Living Bold: Created for a Divine Purpose

The righteous are as BOLD as a lion. (Proverbs 28:1 NIV)

Welcome to the second devotional in our personal family devotional series, my friends! I am so excited about this message!

Earlier this week, I asked my son to write down questions that he had about God (or doing life with God) so that we could focus on them for our weekly family devotionals. You see, I find that kids ask really great questions that make for fantastic and intriguing points of Biblical research and discovery. Well, one of his first questions this week didn’t really surprise me: “Why would God create us bold?” But before we launch into that, maybe I should take a step back and explain why, just in case your family can relate.

Note: If you’d like to skip this intro story, feel free to scroll down to the headline below and you’ll see the start of the actual devotional. We really hope you enjoy it!

At the very young age of six, my son asked me why God made him special in all the bad ways. His question caught me completely off-guard, but as I sat and listened, I began to understand how he had processed so many of our previous conversations. You see, he knew that God made him special, but he also knew that he was strong in spirit and mind, something that was often discussed in our home as we worked to teach him honor and respect. Back then, I would jokingly use the words spitfire and strong-willed. Well, over time, he began to put those pieces together and he reasoned that, unlike others who were gifted in beautiful ways, he had been given a gift that always got him in trouble, and it both confused and saddened him.

Words have incredible power, my friends, and I vowed that day to be more careful and intentional with mine. And on that note, I want to take a little detour here: Just as this was an important lesson for me as parent, so is this also an important lesson for all of us, as individuals. What messages are you telling yourself today? In what ways are you defining yourself? Are they God’s truths or the enemy’s lies? Don’t let the enemy wrap labels around your heart that imprison you in thoughts or feelings of self-doubt, insecurity, and shame! God made you to shine! You were perfectly, meticulously, and intentionally crafted to be the beautiful you! Which loops us so perfectly back to the rest of my story…

Perhaps the most beautiful part of the story (for me) was how right there, in the middle of a conversation that both broke my heart and left me completely lost on how to respond, I heard God whisper one very powerful word and it changed absolutely everything.

Bold.

Shannon, I made him bold.

And there it so beautifully sat. The answer. The paradigm shift. The powerful move from shame to *with divine purpose*. And in that moment, with the Holy Spirit’s incredible whisper and nudge in the closet that day, I began the work to intentionally redefine the words that I use and to help my son reshape how he saw himself.

Not naughty.

Not trouble.

Not too loud.

Not too wild.

…but beautifully and intentionally crafted to be bold and with purpose.

And the truth is… we can all learn something from him.

So that’s where this devotional got started, friends. That’s the inspiration behind this post. Living bold. Having bold faith. Praying bold prayers. And believing in bold miracles. I hope you find yourself challenged, encouraged, inspired and on fire today!

And in that spirit, let’s do this! Let’s jump right in!

LIVING BOLD: CREATED FOR A DIVINE PURPOSE

Lovers of God, because of righteousness, will have the BOLDNESS of a young, ferocious lion. (Proverbs 28:1 TPT) In the NIV translation, this same verse reads, the righteous are as BOLD as a lion.

I want to start this devotional by breaking down this verse piece by piece so that we can begin to understand what it’s truly saying. Bear with me here for a minute because I’m going to share several verses and notes with you (which may seem scattered at first), but then I’m going to pull them all together to not only make more sense but build a very powerful message. Don’t jump ship early… this message can truly be life-changing!

The “righteous” –

Our faith in Jesus transfers God’s righteousness to us and He now declares us flawless in his eyes. (Romans 5:1 TPT)

So, what is righteousness –

It is something that we inherit, a gift, when we invite Jesus into our lives. He washes us clean. We are made righteous, beautiful, redeemed, and flawless. We do not earn this righteousness. We do not have to be good enough or perfect enough. But we should live to honor the gift that it is. We should live in such a way that it honors God.

“… are as BOLD as a lion.” –

I want to start this part off by sharing a quote that I found so fitting for this devotional:

“God’s promises often require an action on our part.” Bill Johnson

Now, let me share one of my favorite scriptures:

Their faith fastened onto their promises and pulled them into reality. (Hebrews 11:33 TPT)

Notice how the two words used in that verse – fastened and pulled – are both action words. Our faith, securely and strongly fastened onto His promises, will pull His promises for our lives into our reality. If that seems confusing, don’t worry. Keep reading and I’ll dive deeper into that in a moment.

Here’s another Bible verse that uses the same action word:

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Bold faith pulls our hope into reality.”

Notice that verse doesn’t just say faith but rather uses our keyword for the day: Bold Faith!

But what is BOLD FAITH?

We simply cannot discuss bold faith without moving to one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, Hebrews Chapter 11! In The Passion Translation, the chapter eleven title is so perfectly fit for this message, “The Power of Bold Faith,” and it is filled with story after story of men and women who had bold faith in God and lived Bold Lives.

So, let’s break down BOLD FAITH –

Remember Peter walking on the water? Strong wind, huge waves, powerful storm and here’s Jesus calling him to step out of the boat and walk to Him. And Peter, having been a fisherman his whole life, knows that you step out of the boat in a raging storm and you drown. Period. But yet, Jesus calls to Him, Trust me. I am in this. I will be with you. Take that step and watch what I can do with your faithfulness in me.

You see, when God calls us to step out onto the water in our own lives, to trust Him in a space where logic cannot reason through the action that He is asking us to take, we are invited to walk in bold faith, taking the action anyways. Not because it makes sense to us, but because we trust in the NATURE of the promiser, the NATURE of God; to trust in the fact that God is good, God is faithful, and God is always for us and never against us. Where God leads, He will provide.

Hebrews 11:19 TPT so beautifully says, “Abraham’s Faith made it logical.”

You see, here’s the bottom line: When nothing else makes it logical, faith can.

And the beautiful thing about this is that when we begin to take steps out on the water, trusting His call and His voice, God is faithful and honors our obedience and trust. He shows up. He delivers. He provides. And He stays. And in experiencing God’s goodness, we begin to grow in confidence that WHO we serve is more important than WHAT we can see, know, reason through, or understand.

And here is where we can so perfectly loop back to a previous scripture in this message –

It is only through allowing that bold faith to move us into action that we begin to see His promises pulled into our reality. Why?

Because as we follow where He leads, listen for His whispers and submit to His call, even when we do not understand or cannot create logic around it, we begin to see His promises fulfilled in our lives.

You see, in order to be pulled into His vision, calling, and purpose, my friends, we must first be willing to step out of the boat in bold faith. (There are those action words again, step out so that we can be pulled in.)

Their faith fastened onto their promises and pulled them into reality. (Hebrews 11:33 TPT)

Again, when nothing else makes His call logical, bold faith will.

So, let’s summarize this idea of living in bold faith:

Bold Faith Seeks His Wisdom –

James 1:5 NIV says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

Likewise, Hebrews 12:5-7 TPT says, “My child, don’t underestimate the value of the discipline and training of the Lord God, or get depressed when he has to correct you. For the Lord’s training of your life is the evidence of his faithful love. And when he draws you to himself, it proves you are his delightful child. Fully embrace God’s correction as part of your training, for he is doing what any loving father does for his children.”

Bottom line: Never be afraid to ask God for wisdom. He welcomes your questions and loves you more than you can imagine. He delights in you seeking Him and He will always be faithful to guide your way. Likewise, know that when He corrects you, or redirects you, it is always done in love, for He is unwavering in His unconditional and immeasurable love for you. He will always be for you, never against you, and he wants to bring you into a life full of joy, peace, and rest. Sometimes, that requires a redirect, but it’s never accompanied by shame. Take a pause and hear His heart – it’s always because of His incredible love for you. He desires nothing more than to pull you into His perfect promises for your life.

Bold Faith Remains Confident in the Nature of Who God Is –

God is loving, faithful, good, and always for us. Whatever future or calling that He is pulling us into will be filled with His blessings. His love and grace are unchanging. He will always love you, no matter what! There are no exceptions to His heart. Ever. No matter what road you’ve traveled or mistakes you have made, He loves you. Even when we are angry with Him, He remains faithful in us (James 1:17). And when we fully anchor ourselves in these truths, we can be confident that wherever He leads us will be filled with His blessings, and most importantly, will be walked hand-in-hand with Him. He is our comforter, our provider of hope and peace, our safety in the storm, and our source of the most incredible, inexplainable and indescribable love and joy. Yes, our fear of the unknown can be difficult to overcome, but remembering the nature of the One who holds our next chapter and calls us into the unknown can help us overcome that fear and take the step because we have bold faith… in the Promiser.

Bold Faith Steps Out Onto the Water Without Logic or Understanding –

We’ve covered this part pretty heavily above, but in addition to what we have already discussed, this also means that bold faith steps out without dependance on the acceptance or opinions of others. You see, God may call us into a vision that others simply cannot see or understand. Like us, they may try to use logic to reason through it and argue that if it cannot be explained then it must not be true. That is okay. Lean in anyways. Because God will always be faithful. When the Holy Spirit whispers into your heart, that line of communication is often between your heart and the Father’s, overheard by nobody else. My friend, you do not need a third party to tell you that you heard the Father right. If you question, simply draw close to Him and ask. He will reassure you that He is there and He will make your path known. He is a good and faithful Father and He loves you oh so much!

Bold Faith Celebrates the Fruition of His Promise Before It Even Arrives –

Because our hope is in the Promiser and our faith is securely anchored in our confidence in His nature (His character, if you will) we trust that God will fulfill His promises because we know Him. You see, it is not a faith-it-until-you-make-it victory over our doubt and fear, but in truly knowing our Father, having a personal relationship with Him, that we begin to deeply understand His heart. And in deeply understanding His heart, we can celebrate and give thanks for His faithfulness before we even see the promise fulfilled.

“For the authority of her faith rested in the One who made the promise, and she tapped into His faithfulness.” Hebrews 11:11 TPT

“Abraham believed the promise and expected God to fulfill it. He took God at his word.” Romans 5:18 TPT

When we combine everything above – seeking His wisdom, having a personal relationship with Him and truly knowing Him, resting in the confidence of His nature, and stepping out onto the water in bold faith – it literally breaks the doors wide open for us to celebrate the fruition of the promise before we even see the promise fulfilled!

Where there is bold faith there are bold miracles.

Bold faith knows that when we walk in bold faith, we pull His promises into our reality.

Bold faith knows that we have a God who always reweaves our seasons of loss and heartache into something that brings blessings for our lives.

Bold faith knows that we are safe and free to hope and celebrate the chapter of joy and the beautiful harvest that God has written into the story of our lives, even as we plant the seeds of faith and prayer in the middle of a painful or confusing season.

So, let’s bring this full circle…

YOU, my friend, are created Bold for a Divine Purpose!

There is a beautiful calling on your heart that only you can fulfill. There is a whisper from your Heavenly Father that pulls you into your perfectly crafted divine purpose. You are meant to be here, and you are absolutely irreplaceable in His Kingdom. You are the perfect fit for whatever He is placing in front of you. But my friends, a life walked hand-in-hand with the Father will inevitably mean that, like Peter, logic will not always exist when He calls you out onto the water. The taps on your heart and the places that he calls you into will not always be able to be reasoned through or understood. Sometimes, even in the middle of the calling, you may not be able to fully see or understand His vision. You may face His call with shaking courage. But, my friend, even then, make that especially then… He asks you to trust Him and take the next step.

He is asking us to …

• Live a Bold Life.
• Pray Bold Prayers.
• Nurture Bold Faith in your Thoughts and Words.
• Listen for His guidance.
• Step Out in Bold Ways.
• Have Confidence in the Nature of Who He is.
• Hope in His Promises and Rest in His Goodness.

Because you see, without BOLDNESS, we will live every day less than He intended. Boldness allows us to jump into the deep with Him and live life fully alive!

Live Bold, My Friend… You Were Created for a Divine Purpose! Live Fully Alive Today!

Blessing for a beautiful and blessed week!

Truly yours,

Shannon