All tagged call
This morning we are reading, and considering, the words that Jesus spoke regarding praying for more people to work in God's fields, and the great commission of taking the gospel abroad. I believe that the church would do well to take this seriously, but as individuals we should pray for these things as well; especially as we are called to them ourselves… Perhaps we will find that we are praying “Lord send me.”
One Sunday morning I was taking communion, and when the woman server handed me the body of Christ she told me to wait… that she really didn't know who I was but that God had spoken to her and told her to tell me "You are an honorable man". I thanked her and she hugged me. It was an incredibly spiritual moment and I just didn’t know what to say or think, so I went home that day and searched scripture for “honorable man”, then I asked a man named Jack Hughes, who is my spiritual mentor, what this woman’s name was, and he responded that she was Pastor Linda Clark; the wife of Pastor Forman Clark, and the mother of Pastor Jay Clark. As I studied, the scripture one verse kept presenting itself to me, it was 1 Samuel 9:6, and I prayerfully mulled it over and over in my mind.
We can hear a pastor preach a sermon and it thrills our hearts, but we can hear the very same message delivered by another minister and it falls flat within us; why is that so? Haven’t we all experienced such a spiritual phenomenon? When we attempt to understand why this happens, what do we blame the rise and fall of that particular message to be? Was it the condition our own faith in that particular moment, or was it the Holy Spirit moving, or not moving, over the Pastor as he spoke?
When the Lord gives us a specific calling, or mission that He wants us to accomplish, how do we know it, and how do we know when it is complete? Have you ever left spiritual business unfinished because you took your eyes off of the Lord? Whether it is praying for someone each day, being a loving spouse, serving in a far off land, or simply mowing the yard of a sick neighbor; when does God call us, and when does removing us from that call become His desire? Do we hear God calling us to something different or is what we are feeling the result of our own lack of determination, or dedication?
Are we running the race that God has laid out before us, or are we like the horse that never left the gate when the gun sounded? Is the call of the Lord fading into the distance, or are we following His call into an exciting adventure? These are the questions to ponder today.
We are all moved to work diligently for the kingdom when we are in the middle of an active calling, but how do we spend our time after God has called us out, after a calling is complete, and we are praying for God to reinsert us into his service? Is this simply a time of rest, do we give up and put our faith on the shelf, or maybe we find ourselves unsettled, despondent, or impatient as we cry and ask for a new assignment?
God calls us suddenly, and usually without announcement, are we ready at a moment's notice, or must we make preparations before answering His call? Will we instantly reply "Here I am!" When He calls? I find it interesting that most of the great prophets and leaders of the Bible answered instantly when God called them. There is no hesitation and no consideration as to why they were being called.
Are we called to be Holy men and women? If we don’t believe so then what might our calling possibly be? These are two questions we should be asking ourselves this morning, and Paul is a good example we can look to as we search out their answer, and the Lord's call in our own lives. We can be called to do many things as we walk with the Lord, but none more important than to be holy.
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.
My dear friend, and the Connection Minister at my church, Pastor Scott Hodgin, is moving to Ohio where he will teach Bible and Worship Ministry at a Christian Academy, and an English course at Cedarville University, which is a nearby Baptist university. He had been called into service as a pastor at my church to jump start its outreach into the community, and to fire up the men’s program. In less than two years he had done both, and now God is calling him to begin something new.
As Christian men and women of faith we have received various gifts and callings from God so that together, as one body, we can bring His perfect will to light in the world. We each are inclined to see our calling as the all in all, but in the whole it must be joined with the calling of all the others to produce the result that God has planned. For this to happen the glue, and the mortar must join them together; this everlasting adhesive being love. Are we ready to join our calling with all the others through the power that binds us… love?
Before we come to know, believe, and have faith in Jesus Christ we are part and parcel of the fallen world, but once we answer the call of God, who draws us to Himself through His Son Jesus, then we change, and our world changes. We find ourselves set apart from the fallen world that we once knew; it is as if we are caught up, and floating through it surrounded by a clear bubble of faith, able to see it, but insulated from it in a miraculous way. Oh how we long for the day when the fallen world we have left behind will be changed, and our bubble of holy righteousness will engulf it entirely… when the whole earth will be filled with His glory. Is this our prayer, for a glorious and redeemed world? Do we pray the final words of Revelation? “Come Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.” Amen
We all begin our conversion into believers in Christ through our contrition, by the confession of our sins, and in asking Jesus for forgiveness, and to be our Lord and Savior. In this way we become children of God, and receive the gift of eternal life, but until we begin living, and behaving as Christ has taught us to do, we remain little children... members of the family, but nonetheless we are forever immature. Do you long to be more?
We are called by the Lord, but once we hear His voice we must respond, begin our search for Him in earnest, and when we find Him we need to knock on His door and enter into a relationship with Him. Stop for a moment today and ask yourself where you are in your journey towards perfecting a relationship with God. Have you just begun the trek by hearing someone call your name in the night? Perhaps you have sought Him and come a little closer... or maybe you are walking through your life in intimate conversation with him. It is always good to take stock of our relationship and judge where we are, and what our next steps will be.