Victoria Osteen - Created To Do Good Works
Hallelujah, we bless you in this place and we thank you for the power that you've given us. You know, I pray for people all the time, and they want to know the will of God for their life. You know, they're really looking to find their assignments from God, and I think that's a good prayer to pray because that means God is drawing you and he's working with you and he wants you to follow him. You know, we all want to know the will of God for our life. "God, what's my assignment"? But can I tell you this? God has already laid out your assignment for you. He's laid it out. He's prearranged your assignments. God is already working in you. We can't wait around for our assignment to find us. We have to move out in our assignments that are laid out for us today.
See, God has plans and purposes for each one of our life. In fact, he is working those plans and purposes out in us. Listen to what Ephesians 2 says. It says that "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works". See, we are God's handiwork. He is making us. He is molding us. We were created to do good works. It goes on to say, "Which were already prepared in advance for us to do". You see, God is working through us in our good works, and you see, sometimes I think that we think good works is kinda like good deeds. We think, "Well, I held the door open for this stranger. That was nice". Or we think, "You know what? My husband has been driving me crazy lately, but I haven't yelled at him, even though he deserves it".
You know, those are nice things, and I think sometimes, which are good deeds, and they are good works in a sense because something is working in you when you do that. But I don't want us to think that "These good works are something that God's going to love me more. God, do you see what I've been doing for you"? Have you ever fallen in that train of thought? I mean, I'll raise my hand. Okay, I'll be the first one in here. I know nobody else is going to raise their hands, but you know what? Sometimes you think, "God, I am doing all this good stuff. Where's my blessing? You know what, Lord? They're not as nice as me, but you're blessing them". You see, I want us to not look at these good works as our Christian duty. Because we're Christians we have to do these good works.
Now, first, let me say this. God is a blessing God. He blesses obedience. "He's a rewarder of those who seek after him". I'm not really talking about the blessing. I'm talking about the good works, and I don't want us to fall into the trap of, "If we do works, God's going to bless us". I think he will reward us, but don't do good works to get the blessing. You see, you can't even get saved by good works. The Bible says that "We are saved by grace through faith, it is not of ourself". It is a free gift, it's free. You can't be good enough to get saved. You can't be rich enough to purchase your salvation, it's free. But I think sometimes we fall into this trap that "I'm going to do good works, God, so that you'll bless me".
You see, God created us to do good works. So, if God created us to do good works, we know exactly what we're supposed to do. We know that we will walk in our assignment when we do the good works. What is a good work? A good work is when you're patient. That's a good work. A good work is when you choose joy, when you choose peace, when you choose longsuffering, when you're a mother serving your children, when you're a husband going out every day to work. Those are good works because within those good works, God is working something in you. Those good works God is working in you. When you come up against a challenge, a person that's trying to put you down, guess what? There's a good work to be done right there, and you get to choose it.
But sometimes we run into these challenges, and we're miserable, and we think, "God, why, why"? You know why? Because God is saying, "I've already put the DNA in you. You are predisposed to be able to push through and let the good work work in you". The good work is working in you. See, you're made to do good works, and those good works, they're making you. They're building your character, your morality, value. See, there is nothing better than to come up against the challenge and be able to make it through because you chose the right thing. You allowed that prearranged, predetermined good work to work in you. You see, I think the greatest gift in the world that God could ever give us a strong and fortified life, living for him wholeheartedly.
Do you know those good works that are working in you will make you more obedient? That obedience will then trigger the blessing of God. So, I just want us to look a little differently today at good works. When you're pressed, when you're up against a challenge. Listen, the Bible says it like this, that "He will set a table before the presence of your enemy". Before any situation, God has already prearranged the good choice for you. He's already made a way of escape. You know, we need to know that God intended these good works to work in us so that we could fulfill our destiny, that we could walk in these assignments every single day. You see, it's not one thing that's going to make your calling. It's an everyday walking out these good works that's going to lead you, guide you to open doors, to places of influence, to supernatural opportunities.
Because let me tell you something. God's not going to give you anything you're going to fail at. He's not going to open a door that you're not ready for. So let these good works work in you. Know, "Hey, I'm challenged. This thing is happening over here. I have a choice. I can choose to do the good work". You know, it's a good work for a reason. It's not a bad work. God doesn't want it to be a hard work. He wants it to be a good work. Think about that just a minute. What is good? It's pleasing, it's honorable in God's sight, it's pleasant, it's a good work when you work it with God. It's something he's doing in you to set you up for greater things, set you up for greater things. So, let's put down the struggle. Let's put down the fact that somebody's trying to get to us or trying to get in our place or get ahead of us. We don't have to do it like the world does it. We have a buffet table laid out for us.
It's interesting because in Romans 12:2, it says this. It says: "Don't let evil defeat you, but defeat evil", with what? Good, with what? "With good", with pleasant, pleasing, honorable things in the sight of God. You can overcome when you're willing to do the good work, the good work. You know, sometimes we think our life is so simple. We think, "You know, where is that big thing"? But can I encourage you that your simple things, your simple good works are so making you and accomplishing you that you're going to look up and you're going to think, "God, how did I get where I am? God, how did you set me up for such an amazing thing? God, look at this family that I've produced because I've been patient. I've been a servant. I've longsuffered, I've worked through the good things, so I've produced something good in my life".
You see, anything good is going to take our time and attention. I think about the first telephone. When Alexander Graham Bell invented that telephone, it was such an amazing thing. You could literally talk to someone that wasn't in the room. You could talk to another person at another number on the other end of another telephone. That's pretty crazy, isn't it? Not these days. Why? He thought it was amazing. He didn't know where it was going to go. But today, we're not stuck to the wall. We have our telephone in our pocket. We can take pictures with our phone. We can send messages with our phone. We can get on the internet and learn anything we want with our phone. Can you imagine if Alexander Graham Bell realized what his simple invention did? He would be astonished. It would be unbelievable to him.
But it was a simple invention that accomplished great things, and in the same way, your simple works, good works, are going to accomplish unbelievable things on this earth. You can't see it now. You think it's simple. "God, where is it leading me? Where is it taking me"? But God says, "I want to make you unbelievable. I want your reach to be further than you could ever think possible". So, next time you're saying, "God, what do you want me to do? What's my calling? What's my assignment"? Remember this, you are walking into it. You are walking into it because those good works that you were made to do are making you, and God will fulfill everything that he's ever promised you, amen? Amen, he's an awesome God.