“Custom Made”
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them”. Ephesians 2:10

The night before last, just as I was falling asleep the word “bespoke” popped into my head. The thought wouldn’t go away – until I reached over to my bedside table, grabbed my notepad and, in the dark, so that I wouldn’t waken my husband, scribbled a few notes to look at in the morning.
Bespoke – it’s a lovely word. I looked up the exact definition in the dictionary; bespoke means: “custom made, made with a purpose in mind, tailor made, made for a particular person.”

This reminds me of a question my little grandson asked me, while driving home from his school one day this week. “Granny, why did God make us?”
It makes you think, when children ask questions like that, doesn’t it? We went on to have a great conversation about how God created us for relationship and friendship with Him.

You Are Bespoke
You are a bespoke masterpiece. Isn’t that amazing? You’re uniquely created by God, for Himself, that He might to enjoy and cherish you. You’re custom made, with a purpose.
People sometimes quote the first half of Ephesians 2:10 to encourage someone struggling with self esteem issues, and then, sadly, they just leave it there! I often see wall art, or jewellery with the statement “You are God’s masterpiece”.
While it’s true that we are God’s workmanship, and that it’s something to celebrate, when we read the whole verse in it’s context, message is even more encouraging!
In addition to being God’s workmanship, as His children, you and I were designed with specific purposes in mind.

A Masterpiece in Progress
God is working out His great purpose in our lives – It’s an ongoing process, set in motion in you and I from the moment we became alive in Him through Christ.
He is growing us in character, training us, making us more like Jesus. He created us to be part of His eternal plan and we are an incredible masterpiece – in progress.

Made For a Purpose
God created you and I for relationship with Himself.
He created us to glorify Him Isaiah 43:7 “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
And he shows Himself through you and I, thus bringing glory to His name.
Hard to imagine, isn’t it, when we wake up in the morning and see our own grumpy faces looking back at us in the bathroom mirror, that God would want to reflect Himself through us to others?
But what artist creates a masterpiece and then tucks it away somewhere and forgets about it?
Ephesians 2:10 goes on to say, after telling us we are God’s workmanship, that we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
God takes pleasure in putting his beautiful workmanship on display; Jesus is the all-conquering King of Kings, and we are His trophies!
“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.”
2 Corinthians 2:14

Most of us think about what we look like, before leaving the house every day. What if we were to see ourselves instead as God sees us; His bespoke, handmade, one-off creations; made with a purpose and what if we then thought about how we could step into that purpose today, and partner with Him, allowing Him to display His character, His goodness, His beauty, the fruit of His Spirit in and through us, to bring glory to Him?

Jill 💜
PS: below is a link to a handmade necklace in my shop Miss Maisie’s Wee Shop.

For better photos, postage details or to buy this necklace click the blue-highlighted link below, which will take you to my Etsy Shop. (This is not “checkout”, you will not be accidentally purchasing the item, it’s just a link to the item) 👇🏻

Ecc3:11 SmYBFly

A quirky pendant made from a silver tone butterfly shaped bezel with a hand painted golden yellow background, vintage mechanical watch movement parts, including tiny pieces of the original vintage watch face, covered with a clear resin.

All my butterfly pendants are based on Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He (God) makes everything beautiful in its time..”Someone said something recently that really struck a chord with me, and it was that the caterpillar doesn’t become a butterfly. It always was a butterfly. It just grew wings and grew into what God had planned for it all along.
The watch used to make this was vintage. “Discarded” by its previous owners because it no longer worked. It now has a whole new lease of life as something far more beautiful than an everyday, practical gents watch.
An encouraging gift for a friend or even just for yourself, to remind you that God a HAS purpose for you, even if it doesn’t seem like it right now.