Welcome to this five day devotional reflecting on what it means for God to be alive and exploring some of the benefits we as His children enjoy as we serve Him. Enjoy :)

Revelations 1:8: “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

A long-standing discussion amongst atheists and believers is the age old question, does God exist? Is He alive? It’s a deep question, yet, it’s not hard to conclude that God is in fact alive. Did you know that God is alive? And if you did, have you ever considered what that really means?  There are clear signs that God with a big G is not an object, is not a force that can be confined to a thing, and especially can not be confined to a man-made object. God was not created but is a living entity, a spiritual being that has existed since before our concept of time. We can see in Genesis 1:1 that God was already present “In the beginning.” He has always been and always will be; He’s eternal.  

Honestly, I’m already in awe just thinking about it! He is also omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent which means God is all knowing, He exists everywhere at once, and is all powerful, respectively. That is the God we pray to and believe in. This all powerful God created everything in existence; He created creatures that occupy the air, land, and seas. He created eco-systems, climates, weathers, celestial bodies, and so much more. On top of all that, in Genesis 2:7 we see that God “formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” God even became flesh and blood when Jesus came to earth, lived, and died as a regular man before rising again. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” He is life and gives life and is also the way to access eternal life.

When you take all these things into consideration, it’s not hard to see how a relationship with the living God would be beneficial. God wants to have a relationship with us but He allows us to choose that relationship freely. Once we accept God’s salvation and a life with Christ, then we immediately have access to the full benefits package that comes with being a part of God’s kingdom. We have access to God 24/7 to talk to Him whenever we want, and we receive the Holy Spirit to dwell within us to further connect us to Him. Other benefits of serving a living God are that He can speak to us, express His love for us, and show interest in our lives. God can reveal our purpose to us and empower us for that purpose as well. As we draw closer to God, let’s make sure to take advantage of all the benefits available to us as His children, after all the deductible has been paid by Jesus!  

Prayer: Father God, thank You for Your grace, mercy, and salvation. Thank You for thinking of me before I was conceived and making a way for me to enter into a relationship with You. Help me to stand tall in my faith and grant me the ability to make the most of the sacrifice Your son Jesus made on the cross for me. Amen.

Ephesians 2:10:  For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

One of the most common questions that most people ask, regardless of their faith or religion is, what am I meant to do? What’s my purpose? Where do I fit into the world? Why am I the way that I am? These types of questions can be triggered by feelings of confusion, curiosity, lack of direction, a sense of longing, dissatisfaction, or even a desire for clarity. You might have tried to figure out the answers to these questions yourself by reading books, watching self-help videos, attending conferences and seminars, speaking to spiritual leaders and/or counselors, doing surveys, personality tests or whatever is your go-to method for getting answers. I can’t lie, you might experience various degrees of success using one or more of these methods to get these answers but the only way to get the true answer is to go to the source, God the Father. If you are a child of God, and have a relationship with Him, you have the benefit of being able to ask Him yourself what His purpose is for you because you have direct access to God. Because God created all things that exist in the known and unknown universe, rest assured that you and I are also one of His creations that He created intentionally and we have a purpose as well.

Ephesians 2:10 tells us that we are God's handiwork, and our purpose is to do good works because we are created in Christ Jesus. We are also described as “clay in the hand of the potter” in Jeremiah 18:6 to be molded for God’s purpose. To me these scriptures reinforce the idea that as our Creator, God knows what our purpose is. Only the manufacturer of an item truly knows its purpose and how it’s best used. Sometimes when I go online, I see videos of people giving tips on how to use products. I am often amazed to discover that I’ve been using an item incorrectly or not to its fullest potential because I was using the item based on my limited past knowledge or through common sense reasoning and not reading the manual to see all that I could do with the item.  

Since God made each of us different, from physical attributes to skills and talents and personalities, everyone will not be asked to perform the same tasks; the assignment is different from one person to the next. This is why it’s important to pray and seek that clarity from God. Jeremiah 1:5 says that “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart.”  This scripture is so reassuring; it lets us know that God thought about us before we were even conceived and that He has a purpose for each one of us.  God already knew all our birthdays and all the things we would accomplish in our lives and the struggles we would go through. God created each of us with certain gifts, talents and skills but left it completely up to us whether we would choose to follow the path of our designed purpose or take another route. I pray that we all go back to our creator and download the user guide for our lives. 

Prayer: Father God, please reveal Your purpose for my life. I want to know how I can fulfill my purpose in You. Help me to be a tool to accomplish Your will here on earth and make the most of the gifts and talents You’ve given me. Amen. 

John 3: 16:  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

I don’t think it’s a secret that God loves us but sometimes we need reminders of God’s love. One of the biggest examples of His love is described in John 3:16.  When I think of the kind of love it takes to sacrifice yourself for the sake of someone else's well being or health, it puts into perspective how great God’s love for us really is. The biggest example of God’s love for us is that God allowed His son Jesus Christ to be made man, flesh and blood, so that He could become the final sacrifice we would ever need; a living sacrifice for the atonement of our sin. This sacrifice re-opened the door for us to be able to have eternal life with Him. God put an end to the cycle of sacrifice needed to atone for sin that caused our separation from Him when Jesus died on the cross and conquered death through His own death and resurrection. Thinking on this a bit more, I think it’s worth noting that prior to this time, God had never experienced physical pain, had never experienced hunger, had never required air to breath, had never had blood pumping in His veins. God, an eternal being, knowing He would suffer at the hands of His own creations to save us, made Himself vulnerable for our sake. My God! That is love! And it wasn’t even like He was surprised or caught off guard, He knew beforehand what He would experience and what it would take to save us and He did it anyway. 

Another reminder of God’s love for us can be found in Jeremiah 29:11 which says, “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” For context, verse 1 of the same chapter explains that prophet Jeremiah was writing to all the people exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar as a way to encourage them that in spite of all that they had suffered, all the loss they had endured, that God Almighty indeed had a plan for them, one with the promise of a bright future. This is applicable to us as well. Even though God loves us so much, it doesn’t mean that we won’t experience suffering and loss or have struggles and challenges but instead it lets us know that things will get better. Your journey isn’t supposed to end when you’re at rock bottom. There is always a period of rebounding, restoration, and recovery when you align yourself with God’s will. So when the world is beating us down, or the circumstances of life never seem to be in our favor when we need them, we shouldn’t give up or stay down. God’s got our backs; time and time again God shows Himself faithful, that He is mighty to save. Job’s story found in the book of Job is a prime example of this. He lost everything; his wife, sons and daughters, livestock, property, and fortune, but He never cursed God. Then at the end of the story, everything Job lost was restored. 

If you ever feel like you’re not loved by anyone, just reflect on some of these benefits of having the unconditional love of the living God:

• We are the only creations that God made in his own image

• We are assured that God’s plan for us is for good.

• We are called His children (we are God’s family)

• We are the only ones God gave His life for (He didn’t die to redeem the angels or other creations)

• We are forgiven of our sins as many times as we can come back repentant to Him and ask for forgiveness

• We are the ones God put in charge to rule over the earth

• We are allowed free will to choose our path, in spite of God knowing all the answers and knowing what’s best for us

Prayer: Father God, I thank You for Your love for me. Thank You for calling me Your child. Thank You for Your limitless and unconditional love for me. Help me Lord not to take it for granted and allow me to be a vessel of Your love so that I might share it with others. Amen.

Ephesians 3:20:  Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think

God is a God of order that has shown countless times that He equips and empowers those He calls to action. This is such a great benefit because when we are called by God to perform a work, God will empower us to perform the work that must be done. Whatever it is that God is calling us to do can’t be done successfully without God’s help. We are meant to rely on God’s power so that we can showcase it to the world. The glory of the task is not meant for us, but instead all the glory belongs to God. So instead of picking obvious candidates, people who by our measures seem like the most qualified choices, God uses the weak, the humble, the unconfident people to accomplish mighty things. One such person was Moses; in the book of Exodus we learn about his story. Moses at the time was a shepherd when he had an encounter with God on Mt. Sinai at the burning bush in Exodus 3. God spoke to Moses and gave him the charge to be God’s appointed liberator of the Israelites from Pharoah’s oppressive rule in Egypt. Moses had his doubts and said that he didn’t think the people, both Egyptian and Israelite, would trust Him. Between chapters 3 and 4 Moses came up with several excuses and objections why he wouldn’t be able to accomplish God’s request of him but God responded to each and every objection by empowering him to handle the situation.

To counter the peoples doubt about the message He asked Moses to deliver, God:

• Enchanted Moses’s staff to change into a snake when laid on the ground

• Allowed Moses’ hand to become leprous and return to full health by placing it in his shirt

• Changed the Nile river water Moses poured on the ground to blood 

• Sent plagues to Egypt to demonstrate His power

• Allowed Moses to bring his brother Aaron to speak for him because of his own stuttering problem and provided Moses the words to tell Aaron to speak

Even when the children of Israel were out of Egypt, He continued to empower them. He provided daily manna when they were in the wilderness and parted the Red Sea to allow them to finally escape the Egyptians' pursuit. Of course the story of Moses was a long time ago but God is still in the business of empowering those He has called. Some tools that He’s left for all of us to help us accomplish our purpose are:

• His Word. The Bible. It’s a way for us to learn about God and a guide for how to live as Christians. Through the reading, studying, and meditation on the word, we are able to receive anointing that allows us to perform great acts in God’s name.

• The Holy Spirit. His ever-present Spirit that speaks to us and directs us when we need it, and the guarantee of our salvation. We can also be filled with the Holy Spirit as seen through the example of the Pentecost in Acts 2:1-4.

• Prayer. Our way to directly communicate with God and fellowship with Him. We can talk to Him, unburden ourselves of our problems, offer Him praises and worship. Even when we don’t know how to pray or what to pray, the Holy spirit is also there to intercede for us with groanings (Romans 8:26-27).

God doesn’t need us to be perfect to use us.  We don’t have to know every Bible story or recite every scripture or have the best clothes, hair, or things. What He needs most is our obedience and a heart to serve Him. Anything else we need, God will supply. 

Prayer:  Father, I thank You that in spite of my shortcomings, You found me worthy to use for Your purpose. I willingly surrender my will to You so that You may increase in my life. Use me to do great and mighty things in Your name. Let my actions and my words always bring glory to Your name Lord. Amen. 

John 14:13:  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

A great benefit that we get with serving a living God is that He can both hear us and answer us when we pray. When we pray to God, we’re not just monologuing, we are in real conversation with the one true living God. What’s amazing about this is that all around the world, people are praying to God and He’s speaking with all of them simultaneously. If I had to guess, I don’t think that there’s a minute of the day where someone isn’t praying to God and He is here for all of it. He loves our fellowship; He loves the time we take to spend in His presence praising and worshiping Him or just talking to Him about our day. As important and powerful as God is, He doesn’t ignore us. The only thing that can prevent Him from hearing our prayers is unconfessed sin. Isaiah 59:2 says “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” That’s why it’s important to communicate with God constantly; we must take advantage of the access to ask for forgiveness for our sins.  

A key component of the passage in John 14:13 is that for God to answer that prayer, it has to be in His name, meaning it has to be in His will. Just adding “In Jesus name” to a prayer request doesn’t make it in His will. This is the reason why God may not answer certain prayers. In Matthew 7:7-8: we are told, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” This shows us how responsive God is, He gives the appropriate response for the request made. What we must learn is how to discern God’s method of responding; is He going to answer vocally, through Scripture, dreams, someone else, or a whole other method? Irrespective of which one of these it is, it is important that you’re able to recognize God’s voice. And if you’re in doubt, if it is God that has answered you, He will confirm His word.  

Prayer:  Father God, help me to align to Your will for my life. I pray that as I come to You, that You will always give me what is best for me and not what I desire. And if those two things are ever one, I thank You for answered prayers in their right time and season. And if the answer is no, give me the grace to accept Your perfect will for my life. Amen.