Nancy Gavilanes

5 min read ⭑

Former journalist Nancy Gavilanes was called by God to leave her promising career to encourage others to step into their God-given destiny and make a difference in the world. In her book, “God-Given Dreams,” she speaks directly to the heart, offering hope and encouragement through six transformative truths — that believers are Created, Called, Chosen, Conformed, Clothed and Commissioned.

After I surrendered my life to Christ, I started noticing some changes in myself. 

I found that my interests changed, my circle of friends changed, the way I dressed and where I went for fun changed. Even the jokes I laughed at changed. 

No one was dictating how I should act, and it wasn’t that I had been an awful person beforehand. It was that the more I learned about Jesus, the more I wanted to be like him.

When it finally dawned on me that Jesus lives inside me and goes everywhere I go, it made me rethink how I was living.

I wasn’t trying to win God’s love. 

I was overwhelmed that God had forgiven my wayward ways. 

It was God’s amazing love for me and my love for him that compelled me to keep growing in my Christian walk. 

Once we’ve had an encounter with the Lord, we’re never quite the same. 

As I studied the Bible, read books, prayed, started going to church, surrounded myself with Christian friends and began serving in various ways at church, I gained a new perspective. 

I really was a new creation, as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” I was now trying to live according to God’s standards. 

I’m grateful that my immediate familia surrendered to Jesus’ leading because it led to a beautiful restoration with my dear dad. Over the years, the Lord helped heal the bitterness and anger between all of us. 

During these “bonus years,” we got to spend a few holidays and vacations together. That would have been unimaginable in previous years. But God allowed us all to move past our brokenness and enjoy years of joy and peace together. 

It wasn’t perfect, but we embraced this second chance and were grateful for how God restored the years and the peace the enemy had tried to rob from us. 

My dad was curious about the changes he saw in our familia and was open to learning more about our newfound faith. Over the years, my dear dad would gladly come to church with me. In those days, we’d have impromptu Bible studies in the park after service. He happily attended my sister’s church whenever we visited her family. I even had the joy of traveling with my dad twice throughout his beloved Ecuador. Those are precious moments I will always treasure. Our trips helped me bond with my dad and embrace that side of my Latina heritage. 

Just a few years before his promotion to heaven, we had the honor of witnessing my dad accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior on one glorious Christmas night. 

What the enemy means for evil, God can truly turn for good. Sure, living like Jesus is often challenging, but oh, the joy and rewards we experience on the other side of obedience! 

Living like Jesus includes doing a lot of soul-searching and relying on the Holy Spirit to lovingly point out areas where we need to repent or change the direction we’re heading. 

That’s not popular in today’s culture, but it’s so necessary for God’s children to yield to him as he molds and shapes us. It takes humility and trust in God, and it also takes courage. 

That annoying person at work or that situation that irritates you or that obstacle you’re facing? They all have a purpose. 

God can use anyone and everyone around us and any circumstance, good or bad, to conform us to the image of Christ. 

I don’t want to minimize anything you’ve been through. I do want to encourage you that God is right there with you, and he sees the full picture of your life. 

Everything we go through may not be good, but God can turn everything around for our good. As God heals us from that struggle or heartache or challenge we’ve been through, we can have compassion and help comfort and strengthen others going through similar experiences. 

Thankfully, we don’t have to earn God’s love, but we do need to follow his lead.

 God left us detailed instructions in His bestselling book of all time, the Bible, and he provides sufficient grace for us to make it through each day.

Being Set Apart For God 

God is conforming us to the image of Jesus. 

Almighty God has created us, called us, and chosen us to worship him, delight in him, and honor him. God delights in lavishing his extravagant love on us. 

We are his exquisite masterpieces. We are his precious handiwork and his lovely handmaidens. We’re not meant to be like the world and to settle for its standards. We’re called to live by God’s standards, which we find in the Bible. 

God has set us apart for his divine purposes. 

God has even bigger plans for us than helping us fulfill our Kingdom assignments. 

God desires us to resemble Jesus. Our Christlike character will develop over time, as we surrender to God’s will and work in our lives. 

Salvation happens in an instant. The moment we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior and repent and surrender our lives to him, we receive Jesus’ forgiveness of our sins and his gift of eternal life in heaven with God. 

But how come we don’t get ushered into heaven as soon as we accept Jesus? 

Because God is preparing us for our heavenly home. And he has divine plans for us while we’re still here on earth. 

Sanctification, or being conformed to the image of Christ, happens every day of our lives. 

Thinking and acting and reacting like Jesus doesn’t begin in an instant. God isn’t in a rush. God is patiently molding and shaping us. Let’s trust his loving hands. His ways and thoughts are higher than ours. 

We’re called to consecrate (or devote) ourselves to God.

We’re called to seek to know and love and worship and serve God all the days of our lives. 

If we want to know God’s will and unique purpose for our lives, we need to spend time with him in prayer and to read, meditate on and apply Scripture. We must align our thoughts with the Word of God. Our role model for living the Christian life shouldn’t be found on the stage or screen. Our ultimate role model is found in the pages of the Bible — Jesus. 

The Bible is God’s love letter to us, so it reveals his heartbeat. We can learn what pleases God and what he warns us against. God’s Word is the highest standard of truth. Let’s believe what God says more than what others say. 

Let’s declare the promises of God aloud. 

Read God’s Word. Recite God’s Word. Recount God’s Word. Receive God’s Word. 

The world may want us to believe that we’re not enough, that we don’t have the right background or qualifications, that we don’t have the right looks or speak the right way. The world may cause us to question our worth. We may be tempted to get trapped in an endless cycle of comparison and envy and jealousy. But let’s not fall for the enemy’s schemes. 

Let’s see ourselves the way God sees us and continue to dare to live our God-given dreams!

Nancy Gavilanes is an accomplished writer, a gifted communicator and a passionate evangelist and Bible school instructor who loves to encourage, empower and inspire women of diverse backgrounds to walk by abounding faith. Nancy has a master’s degree in journalism from New York University and has written for various publications including The New York Times. Nancy is a contributing writer for Our Daily Bread Ministries and has written for SpiritLed Woman’s and Charisma’s websites.

Adapted from God-Given Dreams by Nancy Gavilanes. Used with permission of NavPress.

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