Calling

I figured out last week what it is that I am called to do with my life. Now, I would tell you what it is, except there is one other thing I have to say first. This calling is not just for me. It's for every one of us. So get excited... I'm about to give you the answer to the tricky question of what you should do with your life. Ready?

Here it is. What you should do with your life:


Imitate Christ.
and
Live in the Spirit


That's it. It's as simple as that. And it's as difficult as that. Whether we imitate Christ in a foriegn country while serving as missionaries, or whether we imitate Him in our hometowns, what matters is that we are imitating Him. Whether the Spirit guides us to finish college or to do something else, the important thing is that we let Him guide us in everything.


Galations 5:25
Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

Calling (part 2!)

It's funny that when God is trying to teach me something...it keeps popping up! I can honestly say I didn't expect Him to teach me mroe about calling through the book of Ezekiel!

I don't know if you've ever read it, but Ezekiel, a prophetic book in the Old Testament, is a fascinating book. Ezekiel, who wrote it, was a prophet during a really difficult part of Israel's (Judah's) history. God was about to bring judgement on the people due to their continuous and blantant sin. This punishment was the destruction of Jerusalem, the temple, and exile for the people. Ezekiel was part of the first group of people taken by the Babylonians into exile (this occured before Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed), where his prophetic ministry began four years later.

God didn't not only call Ezekiel to speak to His people in exile, He called Ezekiel to live out his calling:

-When prophesying about the seige that would occur in Jerusalem, God called Ezekiel to make a model of the siege, and then to lie on his side, 1 day for each year of Israel and Judah's sin. This meant that Ezekiel was called to lie on his side for 390 days!! (see chapter 4)

-When prophesying about the exile of the Israelites, God called Ezekiel to pack up some of his belongings, dig a hole in the wall of his house, and flee. This was a picture of what the Israelites that were still in Jerusalem would have to do (see chapter 12)

Those are just two examples of how Ezekiel was commanded to live out his calling. But this command is clearer in chapter 3:

And he said to me, "Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel." So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.
Then he said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it." So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.

As Ezekiel consumed the scroll (what he was called to preach), it consumed him. It became his life. It did not matter that many people did not listen to him (3:7), He still lived out what God called him to do.


Yesterday I wrote about a general, but important call that is on all of our lives. But what about the specific call? The call that is just for me? Well, whether you know what it is or not, you can still begin to structure you life around it.
How?
By making the first, general call the centre of your life. Making Jesus the centre of your life. He doesn't just want to be Lord of you words, He wants to be Lord of your actions too. Just as Ezekiel lived out his calling, may our lives also reflect our calling.

God bless

He Is By Your Side

I must say that I think I have a serious case of young adult memory loss. There are some things that just never seem to stick. I have to be reminded over and over again, and every time I want to say, "I knew that! Why did I forget?" One of my biggest memory challenges is knowing that God is with me always. That He will never leave me or forsake me. That He is right by my side. One great verse that has really whispered to me is Psalm 121:5.

"The Lord protects you; the Lord is a shelter right by your side." Psalm 121:5 (HCSB)

The Holman Christian Standard Bible version is my favorite because it says that God is "right by your side." Let's look at a couple more, though.

"The Lord [is] thy keeper: the Lord [is] thy shade upon thy right hand." Psalm 121:5 (KJV) I copied this verse off of blueletterbible.org, and they included the [is] part, in case you're wondering.

"The Lord Himself watches over you; The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade." Psalm 121:5 (NLT)

I like the New Living Translation because it reminds me that the "Lord Himself" is watching over me. He takes the time to watch me. I also like how it says God is my "protective shade." It kind of makes me think of an umbrella of sorts, sheltering me from the heat of the sun. The King James Version says that the Lord is my "keeper." I like the thought of being kept by God.

It may never fully stick in my head. I may always have to go back and read this verse and others and remind myself that God is right by my side. It's easy to forget sometimes. Like when everything keeps going wrong, and nothing is turning out the way I want it. When it seems like I've cried all my tears, and I look up this verse and say, "Wait. Haven't You told me that before?" God's told me time and time again that He is right beside me, sheltering me. And I know from experience that He'll tell me again and again, even if I keep forgetting. God is your "protective shade," your "keeper," your "shelter right by your side." He is your protector. Run to Him and He will be ready to remind you, for as long as it takes, that He loves you and He will always be with you.

Spirit-influence

We all have things in our lives that influence how we live. Some are good, others...not so good. The best is the influence of the Spirit. But how many areas do we allow Him to influence?


2000 years ago, when Christ came and the church was founded, there were many sects of Judaism. One was the group of the Pharisees - they were very legalistic (focused on the Law and it's necessity), and therefore followed the Law as best they could. Not only did they have high, unreachable expectations of themselves, they expected the same standards of others.

Some of these Pharisees were converted to "The Way" (what Christianity was initially called), and received the Spirit of God. But some of their old habbits remained. Have a look at Acts 15:5 -

Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses"

To them, it was still essential that the Law (in particular, circumcision) still be followed, despite their conversion. They didn't believe it was necessary for salvation, but they would not accept/welcome the Gentile converts into their church unless they followed the Law. They had not allowed the Spirit to influence their legalistic mindset.

In what areas are you limiting the Spirit's influence? Your friendships? Relationships? Speech? Media choices? Something else? Jesus promised that the Spirit would be our guide and counsellor (John 14:16), so join me in asking Him what areas we need to allow Him to influence. The answer may not be what we would like, but the Spirit is trustworthy, and will only influence us for the better.

May your day today be Spirit-influenced.

The King's Table

Many of us will refer to God as our King, and rightly so. But He's not just our king, He is also our Father. So what does it mean for us to be treated as His sons and daughters?


2 Samuel 9 (this passage is longer than normal, but it's all important, so read it all!)

David asked, "Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?"
Now there was a servant of Saul's household named Ziba. They called him to appear before David, and the king said to him, "Are you Ziba?"
"Your servant," he replied.

The king asked, "Is there no one still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show God's kindness?"
Ziba answered the king, "There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in both feet."

"Where is he?" the king asked.
Ziba answered, "He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar."

So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.

When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.
David said, "Mephibosheth!"
"Your servant," he replied.

"Don't be afraid," David said to him, "for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table."

Mephibosheth bowed down and said, "What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?"

Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, "I have given your master's grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master's grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table." (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

Then Ziba said to the king, "Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do." So Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons.

Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica, and all the members of Ziba's household were servants of Mephibosheth. And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king's table, and he was crippled in both feet.


David had made a promise his best friend Jonothan to look after his family. Mephibosheth was the last of Jonothan's family, and he was crippled. Yet David took him in, sat him at the royal table, and treated him like a son. And do you know what... when Mephibosheth was seated at the royal table, no one could see his feet; no one could see his disability.

That's exactly what God has done for us. We are crippled by sin, yet He calls us to His royal table, and our disability is no longer obvious. He doesn't just treats us as His children, He has adopted us so that we are His children. How good is that!?!

Priorities

What are your priorities in life? Is it good grades? Raising a family? Earning money? Having relationship with God?

Well, the book of Haggai, a prophesy to the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem after the exile, shows us what the Jews had made a priority:

Haggai 1:3-6, 9
Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?"

Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."

"You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the LORD Almighty. "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house


The Jews that returned from exile had begun to rebuild God's temple, but stopped when opposition came. After eighteen years, they hadn't started working again. Instead, they had built themselves "panalled houses", and let the Lord's house (the temple) stay in ruins.

The result of these messed-up priorites? God brought a drought on the land. The people didn't have enough to eat or drink. They didn't have enough clothes to stay warm. Put simply, they couldn't live and prosper in the land.

So what is the solution? What should our priority be?

I think Jesus sums it up best. He told us to "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to [us] as well." (Matthew 6:33)

(I didn't write this, my Dad's friend did)


We have this treasure in earthen vessels... - 2 Corinthians 4:7 NKJV

When God calls you to do something, it means you're called to a higher level of accountability. Jesus said, "to whom much is given, from him much will be required..." (See Luke 12:48 NKJV). But this is where we get it wrong. We think those who are called, are not cut from the same bolt of cloth as others. Wrong! Just because someone prays powerfully and delivers God's Word skilfully, doesn't mean they don't struggle in certain areas. Their struggles may be unseen, but they're still real. We must be careful to make the distinction between the treasure and the vessel. If you're a leader, never allow anyone to expect you to be the treasure. Keep your ego in check. Paul says: 'We have this treasure,' he didn't say we are the treasure!

Let's face it, God uses people we wouldn't use, like Rahab, working the red light district of Jericho. But when she placed her faith in God He used her to win the battle of Jericho, then included her in the family of Christ. Or how about Jephthah who was born to an unwed mother, rejected by his family, and lived in a cave with his own gang of private mercenaries? God used him to deliver Israel and become the nation's youngest judge. Isn't grace amazing?

God specialises in restoring broken vessels. He takes things that aren't productive - marriages that don't work, people with 'issues' - and teaches them how to be victorious and fruitful in His service. Knowing this gives us the strength and tenacity to face whatever comes, because we know that when God places His treasure within us, He prizes, protects and prospers it. (Faith for today)

From an email I was sent

A Bigger Interrupter Than Kanye

Under the category of “Did that just happen???,” I’m sure by now you’ve heard about or seen Kanye West’s wildly inappropriate outburst at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Of course this is not what you would call a great career move to say the least, but I guess the silver lining for Kanye is his honorable mention in the Urban Dictionary:

Imma let you finish [eye-ma-let-yoo-fin-ish]:

1. Obnoxious way to interrupt someone and steal their moment, while wrylymocking that media train wreck that is Kanye West.

Based on West's instantly infamous interruption of Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video with his insane microphone-stealing shout out to Beyonce.

Bob: Thank you Mr. Brown for having us in to give this sales presentation. We'd like to talk to you today about...

Alfred: Yo, Bob, I'm really happy for you, and Imma let you finish, but I just got to say our product is one of the best products there is!

I guess West did let Taylor finish…sort of. But the cool part was the moment Beyonce recognized Swift and gave her a chance to have her moment of glory.

Have you ever been completely and rudely interrupted? I’m thinking the majority of us can relate - but how about interrupted during an extremely important moment by someone who obviously doesn’t care about you or your mission at that moment?

OK, let’s take it one step further. The VMA disaster was a physical interruption and as I watched it play out, a thought occurred to me that I’d like to share. No seriously, Imma let you finish, but first consider this:

Are there ever spiritual interruptions that are as rude and inconsiderate as Kanye’s? I sure believe so, and there’s a very well defined plan behind them.

Think about it…have you ever stopped to take some time to pray, and suddenly your thoughts are bombarded with worry or unpleasant memories? Or have you planned out a quiet time to read the Bible, and suddenly the phone rings, or you remember something you have to take care of first?

Or worst of all, have you ever tried to share the gospel with someone and out of nowhere, people cut into the conversation or something sidetracks the person away from the most amazing message on earth?

Not a coincidence folks…Satan and his army of demons are completely dedicated to preventing and halting any efforts on your part to connect with God through prayer and reading the Bible. And they are literally hell-bent on halting even a single word about Jesus Christ from escaping your lips.

Just check out a few descriptions of this from God’s Word:

Satan, who leads the whole world astray… (Revelation 12:9).

Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).

We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us (1 Thessalonians 2:18).

See what I mean? Satan just sits back and waits until you try to take the stage for Jesus Christ, then he jumps in and steals your microphone and your chance to glorify God.

Oh - and he doesn’t let you finish.

Here’s the great news though. If you can see an interruption coming, you can usually prevent it or ignore it. And now that you know spiritual disturbances are headed your way whenever you try to connect with God or share the gospel of Jesus Christ, you can be more prepared.
How?

First, recognize the interruption and take it to God. That way, what Satan meant for evil will actually focus your thoughts more on your Heavenly Father! Pray something like: “Father, I know that what’s happening right now is an attempt to keep me from connecting with you. Please help me keep my thoughts and spiritual eyes focused only on You.”

Second, resist Satan, and you can be sure of this promise:

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you (James 4:7-8).

Here’s the way The Message version of the Bible puts it:

Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he'll be there in no time.

Finally, refuse to give up. When you stop praying, you miss out on God’s peace and blessing. When you stop reading the Bible, you lose out on God’s truth and strength. And when you stop sharing the gospel, you trash the opportunity to lead someone to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Bottom line: stay the course in connecting with God, reading His word, and sharing your faith. Refuse to be interrupted and never give up. On Judgment Day, God will call you back on stage and you’ll hear the words from Jesus that are more valuable than any earthly praise:

“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21).

Now that is how you should finish.

This was written by one of my pastors:

Ephesians 3:17-18

17 I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,

18 may have the power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.



That’s challenging isn’t it, being rooted and established in love.

Width in the Bible is the breadth of the whole Earth – East to West.

Length reminds us of time – Eternity.

Depth is the depth of the pit of sin from which Christ has raised me.

Height is the height to which Christ has raised me, seated with Him forever on the right hand of God, sharing His throne.



His way is the only way, anything else is counterfeit.

Here is a verse that stuck out to me as I was reading.

Colossians 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

It got me thinking, how much God really gives me, and how much I have taken for granted, or never thanked him for. So, I took that as a challenge to me. To thank God for what he has given me.
You could challenge yourself too, if you feel like you have been not as thankful as you should be. He has done a lot more for you than just dieing on the cross. He has given you this forum for you to be a part of. Thank him for it. He provides meals for you. Thank Him for it. Don't just say the prayer because it what you have to do before you eat. Really thank Him. Some of you even have the opportunity to worship Him in a church with other believers. Thank Him for that.
The list goes on and on.
If you don't feel thankful for what he has given you, pray to him, and ask him to give you a thankful spirit.

And it doesn't just say to give thanks for what he has given you, the verse says that whatever you do, do it with thankfulness. Whatever you say, give thanks to God. Does that mean the only thing you can say is "Thank you"? No, for if that were the case, we could not witness.

So I guess, what I am trying to say, is to be genuinely thankful for God's mercy and grace toward you. And not to take it for granted.

This is the entry in 'My Utmost for His Highest' for today~

The rich young ruler had the controlling passion to be perfect. When he saw Jesus Christ, he wanted to be like Him. Our Lord never places anyone’s personal holiness above everything else when He calls a disciple. Jesus’ primary consideration is my absolute annihilation of my right to myself and my identification with Him, which means having a relationship with Him in which there are no other relationships. Luke 14:26 has nothing to do with salvation or sanctification, but deals solely with unconditional identification with Jesus Christ. Very few of us truly know what is meant by the absolute "go" of unconditional identification with, and abandonment and surrender to, Jesus.

"Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him . . ." ( Mark 10:21 ). This look of Jesus will require breaking your heart away forever from allegiance to any other person or thing. Has Jesus ever looked in this way at you? This look of Jesus transforms, penetrates, and captivates. Where you are soft and pliable with God is where the Lord has looked at you. If you are hard and vindictive, insistent on having your own way, and always certain that the other person is more likely to be in the wrong than you are, then there are whole areas of your nature that have never been transformed by His gaze.

"One thing you lack . . . ." From Jesus Christ’s perspective, oneness with Him, with nothing between, is the only good thing.

". . . sell whatever you have . . . ." I must humble myself until I am merely a living person. I must essentially renounce possessions of all kinds, not for salvation (for only one thing saves a person and that is absolute reliance in faith upon Jesus Christ), but to follow Jesus. ". . . come. . . and follow Me." And the road is the way He went.