• 2 Timothy 1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;1:9Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began

Man loves to boast about him/herself. Just listen to or think about classic hip hop songs its all about “me, myself, and I”. Secular Rap songs of the world always boast about the capabilities of the MC proving to the world why they are the greatest MC. As people in the flesh we love to boast about what we’ve accomplished in the world. As a Christian although

we try

it is impossible to boast about anything that we have done for the cause of Christ, because its Jesus that’s doing the work, and getting the glory!

There is no shame in giving God the glory, saying “God did it!” 2 Timothy

1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began

1.    God saved us!

- Did you ever realize that you can’t save yourself from drowning, if you could it would be called “swimming”! but if your drowning, someone has to through you a “life preserver” That life preserver that God the father sent so we wouldn’t drown in the lake of fire (hell) is Jesus!

2.    and called us with an holy calling

- isn’t awesome to know that not only did God saved us with a plan. For example, have you ever cleaned out a closet, and saw something you should have thrown in the trash, but decided to keep it anyway, only to discover you never actually used it and could have discarded it? Not so with God, He saved us to use us for His glory!

3.    not according to our works

– here’s the line that nullifies a believers life or catapults it. Any of us that think that God saved us because of the wonderful Job we were doing here on earth that caused God to smile upon us and say “I NEED YOU IN HEAVEN” is gravely mistaken!

4.    but according to his own purpose and grace

The bible says “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God”.  Grace is unmerited/unearned/ favor of God.

5.    which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began

, Before the world began, God knew whom He would choose, and who would choose Him out of their own free will.

With God doing all the work and getting all the glory, the one thing we can do to help is get out of His way so He can manifest himself in and through our lives, leaving nothing to boast about except how good He is!