Muffins to Cupcakes

​For as long as I can remember, my brother has always been intentional about encouraging others with special cards on their birthdays and anniversaries. He just sent me a birthday card that delights me. It says, "Cupcakes are muffins that believed they could be so much more. It's your birthday; reach for the stars." As I read this card images began to form in my mind of steps I want to take to be so much more than I am. I think this is God's desire for all of us. In fact, a line in His prayer says, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God's Kingdom is the kingdom of more, so why not for us?
 
Psalm 139:13-15 reminds us that God made us uniquely:  "For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Your works are wonderful; I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place..." Every individual on the face of the earth has a distinct call on their life. It is what allows us to contribute, in a positive way, to the plans and purposes of God for humanity so that everyone will be saved and join the Lord in heaven for eternity and that everyone will live life to their greatest potential.
 
When the book of Genesis describes creation, it is very clear that God intended for us to be like Him. "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' So, God created man in His own image in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them." (Genesis 1:26, 27) Imagine for a moment what being created in the image of an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God looks like for us! Think about the latent talents and abilities that lie within us!
 
Let us also remember what the angel Gabriel said to Mary when she was told that she would bear the Son of God. "For nothing is impossible with God." (Luke 1:37) We have been created by One whose word contains seeds of life. The Lord reminded the prophet Isaiah of this:  "My word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to Me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purposes for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11)
 
When the apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians, he wanted them to understand what God had placed within them. Here is some of what Paul wrote:  "...He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all those in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In Him we were chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory." (Ephesians 1:9-12)
 
Paul reminds us in Ephesians 3:20 that He "is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us." He told his protege Timothy to "fan into flame the gift of God which is in you..."  (2 Timothy 1:6) He also said, "Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us." (2 Timothy 1:14) So, why don't we get out of the “muffin mindset” and aspire to be a “spectacular cupcake”? Let us stir up the gifts that are in us and spend more time with the Lord. The more time we spend with Him, the more we become like Him.