Being Pre-pared

I really believe this is a period in history where we need to be paying attention to what's going on in the world. It's easier for us to do that more than ever before due to the advances we've made in communications such as internet, television etc. I think the Lord has done that on purpose. I think He wants His people to be able to see what's going on in the world and be prepared.

Prepared. Pre-as in get ready ahead of time. Pared-as in trimming away the excess. It's time to get rid of the excess and the clutter in our lives. However, to really be able to get rid of clutter, you need to know your purpose. When things are cluttered, it might be a sign that you don't know, or are confused about, your purpose. Clutter basically means you don't know what to keep and what to throw away--possibly because you don't know what you are going to need. We hold onto things sometimes "just in case." Sometimes there's clutter because we try and take on too much and we can't get to it all. Maybe our priorities are out of order, or we're just trying to be super-human. We could be trying to live beyond our means, whether its money, time or space. Those are all limitations we need to recognize rather than ignore.

Being pre-pared doesn't (necessarily) mean that we hoard and become "self" sufficient. To be prepared means that we are God-sufficient, we are dependent on Him, not on ourselves. That means that we seek Him to find out what He wants us doing with our money, time and space. (If you live in a very small space you most likely aren't going to be the one God calls to store up food for the neighborhood if tough times hit!) 

To be prepared we need to:

• Know and understand our gifts and call
• Acquire tools related to our gifts and call
• Develop skills related to our gifts and call
• Get going in our gifts and call!

Don't be stagnant in the thing the Lord has called you to do. Seek Him and find out what you need to be spending your time, money and space on. Let Him do the necessary pruning (paring) so that you will be able to fully blossom in that which He's called you to. With the pruning done and the clutter out of the way, you will be able to see your purpose more clearly. Once you know something about your place in the kingdom of God, then start taking steps in that direction. He IS directing your paths. Get ready!

"Let us rejoice and be glad and give glory to Him,

for the marriage of the Lamb has come

and His bride has made herself ready."

Revelation 19:7