His Calling

Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. 1 Thessalonians 5:2(New American Standard Bible)

I was called and chosen before the foundations of the world. God formed me in my mother’s womb and called me by name before I took in my first breath. His involvement in my life didn’t start when I trusted Christ as my Savior. His call on my life was not dependent on me. I don’t have to try and figure things out or come up with a plan for how to bring about His call. The call comes from Him, the equipping comes from Him, the realization comes from Him, and the bringing it to pass comes from Him. My job? To cooperate with Him.

I look back at some of my spiritual ancestors whose lives are recorded in Scripture. I think of people like Moses, David, Ruth, Esther, and Samuel. Each had a call and each had a time of preparation before that call was fully realized. God’s time table was never off. That encourages me! For I am at the point in my life where I could not tell you the specifics of God’s calling on my life. I don’t know what it is He will eventually have me doing. I entered a journey with Him six years ago that has radically changed my life but I know there is more to come. In the mean time, what is it I am suppose to be doing?

I remember a couple of years ago, asking a woman in ministry that very question. Her answer was full of wisdom. She said, “Keep doing what you are doing.” She was teaching me a valuable truth. God will open doors and bring about the right opportunities. I am simply to daily connect with Him and follow His lead. I am to faithfully carry out the assignments He gives to me. Right now God is developing my character, strengthening my spiritual muscles, teaching me truths about Himself, urging me to speak the truth in my heart, increasing my dependency upon Him, withdrawing support systems that hinder growth, honing my communication skills, and taking me through numerous transformation processes.

With Him I am learning to cry, celebrate, dance, leave comfort zones, confide, and open my heart. The terrain of my journey has changed as have the individuals who intersect my world. I look forward to the day I passionately proclaim, “It has all been worth it!” Until that day comes, I accept it by faith. I am not a numberless face to God. He has never lost sight of me in a crowd. His call is specific, His timing is impeccable, and His work in me will be completed. I wouldn’t want it any other way!

Father, keep reminding me of the significance of each day, the necessity of each trial, and the reality of Your call on my life. Amen.

The Voice of Hope - Lara Martin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbk1TGe5k0Q

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

Changing the Direction

Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (New American Standard Bible)

The words stung because they were so true! Dr. Margaret Paul wrote of a woman who wanted others to “fill her up, approve of her, become responsible for her feelings of worth and safety.” It was emotional dependency in a nutshell and I could all too easily slip my name into her example. My first response was shame for having such a tendency reside in me. On the heels of shame was despondency as this continues to be an issue in my life. I have known the pain of losing someone in my life because of it and the fear of losing others as they see it as well. My question to God was, “How do I change? How do I stop looking to people to do this stuff for me and begin living without the disappointment when they can’t or won’t?

I have said it before and I will say it again, God does not bring things to the surface to condemn us but rather to show us where He wants to work. His answer to me wasn’t something I had never heard before…..numerous people have said it to me and numerous people have demonstrated it to me by their example. Breaking free of emotional dependency is found in becoming an encourager to others. Encouragement with a smile, with a hug, with a note, with a conversation, or any number of ways God brings to mind.

God’s picture to me is that I often focus on the flow of relationships going from others to myself. I look to others to make me feel good about myself, to take away pain, to fix me. God’s way is that I would see the flow of relationships going out from me to others. Finding ways to encourage and uplift them. Not for the hopes that it will make me feel better (although it will do that) but rather out of interest for them.

It is one of God’s many kingdom principles. Extend to others what I so badly crave for myself and know that God will faithfully meet every need I have. A friend who has known me most of my life once said, “Pam, because of the things that happened in your childhood, you have spent many years trying to figure out ways to get your emotional needs met.” She was right and what I am learning is that none of those ways work. God is once again giving me the answer to my dilemma…..live connected to Him and focus on others. Rather than sit at the table of life frantically looking for what I can consume, He is nudging me to walk around that table and begin serving others. As always, His ways are higher than my own and they work!

Father, purify my heart and my motives. Help me to be the encourager You have called and equipped me to be. Thank you for every example You have put in front of me. I have watched others and now it is time to follow in their steps. Amen.

Make Me a Servant - Maranatha Singers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rznoe3zKxM

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

God's Recipe for Success

We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:14,16-19 (New American Standard Bible)

As the Thanksgiving season approaches, many will find themselves looking up old and new recipes. They want to give their Thanksgiving dinner a special touch. Maybe they are after recipes to help reduce calories or recipes that enhance flavor….or both if that is possible. Whatever the case may be, finding the recipes and following the recipes are necessary for success.

This morning I am seeing God’s recipe for unity in the body of Christ as well as intimate fellowship with Himself. His “ingredients” include admonishing, encouraging, being patient, rejoicing, praying, being thankful, and not grieving His Spirit. I don’t know about anyone else, but one look at THAT list makes me realize more fully my inability to do any of them without His help and enabling. My flesh pulls away from every one of them. Yet, God is inviting me to seek His help and walk in obedience with His help.

He knows that within each of these areas there is power to change me and power to change those around me. I have no trouble being patient and encouraging around people I am comfortable with and feel accepted by. I have no trouble rejoicing when things go my way. My thankful heart is most evident when I am truly thankful for the circumstances of my life. But God wants me to notice the usage of the words everyone, always, without ceasing, and everything. That realization brings me to my knees before Him and causes me to admit my weakness apart from His strength. It shows me how much I limit my actions and attitudes to what feels good and brings delight.

I have heard it said that God is not interested in my comfort but rather in my character. The development of my character happens as I begin to live beyond what is comfortable for me. It happens when I am willing to exchange my desires for His, my wishes for His, my will for His, and my ways for His. He never said it would be easy. I can attest to that! He said it would be possible as I rely upon Him and walk in obedience to Him.

He has much to do in me, but as Creator of the universe and Divider of the Red Sea, I know He is willing and able to do it all!

Father, You have my attention and I have Your instructions. Transform my heart so that changes of my actions and attitudes will follow. Amen.

In The Potters Hand - Hillsong (HQ sound)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6beNoG0H0E0&feature=related

He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food. Job 36:16

Becoming Receptive

Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (New American Standard Bible)

I have wrestled today with the idea of being the recipient of today’s verse. I have no trouble seeing my need to encourage and build up others but I often struggle to understand God intends for me to receive encouragement and building up from others as well. It is the way He has designed for the body of Christ to function and when we do, it brings Him pleasure! Although I know this in my head and can easily say it, God knows there are reasons I am still not embracing it and living out of the joy of it.

I have found that when I struggle with God’s design of things there is usually an element of fear involved. Fear draws the enemy just as blood draws sharks. He takes advantage of any insecurities and misperceptions I house within my mind. I must be willing to take the time to allow God to uncover those fearful thoughts and inaccurate views. Then I must be willing to replace them with the truth of Scripture.

God is presently crossing my path with encouragers. I see them as gifts from Him. I value the time we spend together and the discussions we have. In their presence I am safe to open up and share what is really going on inside my head and my heart. I would venture to say they know me in ways that few people do. Having said that, you would think there would be no trouble implementing today’s verse into my life. The truth of the matter is that the enemy of my soul enjoys wreaking havoc even in the midst of God’s blessings.

Just about the time I am filled with the joy and encouragement of friends, he comes along and whispers, “Better step back. You are going to become dependent and that is not good!” So the thing which God intends for good now becomes an area of shame and condemnation. That is when I need to go to God and allow Him to tell me the truth. While it is true I need to guard my heart in the area of emotional dependency, it is also true God desires to encourage me through other believers. He has given me numerous examples in Scripture of people who were greatly used in each others’ lives. While there are some things that only God can give me there are many things that relationships can give me and God is inviting me to receive them all. When I am off balanced in either direction may He quickly bring me back to the right place. I desire that my timidity be replaced with extravagant wonder.

Father, help me to receive Your love through others with abandon. I sense Your delight when that takes place. Amen.

Hearing His Answers

Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. I Thessalonians 5:24 (New American Standard Bible)

There are times I approach God’s Word with more questions than answers. My mindsets and patterns of thought can often be a hindrance to me. For the past few days I have struggled to grasp the concept of what is meant by God’s call. I can’t seem to wrap my mind around it and maybe that is because I have an idea of what I think His call would look like and thus I limit the size and scope of it.

I review the individuals in Scripture who had clear calls on their life. Moses was called to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. Joseph was called to preserve the life of a nation and God’s people during a famine. Esther was called to be a queen. Paul was called to take the gospel message to the gentiles and to write most of the New Testament. Jonah was called to deliver a message to the people of Nineveh. David was called to be king of Israel and the writer of the Psalms. Joshua was called to lead the children of Israel into the promised land. The list goes on and on. Callings. Specific assignments and life purposes. Chosen and equipped by God to carry out His plans and purposes.

This review brings me to some interesting conclusions. None of these individuals had a full picture of all God’s call would entail. Specific details were not always forth coming. It was often a day by day moment by moment leading. Obedience was necessary as was listening to God. Many were the times they felt ill prepared or ill equipped to fulfill the call but in the end they did it and they knew it was only by God’s grace. God’s call often included persecution, trials, and heartaches. The very prophets God called were often misunderstood and their messages resisted.

So this morning, I will take my questions and my confusion to God and let Him put my mind and my spirit at ease. Already He has begun to redirect my focus and my words. While I want to know WHAT His call on my life is, He wants me to know Him as the One who is calling me and the One who will bring that calling to pass. His call is not a one time event but rather a life time journey. To my question of “What is it I am called to do?” His answer is always, “Follow Me.” There will not always be specific details given but in His time and in His own way He will make clear the steps I am to take.

Father, You see the questions that line my face and heart. You detect the misunderstanding behind my words. I take comfort in the truth that You have called me and You will bring it to pass. May I hear those words often today. Amen.

Ready to Receive or Release

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. I Thessalonians 5:11 (New International Version)

I just spent a lovely evening with a friend and her family. After an elementary school Christmas program we headed for some pizza. My soul basked in the warmth of their laughter, love, and life! It is hard for me to believe that our friendship has grown and developed in just a few short months. It has been needed and it has been enjoyed!

There have been a handful of women whom God has introduced me to in this past year that came at a time when it seemed other friendships were going through some changes. At first, the changes concerned me and I started wondering what had gone wrong and what I had done to “drive” them away. Just when I thought I had become a “relational leper” God enlightened me to something I hadn’t considered. The friendships were still in tact. If I saw them or spoke with them we would enjoy ourselves. So what was different? God’s answer was this: they are no longer primary encouragers to you or you to them. And that’s okay because I have other relationships for all of you. When I embraced that truth everything changed!

God’s intent is that I enjoy the friends He brings into my life with open hands. Releasing them must be done as freely as receiving them. For it is only in releasing them that I am able to then receive others. God has purposes for the ones He brings into my life. We have the opportunity to enrich each other’s life within the time frame God has determined. He will know when it is time for me to interact with new people. Frequency will no longer mark our conversations but the friendship will continue in a new way.

This has been freeing for me. It has helped me take my expectations off people and enjoy them for who they are. It has also helped me to delight in the times we do share. Not hearing from them no longer becomes a time to doubt, condemn, or blame myself or them. I am now free to trust God to intersect my world with others in His time!

I have no idea how many more people I have yet to meet. God keeps surprising me like He did this past summer! I lift up thanks to Him for past encouragers as well as present ones. It is one area of need He continually supplies and He does it to perfection. It doesn’t have to be a thing of confusion or pain any longer. I am free to embrace the body of Christ as it was meant to be embraced. I now treasure the past, enjoy the present, and anticipate the future.

Father, I never liked change but have finally begun to see the preciousness of it! Thank you for each person who has touched my life in beautiful ways. I await the ultimate reunion in Heaven! Amen.

Pray Without Ceasing

Be unceasing in prayer---praying perseveringly. I Thessalonians 5:17 Amplified Bible

How would you describe your prayer life? For years it was a rote activity in which I found little joy or purpose. I knew how to read through a prayer list with as much passion and excitement as I would have reading a grocery list or the phone book. The thought of spending more than a couple minutes in prayer seemed more daunting than delightful to me. My lack of daily connection to God explained my lack of daily communication with Him. I knew what it was like to talk with someone I loved and thought the world of and I knew that was not my view of God or prayer. Because my view of Him was so distorted it affected my desire to talk to Him, spend time with Him, and learn about Him. How it must have broken His heart to see that I struggled with the thing He found such pleasure in.

As I have come to realize some precious truths about God it has begun to correct my view of Him. With that correction has come a change in the way I approach His Word and His throne! I marvel when God allows a portion of Scripture to come alive to me. And I marvel when He gives me a new concept for prayer. This morning, an avenue of prayer has opened up to me and what a joy it was to venture on to the path. Let me explain.

I love devotional books. I presently have five of them that enrich my mornings. I read them last year but know they will take on new dimensions for me this year. What I did not realize was how God would nudge me to use them as prayer guides. This morning as I read some I found myself praying for the truths I was taking in. The words I read became my prayers to God. For instance, when I read Make Him the Source, the Center, and the One who encompasses every delight of your soul (Streams in the Desert, p.15), I voiced those very words to God! The more I did this as I read the more I was empowered.

What would happen if everything I read through out the day became petitions to God? If every circumstance I faced became a catalyst for talking to God? If every thing I faced in a day became a doorway of communication with God? Praying without ceasing would no longer appear to be just nice words. They would become my daily experience!

Father, may You continue to broaden my view of prayer. Learning to talk and listen to You delights us both! Amen.

Faith Amidst Tears

Therefore comfort one another with these words. I Thessalonians 4:18

Well known Bible teacher, author, and speaker, Beth Moore had a statement that has stuck with me ever since I read it. She made it a point to say that our faith needs to be built on who God is rather than what God does. Her explanation was that if it is built on what God does we will be in for a roller coaster ride of a Christian life when God does not respond and act the way we want Him to act. Whereas when it is built on who He is, that never changes and we have something to hold to that is solid.

It was that reminder and truth that I took with me as I drove to a local hospital to visit a friend earlier this morning. There are times when we face the difficulties and heartaches of life and know that God alone is the One who will comfort in ways we cannot. After battling some years of infertility and finally becoming pregnant with twins, my dear friend called this morning to let me know she had lost the girl twin at 20 weeks. As I drove to the hospital my mind raced for answers only to be reminded that my faith must be built on who God is! I cannot describe for you what it is like to step into a hospital room with a young couple filled with grief and yet holding tightly to their genuine faith in God. Just a few feet from her bed was little Haley no bigger than my hand yet fully developed! As I rested my hand on her little body I had to remind myself that God now held her spirit.

God alone helps us to minister to people when we find ourselves in situations with which we cannot relate having never been through their particular ordeal. He faithfully and gently nudged me to share two truths with her. First of all, I let her know her grief, tears, and questioning were not an insult to God. They were emotions He understood and did not want her to shut down that part of the experience. She has much to process in all of this as well as a continued pregnancy with little Jacob. May she know His shoulder is available for her tears and sorrow.
Second, I reminded her that we can trust who God is even when He doesn’t answer our prayers in the way we had hoped. We may never know the “why” but we can rest in the fact that He is still a good, loving, and faithful God. At this time, God holds my friend, her husband, and their unborn son securely in His hands.

Father, tears are to be expected at this time and trust in You is what will see us through! You are who You say You are! In that we rest. Amen.