all you need. My power

shows up best in weak people.” Now I am glad to boast about

how weak I am;

I am glad to be a living demonstration of Christ’s

power, instead of showing off my own power and abilities. (2 Corinthians 12:9 – Living

Bible)

God uses those who are humble because they want God to get

all the glory!

In the same way, you should be a light for other people. Live so

that they will see the good things you do. Live so that they

will praise your Father in heaven.

(Matthew 5:16 – International Children’s Bible)

God uses those who are compassionate

because they want to help other people!

Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed.

Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you

think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived . . .

Right now, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the

people closest to us in the community of faith.

(Galatians 6:2, 10 – The Message)

God uses those who are imperfect because they boast about God

and not about themselves!

“Don’t let the wise brag of their wisdom. Don’t let heroes brag of their exploits. Don’t let the rich brag of their riches. If you brag, brag of this and this only: That you understand and

know me.

I’m GOD, and I act in loyal love. I do what’s right and set things

right and fair, and delight in those who

do the same things. These are my trademarks.”

(Jeremiah 9:24 – The Message)

God uses those who are forgiven because

they know how blessed they really are!

God is ready to overwhelm you with more grace and more

blessings than you could ever imagine so that you’ll always

be taken care of in every way and you’ll have more than

enough to share with others. (2 Corinthians 9:8 – The Voice)

God uses those who are faithful because they don’t give up

when things get hard!

And let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of

blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up.

(Galatians 6:9 – Living Bible)

God uses those who are surrendered

because they want to give their

best to God!

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your

sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and

place it before God as an offering.

Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can

do for him . . . I’m speaking to you out

of deep gratitude for all that God has given me . . . (Romans 12:1, 3 – The

Message)

Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got

called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the

best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-

society families.

Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and

women that the culture overlooks and exploits and

abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the

“somebodies”?

That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with

blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—

comes from God by way of Jesus Christ.

That’s why we have the saying,

“If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31 – The

Message)

Let’s Pray