02/16/2025
Is God calling you to do great things, but you just can't seem to join Him successfully in the effort? Is the Holy Spirit moving on you in a powerful way, but you can't find the time in your busy life to do what is asked, or seem able to bring your efforts to the point where they bear fruit? This is our contemplation this morning.
"Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”
Ephesians 5:14 KJV
When God calls us He is ready for us to move, but that is only half of the equation; for our part we must hear, understand, and then join Him in the effort. We need to place ourselves in sync with His will. Jesus knew this and said as much...
“I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”
John 5:30 KJV
Newer cars have the ability to interface with smart phones, however, I had an old car that predated this capability. One day I found a remarkable device that I could plug into the cigarette lighter slot in my ancient car and it would receive and convert the signal from my phone and transmit it via FM radio signal to my old fashioned radio. It was remarkable! But for this to happen, I had to find an FM frequency that wasn't already occupied and then tune both the radio and my new device to that same frequency... when I did this, the music, phone calls, and other sounds of my phone came across loud and clear through my car's speakers. Sometimes I feel a lot like that old car. I need a device that will allow me to become attuned to the Holy Spirit and then be able to say what He asks me to say, and only then to act on what I am receiving.
“Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
James 1:21-22 ESV
Raising our faith from the dead and allowing God to use us is very similar as well. First we have to find a method that will allow us to communicate with the Lord. Fortunately, there is such a device... and we call it prayer. In prayer our physical and spiritual selves can communicate with Him. Next, we have to find a wavelength that isn't cluttered with activity. We have to find a quiet place where the signal can flow without interference. I call this place my prayer chair; but to you it might be a closet, a mountaintop, or even your car. Then finally, we must become attuned to God's frequency in that quiet place. Our internal radio receiver of prayer must be tuned to the same frequency as the one that God is sending to us on. This requires us to turn the knob or push the buttons until we are in synch... without finding His signal, His will, nothing happens. God is sending, but we either aren't receiving, understanding correctly, or transmitting back.
Hearing God's call and then communicating with Him as He leads us in performing what we have been called to do is crucial. If we hear His call but don't answer Him back, we will not be, or remain, in sync, and nothing of substance will happen. We need a conversation; we need two-way communication in order to place ourselves within His will… Just as Moses did…
“When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.””
Exodus 3:4 ESV
When Moses answered God the conversation began, and the Lord was able to instruct him…
“Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.”
Exodus 3:5-6 ESV
We aren't like radio-controlled devices... God doesn't remotely control our every move without any need for our agreement or interaction. God lets us know what His will is for us, but it is up to us to do what He asks. Through our actions on His behalf, we are being taught how to act as His children. Each time we hear His call and do as He wish we are given a new skill or level of faith. We are drawing closer to the frequency of God and becoming the fully functional "adult" being that God desires us to be. This type of interaction requires the conversation that we have been discussing... a relationship of trust... being on the same frequency... and then having the courage to join Him in His will as we receive it.
Have you been hearing God's call, but just can't seem to make it happen? Are you hiding your face out of fear like Moses did? Are you attempting to obey what God has asked without looking to Him, only to find that you just don't know how, or where you are going? Well, perhaps you aren't on the same frequency as God.
How often have you asked someone to do something for you and they did a thing, but not exactly the way you wanted it to be done? Is this what is happening with you and the calling that God has for you? Is He wanting you to teach someone, but instead you are busy clothing them, healing them, or feeding them? Are you out of sync with His will? Are you told to go and deliver the Gospel of Christ, but you believe you are meant to save a person’s soul instead? Thus, you find that instead of telling a person about God’s love and Jesus Christ, as you were told, you hear yourself telling them about their life and how they are lost sinners and not like Him? How often has God told us to plant the seed of faith, and instead we attempted to jump immediately to harvesting the crop? Weren’t we disappointed in our efforts? Did it drive a soul away instead?
When the spirit calls us, we need to make certain that we are on the correct frequency... pray, be in a quiet place, and ask for God to reveal his will to us. We shouldn’t charge off to do something before we know what it is that He wants done, and why. If we go the course on our own then we will find that we will be disappointed in the results, and spiritually unsatisfied with the outcome as well. Let’s listen, hear, understand, and then do the will of God. The apostle Paul understood this… but do we?
“For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”
1 Corinthians 1:17 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for calling me to do your will, and to serve you. Father God, I seek you day and night. I search for your voice and your will in my life. Without you guiding me I am truly lost and doomed to fail in my efforts… no matter how much I intend them to be for you. Keep me always in sync with you so that we can speak to one another as I go about your business. If I begin to wander left or right, bring me back to your narrow path. Lord, my desire is to grow in you and to find my way in your will with greater ease... teach me to walk the path you have laid out before me. Hold me up from beneath my arms, then as I begin to walk, hold my hand, and as I grow then guide me less diligently as I learn to safely follow you. Teach me how to become more attuned to your will so that I can find it with ease and remain in it always. Let my success in answering your call be perfected as we walk this way together. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who is with me always and desires that I never travel alone, but with you, and Jesus Christ, without fail. Holy is your will, and my role in being obedient to it. Hear this my prayer so that I can succeed in all you desire me to do and find great joy and fulfillment in obeying you… and in all I do for your glory, and your glory alone.
I pray this in the name of Jesus as I say Amen… Amen… Amen, and praise your name with my every breath!
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV
“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us[a] that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Hebrews 13:20-21 ESV
Rich Forbes