What does DELIVERED mean to you? Have you ever really thought about the advantages or disadvantages of being DELIVERED? Hello, my name is Daria Dillard Stone. Welcome to Conversations Of Courage, The Blog.
I want to share something – and do keep in mind that I will never give you something to chew on that I have not already digested! When I decided to become a Christian I thought that deliverance would be a benefit, not requiring much work from me. I figured it would just “happen,” and all I needed to do was get up each morning and feel DELIVERED. But it isn’t like that at all. Let me be more specific – when I say I am DELIVERED – I am because I made a conscious decision to stop acting like I am running things in my life, and maybe yours. I decided to follow Jesus, and in doing so I discovered I had to bear a cross too. So I guess one could say being a child of God is a blessing and a burden. No one told me being DELIVERED (SAVED) would require Daria to die daily to what Daria wants. When I would hear the preacher or teacher say, “one must die daily to self to walk in the light,” fully I figured they were not serious – they were making conversation. Yeah – right!
There are many definitions for DELIVERED and one is “To surrender to another; to give in or hand over.” What does DELIVERED mean? Glad you asked. Delivered can be defined as “being freed from danger, bondage, or even death.” The Bible uses one illustration of being delivered as what God did when he sent Moses to rescue the Israelites from Pharaoh’s bondage. Read I Samuel 17:37-38; Psalm 7:2 and 18:16-20.
I want to be transparent in sharing with you that you and I may not have realized what we were signing up for when we decided to surrender our lives to the Lord. If you’d let me be transparent – being a Christian is HARD! There, I said it. So you see, being DELIVERED makes you and I a better friend, wife, husband, mother, sibling, minister, relative, co-worker, etc. Determined and Delivered is what being a Christian is. When I say I am a Christian, I am not saying I’m perfect; I am saying I serve a PERFECT GOD. Allow me to break it down for you:
We are DELIVERED when we no longer live to impress people – we were created to please GOD.
We are DELIVERED because now we can look at ourselves the way GOD does and not be concerned with what others think, say, or do.
We are DELIVERED because we understand that the greatest position or title we can have is SERVANT.
We are DETERMINED and DELIVERED because now we can love our enemies and not expect love in return (that is hard).
We are DETERMINED and DELIVERED because we no longer react to the lust of the flesh (that’s hard too).
Yes, I am DELIVERED which makes me more DETERMINED to break every chain that binds me from being ALL GOD says I am (or can be).
I hope this has helped you stay Determined and Delivered as you move forward on this journey called life. Thank you for stopping by. Because I care I share.
Minister Daria Dillard Stone, “The Servant,” is the Founding CEO of Sharing Ministries LLC. The mission is: Built on a foundation of faith and integrity, Sharing Ministries helps women from all walks of life to develop character, clarity, and courage by offering spiritual guidance, educational resources, business connections, and moral support. Daria states, “This ministry/movement was initially birthed out of the grief I was experiencing in 2007 when my darling husband Todd died. But now it has grown out of the grief and exemplifies the G.R.I.T. (Grace, Resilience, Integrity, Tenacity).” She is an inspiring preacher/teacher, award-winning author, and an international motivational speaker. She mostly wants folks to remember her as “The Servant.”
CLICK HERE to visit Sharing Ministries International