Good morning everyone and welcome back to the Messy masterpiece podcast which had an

Tory happy Monday. We're super excited to be kicking off this week with you with a lovely

devotional read by my lovely wife. Yes you guys we're excited to start the week with you guys

and today we are reading out of Jeremiah 15 and the devotional is titled Before You Were You.

It says, I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart

and appointed you as my prophet to the nations. The love letter from God says, beloved child,

I have called you and set you apart for a great purpose. This calling comes with a cost

but the eternal rewards are worth it. When you walk closely with me others will be able to see

that you are mine. Some will be happy to see you walking with me while others may try to make

you fail instead of following your lead. You will make mistakes because you are not perfect

but learning from them will make you wiser. Don't put pressure on yourself to be perfect.

I am the only one who can perfect you so you can become a beautiful reflection of my love.

Love your Heavenly Father. The reflection says, we can forget that the master holds the master

plan as we try to plan our own lives. When we have our own agenda, life can get frustrating and faith

can become so much harder than it has to be. Include the one who gave you life when making life

decisions. The treasure of truth says, we are set apart for something significant.

Yeah, that reminds me of what we learned in church yesterday about how following Jesus does

have a cost to us. A lot of us can fall into this way of living where we think that,

okay, well now I am a Christian, so now my life is supposed to be XYZ. I am never supposed to

experience discomfort or persecution or anything. That is just not the truth at all. It makes

me think of what the pastor is teaching in church. It was in Acts 26. If any of you are

further studying that, you can read Acts 26, but I am just going to paraphrase it real quick.

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