The High Calling of God

Philippians 3:12-14: "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected, but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (NKJV) We all have certain things that we would like to accomplish in the New Year. Some people make lists of resolutions that they are going to try to accomplish like losing weight, eating healthier, spending more time with the family, etc. But in these verses Paul is talking about something spiritual. Like a runner in a race reaching out for that prize, we as Christians should be reaching out for the prize as well. But in our case, the prize is the "upward call of God in Christ Jesus." I see this call, not as a specific position in the body o

Isaiah 9:6 states in the NKJV: "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." We must remember that the story of Jesus Christ did not end at the stable. He did not remain a babe in a manger. He became a man, lived a sacrificial life and His very reason for coming into this world was to die for the sin of mankind. Through His death and resurrection He made available the means by which we can be saved. It doesn't happen automatically- just because He did this. We must take the gift that He gave us- eternal life- give Him our life in exchange and allow His life to flow through us to accomplish those things He desires. We must turn from our old ways- sin--- repent-- and turn toward His new and living way- being filled with His spirit so that we can become that sacrifice unto Him. This verse says that His name is Wonderful

Deuteronomy 16 is a chapter where the Passover is reviewed. Verse two states: "Therefore you shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God, from the flock and the herd, in the place where the LORD chooses to put His name." Of course we know that in the Old Testament the Hebrews had to offer sacrifices for their sins daily. Jesus Christ had not yet come as their Deliverer. The Passover was a celebration held once a year as a memorial to their great deliverance from Egypt. They were led out of bondage by God with great miracles. Later God established a covenant with them. But it was during the celebration of the Passover that they remembered and celebrated their freedom. The Lord said in verse two that He would choose a place where He could put His name. The Lord specifically chose the place to put His name! In the Old Testament, God chose places to put His name. After Jesus Christ's sacrificial death which paid the penalty for mankind's sin, God chose people

Psalm 46:10 The entire verse reads: "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" This word- "still" means to cease striving. The Amplified Version states it: "Let be and be still". Sometimes the most difficult place for a Christian or a church to be is when nothing seems to be happening. It is a place where it seems like the wind of God's Spirit is not moving. I remembered from my school years a geographical place called The Doldrums. It is situated just north of the equator, encircling the globe. It is where the winds of the northern and southern hemispheres come together. This area had little or no wind and could trap sailors for days, weeks or even months. With no wind to blow into their sails and move their ships, they were stranded. Stories have been told where sometimes these men would literally go insane due to the inactivity they were experiencing. Remember, back then, they had n

We all have been there at one time or another, probably many times throughout our life-in that waiting process. We may be waiting for our vacation, waiting for that great job, waiting for that special someone, waiting for our healing, waiting for news from friends and family or waiting for something special to happen in our life. Wait, wait, wait. It's hard to wait! Just ask any child! I remember when I was young, and I would ask for something. My parents always had enough to go around, but usually there wasn't enough money for too many extra things. When asked the question, "Can I have..." the answer would usually be, "Wait until next week", or "Wait until you're older", or "Not this time, maybe next". It becomes disappointing to say the leas, especially when we feel that we just HAVE to have that particular item or pleasure. Our parents were not doing it to be mean, they may just not have had the means to give in to our desires

This past Father's Day, during our morning service, I wanted to say something to honor our fathers. The Lord lead me to this scripture: Deuteronomy 1:30-31: "The LORD your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place." Just before leading me to this verse, the Lord took me on a trip into my childhood memories. I vividly recalled a time when I was about 5 or 6. My mother had made a lavender dress for me. It was sleeveless and had pretty rickrack around the neckline. I guess even then I had a passion for purple! Oh how I loved that dress! We lived close to a river where my father would fish. I wanted to go with him on this occasion and I wanted to wear my lavender dress. After begging my mother, she allowed me to wear it to go fishing with dad. All was well

Isiah 45:3 (NKJV) "I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel". This verse is amazing in the fact that God was speaking to Cyrus, through Isaiah the prophet, about 100 years before his birth. To think that God knows about us and speaks about us even before we are born really staggers my mind! If we ever have questioned that God doesn't know us, the Bible has many references that prove the opposite. (For example-Psalm 139). Other than this wonderful thought, I saw something else here. He told Cyrus, that He (God) was going to give him the "treasures of darkness and the hidden riches of secret places." In this instance this meant the literal riches of that area of Mesopotamia. But I saw something else. Now who wouldn't want some treasures and riches? Sounds pretty good to me! Most of us when we were young read stories about looking for hidd

This sounds kind of ominous doesn't it? When we think of a shadow we immediately think of something eerie, frightful and possibly harmful. But as I was reading in the Psalms today I came across the mention of this shadow once again. Psalm 36:7 says, "How precious is Your loving kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings." (NKJV) There are other references to the shadow of His wings- Psalm 91:1- those who live in the secret place of the most High will live under the shadow of God; Psalm 17:8 says to hide me under the shadow of His wings, also Isaiah 49:2, Psalm 57:1 and Psalm 68:7. When David wrote these words he was more than likely hiding from his enemy King Saul. He was trying to do the right thing and was constantly being pursued by this man. He was despised and rejected by the very man/friend who had tried to help him fight the giant Goliath. But Saul had turned on David because of a deep jealousy inside of him. So

Recently I slipped and fell down our basement steps. I didn't do any major damage except sprain my writst. I was very thankful for that! But the way I reacted right after the fall brought a smile to my face later. Of course, for any of you who have fallen, you know that it kind of goes in slow motion for some reason. You know you are falling, and of course you try to stop. But it usually doesn't help and you cause more damage than if you had just relaxed and went with the fall. I had my right hand on the wooden banister but it got stuck during the fall and that is how I sprained my wrist. I realized while it was happening that my ring finger was being pulled backwords. OUCH!! When all the bouncing of my body down the steps came to a halt, my hand hurt so badly I thought I had broken it, if not the entire hand at least that ring finger. What I did next was what brought the smile later. I quickly covered it up with my left hand and just sat there crying and calling out to the Lor

I came across this picture taken a couple years ago. I wasn't even aware when I took it that my dog Ginger was looking out the window at the time. I should have known because she always watches for us when we are gone and keeps check on things as much as she can from the inside. Just seeing those two bright eyes from that dark window always gives me a chuckle. But as I was looking at this picture recently I thought about the verse in the Bible that says the eyes of the Lord are upon us. In Psalms 34:15 it says that "The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are open to their cry." This is very comforting to me especially during the day and hour that we are living in. It seems as if everything is being turned upside down and right is being called wrong. People are losing their way, are in confusion- even Christians. We need to remember that the Lord knows it all. He sees what is happening and His eyes are on the righteous. He hears our cries for justice, for

Here we are already into the second month of the New Year. If you are like me you may have already lost out on your resolutions. One of my resolutions was to lose some of the weight I had accumulated over the year. You know-eat more healthy meals and exercise more. I seem to just keep eating more and exercising less. And about all that exercise---my justification is that I get enough exercise at work to last me for awhile. I know that I need to recommit myself to a healthy life style. I am trying. Though the physical side is a very important aspect of our lives, the spiritual is much more. In Hebrews chapter 12, it says that we are to lay aside every weight and the sin that easily ensnares us. Then we can run with endurance the race that God sets before us. It would seem from those statements that we can't run with endurance until we have lost some weight. That makes sense. It is the same principle as in the physical world. My stamina is almost at zero if I have not done enough t