Are we called to be Holy men and women? If we are not, then what is our calling? These are the questions I am asking myself this morning, and the Apostle Paul is the example I look to as I search out the Lord's call in my life. You see, Paul wasn't called to serve in the temple, nor to sit on a mountaintop communing with God... he was called to deliver the gospel to a dark and dangerous world. Holiness in scripture means to be separated for the use of God… are we?
This morning I ask you to join me in contemplating those times when God has spoken to you. It may have been in a feeling you couldn't shake, a dream, in a voice only you could hear, by signs, or maybe in a vision. Is there a time when you realized that you were engaged in conversation with the Lord, in a "God Moment?" This happened throughout the Bible, and it continues to happen today. What is interesting is how God's voice is accepted and used. Let's look at one such instance in particular; How God spoke to Samuel.
Yesterday we gave thought to wounding Jesus, but today we will look at this in a different light... do we persecute Him? On the road to Damascus, Saul didn't understand what was happening to him. Who was speaking to him? So He asked, and Jesus told him. Do we know who speaks to us? What are our motives in serving God? Is our desire to solely elevate Him, or to gain some of the praise of others for ourselves? As we read today’s opening verses let's ask ourselves... do we have love? Do we serve Him with the motivation of God's love first?
I was convicted this morning as I bore into my devotional thought. I was searching through an inconvenient truth... there are times when I wound Jesus in my attempt to achieve righteousness. In those times I am similar to Saul and facing imminent correction. You are asking yourself how I could have done such a terrible thing. You are probably thinking "I am glad I don't do that!" But don't be too quick to judge, or claim the high ground. Let me explain, and then search yourself further as I did.
As Christians are we still tempted to place our earthly needs before our spiritual relationship with God? Do we spend precious time worrying and thinking about worldly things when it would be better spent on the Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father? Do we arm ourselves against temptation with prayer and the Word of God? As I was reading Oswald Chambers this morning he wrote about our temptation in these words...
My devotional reading this morning was focused on the simplicity of faith, and as I studied the truths in this concept I uncovered the depth of my similar belief. But I also began to see how I often followed the mantra I hear in commercials on television as they sing... "I want it now!" (NFL), or "It's mine!" (Diet Coke), or perhaps "I want it all!" (Dr. Pepper). I could see that I was applying this urgency to my relationship with God and Jesus Christ, and how I wanted every truth in a scripture, and every revelation of God, to occur instantly... right now! Had I lost the ability to wait patiently, and trust in the Lord?
Today let’s examine our lives as we determine if we are presuming to know when and how God will enter into our affairs. I am personally trying to decide if I am attempting to control my circumstances, or if I am truly trusting in God. I am asking myself if I have been limiting His access to my life by not fully realizing that He will interact with me at His good pleasure. Will you join with me in this intimate exploration of our faiths? What I have found in my own quest may serve to enlighten you.
Today let’s contemplate our being chosen by God for a life and relationship with Him through Jesus; even as much as we ourselves choose to live that life and love our Lord. I think about Saul becoming Paul and this most intense selection by Jesus. After Saul had been struck down in the midst of his noon day prayers, and blinded, he was told to go into Jerusalem and wait there for instructions. Are we chosen too? Are we humbled as Saul was? Do we obey, and go to meet Him?
Today I read Oswald Chambers' devotional message titled "Transformed by Insight" and in it he wrote of our becoming a reflection of the Lord when we have been in His presence. This is a discussion that thrills me, and reminds me of not only the outward reflection, but the amazing feeling we have within us when He is near.
This morning I am contemplating my salvation and how sometimes God's most lavish blessings can become an impediment to me. My thoughts have produced some observations that might help you as well. So, let's begin by laying the ground rules of salvation... What does it take to be saved and when does that salvation occur? Salvation is not some elusive goal, but attainable, and hinges on God’s desire for us… it is a gift of grace that comes through our belief in Jesus Christ.
This morning Let’s ask ourselves a couple of questions… “Do I love the Lord like I did the moment I was saved?”, and “Has my love for Him diminished in any way over the years?” This will be our contemplation this morning. I am personally looking inward at the love I feel after many years with Jesus and worshiping God. Will you join me in this?
Being reborn into the kingdom of God through Jesus Christ is more than a moment's occurrence. Like our own physical birth's it takes time; being born again involves conception, nurturing from the church's body, and then following a struggle of labor comes the glory of entering the light for our very first glimpse of salvation and heaven.
I am exploring a thought today that I read in my devotional this morning regarding the time between the Lord calling us to service and that moment when we are actually beginning to accomplish what He has asked us to do. As I thought about what has occurred in my own life when He has called me, my sense of discovery was especially aroused by these interesting and instructional words written by Pastor Oswald Chambers regarding God’s preparing us to do what He has asked of us...
In my devotional reading this morning Pastor Oswald Chambers asked a simple question that took me aback. I hadn't thought about this so directly before; this is what he asked… "Are we being more devoted to service than to Jesus Christ?" Are you willing to humbly consider this question and honestly answer it today?
Have you ever struggled to understand your service to God and others as it compares to the call of God itself? This morning I am contemplating these two wonderful aspects of our faith… faithful service, and God’s calling for us. You might interpret our service as being works so here are two scripture references that together link our faith and works together, one from Paul (Ephesians 2:8-9) and the other from James (James 2:26). These two passages complement each other and explain how they go hand in hand. But let’s explore what this has to do with God calling us.