First place finish. Grand prize winner. You’ve won the trophy. You’re the winner of the Sweepstakes.

You’re the best of the best. No one else can even come close. A dream come true. You have won it all.

All your cards line up perfectly. That’s the way the world may think of success. It’s as if no one else in the world would ever match the effort one has put into his or her goals to succeed.

“But God, Who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made to sit together, in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:4-10

God gives you ample opportunity to be your best at anything He gives you. He has equipped you, and equipped your faith, with the ability to harken to His voice.

To harken means to listen intently, with the intent to obediently respond to His leading; to His voice; as if there is no other voice that would ever deserve your rapt attention.

This is a focus that is developed through the time spent with the One, the only One, Who has utterly, and convincingly, gotten ahold of your believing heart like no one else could ever convince you. You are one in the Spirit with Him.

You have given Him total ownership and access to your obedience. He speaks into your spirit the very things He wants to show you, the very things that would make a profound impact on your entire being.

His Voice has transformed your obedient spirit. If the unsaved heard what you hear from Him, The Holy Spirit, they would rebel; they would feel like a deer in the headlights at night not knowing what to do, or where to place themselves trying to relate to it.

They cannot do the things you do. Nor can they comprehend it. But we are to be mindful of these things and truly be led by the spirit in what we are to share with the world.

We share Jesus. We share a love that is incomprehensible, until the Father and The Holy Spirit draws them to Him.

Then their eyes will be opened, and they will be made to sit together with us, in the heavenly places, in Christ.

“That they may be one, as You Father, are in Me and I in You; that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that You sent Me.” John 17:21

Jesus Christ is our victory. Eternal life in Christ is the grand prize that brings us into the presence of the Father; to the throne of Grace.

~ Thomas Downes

Thomas Downes. Walking with The LORD for over 40 years, Thomas runs “The Voice of the Writer” a Prophetic Ministry. His purpose is to present the Word of God and the Love of God with the prophetic heart; the heart that desires to hear the Voice of The LORD, and present His Word for the encouragement of others.

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