Personalize

Strange title? The word just kinda jumped up at me. Do you know what it means? If your question is: is it really relevant for me? The answer is a resounding - YES! In it's simplest and beginning definition it would mean taking an idea, concept, belief and making that part of your frame of reference. The point though is... what do you do with it? Does it just become part of you externally or who you are internally?

Asked a bit more bluntly... what are you doing with your life? your gifts and talents? You!? Are you wasting all that? Are you dabbling? Maybe you're trying not to think about the 'subject'? And then there are a whole host of other responses. But I'm not speaking with the person to your right... nor to your left, not the person behind you or in front - this is YOUR question. Actually, it's all of us individually answering the question for ourselves. The point right now, right here is you - what are you doing? And how?

Do you feel you are in a season of developing/growing/preparing? And how long have you been in this season? It doesn't last indefinitely you know. At some point you will need to apply and act on what you know to this point. Remember... you are always in a state of 'the Lord's not done with me yet'. Growth is ongoing, it's never one and done and yes, sometimes this means skinned knees or bumped noses. We all go through these kinds of times... the Lord's refining us and helping us to be the best we can be.

We do have an aid in all this... actually more than one. But one of the keys is to know ourselves - who we are in the process of becoming. You do realize that it is nearly impossible to grow without an understanding of what we already know now. All this is a process. Knowing is to be applied, not just information. And applied is based in our personalization. If not then we are buffeted by the winds and cares of life without a foundation.

Personalization means to embody, express. A thought grows into a conviction based on study and subsequent understanding which is applied to living and all that begins with scripture. We all need an irrefutable source we can trust. Do remember though that this doesn't mean a casual understanding... we grow as we express and I believe we express as we embody the truth from scripture that we personalize. 

I am convinced that we all are provided opportunities to prove (primarily to ourselves, but also others) who it is we believe  [Jesus] and what it is that is our source [scripture] . And the purpose is so that we can be the Father's  harvesters' bringing many souls to Him to become born again and part of God's family. 

It begins once we are saved and present ourselves to the Lord who first loved us, to become His workman to walk in those works prepared for us (Ephesians 2:10). Can there be any higher calling? any greater gift we can share with others? any greater honor than being about our Father's business - become the who He's always seen? Personalizing the Word is the way we can become confident in who we are and how we do this. If you haven't taken the time yet, do a study on how the Father sees you and then begin to personalize what HE says. Honestly, He knows us far better than we know ourselves.