The Call to Character

“I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” Gen 12:2.

Did you realize that the timeframe between God’s call on Abram’s life and the actual fulfillment of the call was 25 years?  God did not come to Abram with an assignment for that day, but rather an opportunity for the future.  It was certainly a call on Abram’s life in the now for he would have to adjust his life for God to accomplish His purpose.  It was God’s initiation and promise to build Abram into the man of character required for this assignment.

God is all about relationship and character building when He fellowships with each of us.  He will seldom show us His purpose for our lives that require immediate action.  What action will be immediate when He speaks to us is our response in that experience.  Over a 25 year span, God built Abram into the character of God which would result in making a great name for God’s chosen.  But His chosen had to be willing to make some changes in his life to be in position to receive God’s best.

Every child of God is in position to receive a call on their life.  God wants to make all of us great in His spiritual kingdom, but we lack in some areas what is required.  We all have things that we need to lay down and walk away from to accomplish His plans.  We all have weaknesses in our character that God will need to work on for future accomplishments.  God will take whatever timeframe is required to build up our character, and work out our flaws.  ‘If you are not willing to be faithful in a little, God will not give you larger assignments.  God uses the smaller assignments to build character.  God always builds character to match His assignment.  If God has a great task for you, He will expand your character to match that assignment.’ Experiencing God, p. 47.

What adjustments do you feel God is asking of you?  What future blessings are being impacted by present weaknesses?  Ask God to reveal the appropriate adjustments He is requiring of you to make your name great for His glory in His kingdom.  We cannot be a blessing to others until we have allowed God to make the necessary changes to our character. 

Hearts Gone Astray

“So, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did …during the time of testing in the desert…That is why I was angry with that generation…Their hearts are always going astray…They shall never enter my rest.’ See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God…We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first…So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.” Hebrews 3:7-19.

This morning’s passage is longer than usual but one worthy of our consideration. This entire chapter is dedicated to unbelief and speaks loudly about the missed blessings due to this sinful attitude. What strikes me most clearly is the explanation that their hearts were always going astray which invoked anger on the part of God. They had the information…they had the patience of God…they had the promise…but they lacked the belief. God made it transparently clear that through the testing of the desert will come the promised land. Their part was to simply believe, follow and be amazed by the working hand of the Lord.

What has God promised you that has yet to be realized? I know for me it has been two years of watching…waiting…anticipating. On this side I see delays, standstills and even stalemates. But God is working behind the scene and I must be faithful in my patience and belief in what He is going to accomplish. He set up the foundation of Emerging Life Ministries back in 2008 and I know He has the promised land for me. I cannot allow my heart to go astray with unbelief and fear that I am not going to accomplish His purpose for my life. The challenge is not the faith we have going into the desert, but rather maintaining our faith in the midst of the desert.

I am convinced that all unbelief begins in the hands of the devil. He turns our thoughts around and teases us with fear and is successful in making us waver in our belief of God’s provision and promises. If we will just hold strong to our faith, placing our confidence in God instead of the desert circumstances we will inherit His blessings in our lives.

So, see to it, my sisters and brothers…do not allow your faith to be manipulated by Satan. Place your faith in the hands of the One who will fulfill your God-given destiny.

Whatever You Do...

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving" (Colossians 3:23-24).  

There are 24 hours in a day…some days these hours feel like an instant, and some days they feel like a lifetime.  The difference lies in the attitude of our hearts.  There swings a daily pendulum between chaos and calm and we hold the key to our contentment.  God has given us a new day as a gift and an opportunity to serve the Creator of this universe.  He directs our paths in all we do, whether we are busy or bored.  It is all in our focus and how committed we are to His plans, and not our own.

We are told in Colossians that whatever we do daily is to be done with the passion of pleasing the Lord, doing His work and serving Him.   I am learning a lesson as I grow more deeply with Him.  If my day seems to stall and not hold much for me in earthly contentment I try to consciously think about the things of God.  I consider how God is at work all around me, and I know He wishes to involve me in His purposes.  I create some quiet space where I posture myself to hear what He wishes for me to accomplish for that day alone.  I try to adjust my attitude and heart around the important things of His kingdom, not the earthly things of my kingdom.  I try to stay alert to people He has placed in my path for that moment in an effort to take advantage of any opportunity He has given me.

He has given us 24 hours a day but how much time do we give in return?  What would our lives look like if we gave daily 1/10^th of our time to the Lord like we do our tithe?  What work could be accomplished in the spiritual lives of those around us if we used this tenth…2.4 hours… and gave it to the Lord?  Tithing financially is only one offering to give the Kingdom of God.  We can tithe with our time and our energy which will bring the kind of satisfaction and contentment this world cannot provide.

Whatever you do today, do it with a spiritual focus in view and recognize that our Father has deemed us worthy of another day.  If we are not the hands and feet of Christ, than who is?    In prayer today, ask the Lord to reveal where He is at work around you.  Provide some extra time for listening, anticipating His invitation to join Him. 

‘Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things’ Col 3:1-2.

Extraordinary by Association

“Elijah was a man just like us.  He prayed earnestly…Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain…” James 5:17-18.  “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” Acts 4:13.

Throughout time, men and women have done extraordinary things out of their ordinary lives through the empowerment of God.  Very rarely did God use the brightest and best to accomplish His works.  Most frequently God called ordinary people to accomplish things that were far beyond their abilities up to that point in their lives.

The same has happened in my life as I began studying Scripture, spending time in prayer and focusing on an intimate relationship with God.  I have never had any formal training in writing or applying Scripture.  This ordinary and unschooled gal finally got with the spiritual program 7 years ago and turned my face upon Jesus.  Amazing things have happened since I started being with Jesus…things far beyond my own abilities.  Many times when someone has sent me a comment on one of my devotionals I love to go back and reread it with their circumstances in mind.  I am always amazed at how the writing spoke directly to their situation, and how personal the message was from God to them.  It is at these moments that I know that our extraordinary God is doing so much through His ordinary children. 

I love the quote from Henry Varley which doesn’t omit any of us in dealing with our God extraordinaire.  ‘The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through and in a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him.”  God has a plan for each of our lives, not just a good plan but a great plan.  If we will just pursue Him with the passion of our hearts and open up our ordinary lives, we will be used in a mighty way.

…and all will be ‘astonished as they take note that we have been with Jesus.’

The Dance of Ambivalence

“‘How long will you waver between two opinions?  If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.’  But the people said nothing.  Then Elijah said to them, ‘I am the only one of the LORD’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.’” 2 Kings 18: 21-22.

Elijah was perhaps one of the most courageous men throughout the Bible.  He was certainly one of the few who continued to worship the one true God in the face of unpopular belief.  He stood up against the kingdom administration and took on the entire region to exalt God.  Those in earshot had been attempting to walk a fine line between recognizing God and recognizing all other gods.  Through their unwillingness to choose, they stood for everything instead of standing for the One thing.

Sound familiar?  Elijah’s audience could have just as easily been you and me.  In our culture today it seems that to be socially and politically correct, anything and everything is tolerated.  The gods of the flesh are constantly being fed, stroked and appeased through our focus.   We balance the flesh and spirit everyday as we struggle between what we want and what God wants.  The Hebrew word for waver is also used for the word dance.  ‘Elijah speaks with biting irony:  In her religious ambivalence Israel is but engaging in a wild and futile religious dance.’ NIV Study Bible.

Without the proper focus on and fellowship with God we will go through life dancing a wild and futile religious dance.  When we remain ambivalent about God, our silence displays a dance of its own.   Our faith is wrapped with colored veils, looking more like the hues of the flesh.  The music of the world plays and we dance to its rhythm.  We must take off our dancing veils and stand up for God in a world where so many seem to be seated at the feet of the flesh. 

Hot or Cold?

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’” Isaiah 30:21.

When I was a little girl my sisters and I would play a game where an item was hidden, and the winner was the one who located that item.  As each of us would begin moving around the house, the one who hid the item would tell us if we were hot or cold.  The success of finding the hidden treasure was to stay on the one step until we were told which way to move.  Was my step to the right hot or cold?  If I moved backwards was I closer or further away?  It was imperative to only focus on one step at a time.  The hidden treasure would be located by the patience and obedience of moving step by step.

This children’s game speaks volumes relating to discovering our God-given destinies.  We cannot be like impatient little children, running around aimlessly guessing at the hiding places.  We must stay on our step until God instructs us to move to the other.  Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit we will hear, ‘You are moving away from your destiny with that step’… ‘You have just gotten closer to the calling on your life with that move.’ 

Throughout the Bible, God rarely showed the complete picture when calling His children to their God ordained purposes.  Instead, His call was given with vague invitations… ‘Come… Follow me… Go… I will show you…’   God’s primary desire is intimacy with each of us and not the end results.  God doesn’t need us to accomplish His purposes, but invites us to fellowship and participate with Him in accomplishing His purposes.  Like any game, the real adventure is in the pursuit and the interaction between the participants.

We must allow God to be master over every step we take as He leads us to our spiritual destiny in His kingdom.  So whether you step onto the next stone keep the other foot grounded until God tells you whether you are hot or cold.

Heavenly Stories

“Saul, Saul, why are you attacking Me?” Acts 9:4 (The Voice)

This morning I am amazed that I have never noticed the implication of Jesus’ question to Saul.  Saul had gone to the high priest in Jerusalem to gain permission to rid the synagogues in Damascus of the followers of the way of Jesus.  His plan was to arrest and chain any of Jesus’ followers—women as well as men—and transport them back to Jerusalem. (The Voice commentary)

I never noticed what implications this tiny verse has for each of us as we walk our roads in this life.  Jesus never said, ‘Why are you watching Stephen being stoned with such approval?  Why are you leading the revolt against Peter, John and James?  Why do your plans involve hurting my children?’  No…this loud booming voice of Divinity and Trinity thundered, ‘Why are you attacking Me?’  Jesus taught His disciples this truth through Matthew 25:21-36 before He was crucified and resurrected.  He told of a time when He would come into His glory and sit beside God.  Both the righteous and the unrighteous would approach Him with their lives laid bare before the King.  Their actions on earth will be their story told in Heaven.  Saul got the short version of this story as he was struck by a blinding light.  Saul’s attack on God’s people was the same as Saul attacking the Trinity.  I only have to look as far as my children to see the anger that arises when they are being treated unfairly.  You mess with my children and you have just messed with me – same passion.

Jesus made it very clear that the manner in which we treat others is the manner in which we treat Him.  “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’” (Matt 25:40). “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me’ (Matt 25:45).

When we look into the face of those who irritate, injure or wound us we are looking into the face of Christ.  Our attitudes towards those people whom we would just as soon avoid may be the very attitude that God takes offense.  Just as Saul felt entitled and justified towards treating certain people certain ways, sometimes we tend to be no better.  When I am speaking against another, I am attacking the Trinity.  When I withhold kindness from one, kindness was withheld from my Father. 

Through the grace of God we are empowered with the fruit of the Spirit when dealing with everyone, but it is a choice we must make. “The Holy Spirit produces a different kind of fruit: unconditional love, joy, peace, patience, kindheartedness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” Gal:22 The Voice.

How will we treat Christ today?