Inspiration Station: Not The First Choice

What if embracing grace could transform your life, making each challenge an opportunity for spiritual growth? Join us for an enlightening episode of the All Purpose Pod as we embark on a journey of grace and purpose, inspired by 1 Peter 2:1-10. 

Discover how gratitude and generosity can become fundamental responses to God's mercy, as we discuss the biblical principle that it's better to give than to receive. Let this episode remind you of your identity as a chosen people, tasked with proclaiming God's praises and extending His grace to others, inspiring you to live with purpose and a grateful heart.

How should you respond when you realize you were not the first choice but still have all the benefits and privileges just as if you were? How do you sustain the honor to whom the honor is due?

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Chapters

• 0:34 Powerful Message of Grace and Purpose
• 14:11 Responding to Grace With Gratitude

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:34

I Welcome back to the All Purpose Pod for an all-purpose life. Wherever you are and however you're listening to the Call Me, mr you the podcast, we thank you again for making us a part of your week. We are very excited, as always. There's always some awesome things going on Hearing from you guys and your comments and your questions for the show, and just how the show has been inspiration to you in some way. Maybe we answer some questions that you guys had. Thank you for sharing it. So we know that we're making an impact, because we don't always know that. We know that our podcast is heard around the world now, which is pretty exciting. Podcasting is definitely on the come up, excuse me. We're definitely excited about you guys being involved in what we're doing and you're on this journey with us and we thank you. Thank you for doing what you're doing.

Speaker 1: 1:23

If you're listening to us for the first time, of course you're going to find us on all the social media platforms that we simulcast on Facebook, instagram, linkedin, twitter, tiktok. We're everywhere. If you're listening to us audio only and not actually seeing me live Apple podcasts, we can find our show. It'll give you the opportunity to subscribe to our show there. So definitely excited about that. You can follow us on Apple Podcasts. Of course, you can listen on Spotify, iheartradio, pandora, amazon Music wherever you do listen to your audio podcast and, of course, if you are watching us and we have a live video episode, our YouTube channel is youtubecom at theycallmemisteryou. You can find us there, see us live and in person. We're excited about hearing from you and your thoughts on the show. I hope you've been listening. So far. We've been having some pretty impactful episodes that have come out the past several weeks, and for good reason. A lot of really good things are happening, despite what you're hearing in our world and on the news and in the media outlets. Some great things going on around us. So definitely excited to share some of those things with you. So definitely excited to share some of those things with you. So if you're definitely somebody who cares about being inspired and you like the idea of hearing about creativity, innovation and inspiration and seeing how we can be the best possible people that we can be for others as well as for ourselves and our families, perhaps this podcast will be a benefit to you.

Speaker 1: 3:03

But I want to share a few things out of an old dissertation that I had to do a couple years back for ministry. Now I'm sharing this because I think there's a powerful message in this and, if you guys are following, I always give you guys scriptures when we do any kind of teachings or anything. So if you are taking notes and you're following this and you're referencing this back later on when you hear it again 1 Peter 2, 1 to 10. The book of 1 Peter, chapter 2, and the first 10 verses, I want you to use that as a reference. But one of the things and this is a very powerful lesson in this and I think excuse me, I think that that's one of the primary reasons why I wanted to share this today, but also because it's been growing me so much. I said you know anytime that if you guys have been listening, you know, you know the routine, you know how this works. All the past three, almost more than four seasons now, if I share this in episode, it's usually impacting me long before I hit record, long before I send it out to all the social media platforms. It's already hitting me and touching me and changing me and correcting me and cutting on me long before you guys even hear it. This is another example of that.

Speaker 1: 4:28

I got some questions. I want to just kind of ask in the midst of all of this Hopefully the episode won't be too long I want to try to hit the point and get out of your way so you can enjoy the rest of your day. But what do you do when you're given grace? What do you do when you're given grace? What's the appropriate response? How do you sustain what you're now walking in and that sounds general, but it's going to make a lot more sense when we get into this. But in the realm of 1 Peter 2 to 10, chapter 2, verse 1 to 10, I'm going to read it first so you kind of get an idea of the context and then we'll get into more details. But verse one says therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk so that by it you may grow up in your salvation. Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good, as you come to him, the living stone, rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Speaker 1: 5:43

Verse six is for in scripture. It says see, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame. Now, to you who believe, this stone is precious, but to those who do not believe, the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone and a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. They stumble because they disobey the message, which is also what they were destined for. Verse nine says but you are a chosen people. Underline this part but you are a chosen people, a Royal priesthood, a Holy nation, god's special possession. That you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. And this last part verse 10, is very important. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Now you have received mercy. Now. I'm sharing this as an encouragement to you today, but we're going to get into why.

Speaker 1: 6:49

I thought this was important enough for us to have a quick discussion about it here on the show. In this context, peter was encouraging the Gentile believers that they were part of something greater than themselves. I guess it really didn't matter if the entire world was against them and it was but they were part of a generation that was chosen. They were now a part of the royal priesthood. They were connected. They were expected to be responsible for their own spiritual growth and their relationship with the Lord. They were being, in effect, grafted in, grandfathered in, if you will. They were a nation under God that was considered holy, a special possession unlike anyone other.

Speaker 1: 7:37

Now I'm saying this to you because I want you to understand that, if you know anything about scriptures, if you understand about the whole Israelite Gentile situation, the Gentiles were the ones that were not part of the original plan, in the sense that they weren't the emphasis for the salvation that was talked about through so much of the Old Testament. The Gentiles were grafted in. As I said earlier, they were accepted in and included when the original people, the original goal for the salvation was for the children of Israel, and they did not accept it. They did not receive the gift or the offering. Now, I don't know how it works for you, but I've seen this before in different contexts. Let me check this out. Let's use the example that I think you might be able to understand. Let's try to use this as an example.

Speaker 1: 8:41

Now say, for example, that in your daily going on, you run into a situation where you find out that there are a supply of meat, of meat I'm talking about beef, chicken, everything A supply of meat that is being gifted to you because of your position, because of where you work, perhaps or because of the context you have, because of who you know it's being gifted to you. Now, most people that I choose to connect with and spend time with and do life with most of them would never go put it all in their own freezer and just say, look, how much I got, and do that. Most of them will probably think, okay, you know what, this is a lot. I wonder if some of this would help other people. Okay, if that's not, you don't be offended. I'm not really thinking or talking about you in this case. I'm just making a general statement here. This is just a general example Because I know for myself, if I just use myself as an example, when that has happened to me and it's happened to me many times my first instinct is okay, this is a lot.

Speaker 1: 9:59

I wonder if I can help somebody with this. I wonder if I know anybody who may be able to use this. I'm not going to give them all the meat, but I'll give them a portion of it for sure, probably even up to half of it, because that's just how my mind works, that's how my heart works. So I'm trying to find somebody who is in my life, who's in my circle, my connection, my network, who may see this as a blessing. But see, I go to that person who I know should be able to receive this. They've expressed things in the past that says you know what this could be a blessing to them. But when I go to them with this, they respond with the wrong attitude. To them with this, they respond with the wrong attitude. They don't accept what's being given. They see it as either something that's beneath them or they see it as something that they look at with suspicion. You fill in the blanks, whatever scenario you want to use, but the bottom line is that they won't accept it from me.

Speaker 1: 10:57

What's my next approach? My next approach is to look for somebody else to share it with, somebody else who would appreciate this free meat that will save them many dollars and cents and having to go to the store and buy some. It could last them months, because that's how much the quantity of meat there is that's being offered to them. This is the same situation that I'm trying to use as a scenario or an analogy for what the Lord was doing with the children of Israel. He was trying to bring them salvation and peace from all the things that was going on in their life the war and the conflict and the turmoil and they said no, thank you, lord. So the Lord, in turn, began to invite others to have access to that. The others in this case would be the Gentiles, the people who did not believe in God. He offered them the opportunity to have that peace from conflict and war and turmoil, that level of relationship that's possible with him being a part of his community, and that's what happened here.

Speaker 1: 12:05

So I ask again what do you do when you're given grace? What's the appropriate response? How do you sustain what you've been given? How do you walk that out? See, I think that one of the things that we kind of I feel like as believers, we kind of get casual I know a lot of folks out here probably you guys are listening right now probably been saved almost all of your life. Maybe you got saved out of the womb. Maybe you got saved since you were six years old and you were baptized when you were seven. Maybe that's what's going on here. Maybe it's 30, 40, 50, 60 years in and you kind of feel like I got this whole salvation, deliverance, healing, christianity thing pretty much locked up. I know what I'm doing. I don't need too much help with this. Maybe that's you. I don't have such a privilege. I look at this as an incredible honor to be in a place that I was not the first choice, but I've been given access to something so great that has given me the kind of peace and grace and love and community that I didn't have my entire life, and I found that in this level of environment. So I want to try to get into some of this. I hope I have enough time. I feel like I'm already running out of time already, but I hope this is making sense to you.

Speaker 1: 14:11

So far, even in this context with the Gentile believers, I think all of us can relate to this one thing Plenty of stuff went against you as you were growing up, in your childhood and in your upbringing. I'm sure anybody that's listening can look back on their upbringing and see at least two reasons why they shouldn't be here or two reasons why they don't think in their mind they deserve the blessings that they're able to receive right now. I'm sure they can look back and see all the things that were odds they had to overcome. But one thing we don't have to overcome is when you're called and when you're chosen. You have to overcome that because nothing can stop destiny. It's going to take place. People talk about fate and karma. I'm not talking about anything like that. I'm talking about when God does something for you, it's going to happen.

Speaker 1: 15:09

It's one of the conferences that we have about being a part of this level of community. We all have backgrounds like that. I have definitely shared that multiple times on at the very least three seasons of our show. I've been pretty transparent about that kind of stuff. But I recognize that it's a privilege. It's a privilege to be a part of the community that we're talking about, that we're hearing about in this passage of scripture. It's valuable for us to be a part of this community to the degree that we're called living stone, that we're part of a bigger spiritual picture. We all have something to bring to the table, and I love that about this because, despite your background, despite where you've come from and what you've been through, you play a part in the larger picture.

Speaker 1: 15:55

You've been given grace and mercy that, honestly, you can't say you deserve it. You can't say you earned it. You haven't done anything to earn it. I don't think you could earn it if you tried. But what's the appropriate response when you recognize that you've been given a grace that you didn't deserve? What do you do If I find someone who says you know what?

Speaker 1: 16:17

This meat is a blessing to me? I just found out that I lost my job and I didn't have enough money to get groceries for my kids. And I may have a chance to get another job, but right now it's going to be several months before I can be able to get back on my feet. So this meat right here that you're bringing to me that's a blessing is going to change my whole household dynamic. We won't have to try to find money or use the rest of the money that we have or the little money that we have on going to get groceries. Now I can focus on other things and we'll be taken care of and we won't have to worry about where our next meal is going to come from. Now they're being given a grace, this family.

Speaker 1: 16:59

How should they respond? What's the appropriate response? Maybe gratefulness, maybe thankfulness? How do you sustain that? To me, I was that family. I was in that place. My family and I were in that place before we were the recipient of a blessing that we didn't earn, something that we didn't do anything to pay for, but we needed it desperately. You know what our response was to that, how we responded to this grace. We began to give that out to as many people as possible, and I believe that's one of the secret keys in the kingdom of God that what you get, you give.

Speaker 1: 17:43

What you get, you give. If you get grace, you give grace. If you get mercy, you give mercy. I believe that's one of the keys to the kingdom of God. If you get love, you give mercy. I believe that's one of the keys to the kingdom of God. If you get love, you give love. If you get gratefulness, you give gratefulness out. You show that. Exhibit that in every area of your life. If you've been blessed to have abundance in a certain area, give that to others. Share that with others. Don't hold it all for yourself. I believe that's one of the keys and we can see it throughout Scripture.

Speaker 1: 18:18

The Bible says it's better to give than it is to receive, and the hand that gives usually is never empty. It's always filled because they're always in giving mode, and I believe that's an attachment to God's heart. I believe that's how he thinks. I believe that's an alignment to the way God feels about us and his people and what he wants from us as his representatives. So that family because they got grace, they should give grace out. Because they got mercy, they should give mercy out. That's one of the things that we don't understand. We come into this with closed fists. We get something and we hoard it. I know people whose homes are so filled with stuff you can't even see the walls anymore because they've been given so much stuff but they haven't given anything out. Their consumers, maybe even hoarders, if I can use that word, maybe even even gluttons. That is just exactly the opposite of the kind of mindset that we're reading about right here. That we're talking about right here, the Gentile believers were included into a place that wasn't originally specified for them. But verse 9 is such an encouragement.

Speaker 1: 19:33

It says but you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, god's special possession, so that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Check out what it's saying. I don't want you to miss that, because it's really important. I don't want you to get stuck on the part that says I'm a chosen people, I'm a royal priesthood, on the part that says I'm a chosen people, I'm a royal priesthood, I'm a holy nation. I don't want you to miss that. You are all those things. You are God's special possession. I don't want you to miss that. But look at what it says after that. After it says but you are a chosen people. After it says you're a royal priesthood. After it says you're a holy nation and God's special possession. What does it say in verse nine? After that? It says that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. You all, all of those things. But you all those things for a reason. You're chosen people, for a reason You're a royal priesthood, for a reason You're a holy nation, for a reason, so that you may declare, exhibit, show forth the praises of him who called you out of darkness Into his marvelous light.

Speaker 1: 20:36

There's a parable we hear all the time about, I think the parable of the ten lepers. I think it's called. In short, jesus healed ten lepers. They all left grateful that they were healed, but only one came back and said thank you. That one that came back and said thank you Was that one that came back and said thank you was probably the one that went out to all the world and told everybody in their life guess what happened to me? I got healed. He exhibited and declared the praises of him who healed him from the leprosy. You are God's chosen people. You are his special possession for a reason for For you to declare the praise of the people who called you out of darkness.

Speaker 1: 21:15

If you stay where you were, it's pretty safe to say that destruction would have been inevitable for you. But he called you out of darkness and we have a hope now that we didn't have before. We have a wonderful light now that we didn't have before. We were before a people without any kind of status or hope or future, and now we're considered the people of God. We're part of God's family because we received that mercy. Now you have to give that mercy out.

Speaker 1: 21:45

It's really not hard to understand, but sometimes in our normal vernacular we think about ourselves so much that we don't think about the fact that we've been given things in order to give them out to others. We spend so much time not functioning in the space where we've been planted and we spend time looking at how we can do what they're doing, how we can be like they are or have what they have, and we're just missing the entire point of all this stuff. We weren't the obvious, expected choice and most of us can probably say that out of our entire life, we probably weren't that in many areas of our life. We were supposed to be historically part of the greater redemption picture, but we are and we have access to a great mercy and we need to daily give it out. You know we didn't have any shot of having a benefit through any effort of our own, because I'll tell you right now, speaking for myself, if I had just left up, been up to my own devices, I'd still be in New York doing the kind of things that I was doing, live my life the way I was living it, heading in the trajectory that I was heading in, and not have a hope of having a beautiful family, not having the hope of having thriving businesses, a beautiful family not having the hope of having thriving businesses, not having the hope of having the kind of growth potential and spiritual development that I enjoy today, having the friends and relationships that I have. I wouldn't have any of that stuff had I been up to my own device. I wouldn't have had that. If it was up to my own efforts, I wouldn't have the benefit that I can say I have right now. And the people who have had no shot of having that should, in effect, appreciate it a lot more than others, because it wasn't originally planned for them but now they're marked for greatness and they matter and they're part of something beautiful.

Speaker 1: 23:40

So I just hope this is an encouragement to you guys. I know that you know a lot of folks kind of get caught up in okay, I don't understand the scripture. It's hard to understand, I get that. But I just want to just encourage you and hope that you understand this because, if nothing else, please understand that part that if you don't understand the entire picture of the scriptures and the salvation picture, it's totally understandable. We can walk through that kind of stuff together. But what I want you to understand that I think is most valuable to you and that's something you can take away and you can deal with this in your time, your private time, your meditation time, your prayer time, however you kind of decompress.

Speaker 1: 24:19

Just know that this is a privilege that we didn't earn. This is a privilege that was given to us because of love. It wasn't that we did anything good for it. It wasn't that we were good people, it wasn't that we had a good job or that we spoke good words. There was nothing good about us. But we were given this privilege to be a light in a world that's full of darkness and we couldn't, we can't possibly say that we have earned that. It was given to us and we have a privilege. You can ask yourself the question I asked you earlier what do you do when you're given grace? What do you do when you're given mercy? What's the appropriate response? How do you sustain it? I think it's pretty easy. Easy answer Give grace and give mercy out to others. You've been giving love and you don't think you deserve it. Love somebody. Thanks for listening. Hope you enjoyed the show. Have a great day.