The High Calling of God

Well, here I am- New Year's Eve. I needed to stop what I was doing  and write before it was 2013. I haven't written near what I had intended to this year. But that's how it goes. We get so busy with life we forget to stop and take time to reflect on that life we are living. I look back at 2012 with great thanksgiving to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There have been some valleys but also some mountaintops. There have many close calls but many more blessings! God has brought many that I know, friends and family members through illnesses, surgeries and cancer treatments. Some continue to fight these diseases and our prayers go with them. We saw the passing of  two aunts on my husband's side of the family. He has brought us safely through severe weather, drought, a Direcho that nearly devastated parts of Columbus and left many of us without power in over 100 degree weather for over a week.  But God is so faithful! We have all watched sadly as we have seen terrible thing

1 Kings 17:1-7 In these verses, the prophet Elijah prophesies a drought during the reign of King Ahab of Israel, the Northern Kingdom. The Lord then led him to a brook-- Cherith. The exact location of this brook is unknown. It was a  hiding place for Elijah. It was also  interesting to note that the meaning of this name is to cut or to covenant. In Genesis 15 we read about the first blood covenant that God made with Abraham. I like the word covenant. It means a cutting, a shedding of blood, the death of something. God's covenant with us involved the shedding of blood, the death of someone-- Jesus Christ. It took the death of Jesus to give us life! Think about it! In turn- we are to die to Christ! We don't literally die or shed blood, but our old life is dead and we are alive to Christ. Getting back to our "hiding place"~~ our hiding place is a covenant between us and God. We have ended our lives for the sake of establishing a new life in God through the blood o

2 Corinthians 3: 18 "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." Years ago when I worked for a particular company I was given the opportunity to take a course in personal goal setting, priorities and creating and implementing a personal mission statement. At this time I did create a personal mission statement and have revised it several times over the years as my priorities and circumstances have changed. In it I of course applied my walk with the Lord as the highest priority in my life and have continued to do that. I had a fairly detailed list of the things that my husband and I would have accomplished by now in our ministry. Many companies and even churches have created their mission statements outlining their priorities and goals. This in itself is not a bad thing. It isn't wrong to set goals high and work towards them. Over t

Draw Near To God James 4:8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded” The word “draw” in this verse means to “prefer, to choose”. It is our choice to draw near to God or not. The book of James was written to Christians, and yet he is telling them to cleanse their hands and purify their hearts. The choice was up to them as it is also up to us. The book of the Song of Solomon is a beautiful illustration of a Christian’s progressive development in their relationship with Jesus Christ. We can stay where God found us in the first place. Or we can choose to go on in our walk, our relationship with the Lord. Song of Solomon- 1:4 “Draw me away! We will run after you. The king has brought me into his chambers…” The bride’s first response was to ask to be drawn away by the Beloved. Then she committed her entire being to Him. She made a covenant with Him that if He drew her, she would follow i

Recently my husband and I had the opportunity to attend a Regional Conference for Voice of the Martyrs. I had never been to one of their meetings and I really didn’t know what to expect, only that God was urging me to go. There was one particular speaker I was anticipating hearing, other than that I thought I would be bored with a whole lot of statistics and slides. But that was not the case. We met and heard about people who truly had a passion for the Lord, a passion to follow Jesus wherever it leads. All during the day I felt the Lord dealing with me on things in my own life. No- He wasn’t calling us to a foreign country, but by the end of the day we were more determined than ever to do and live for God the way He wanted us to. Both me and my husband came away very touched by God’s Spirit and more determined than ever to do His will, with His help. I was very inspired and challenged by the testimonies of those who have followed the Lord through fire and storm, and have come

Recently I was thinking about how the Lord is sifting His people like never before. This is a time of sifting, of separation. Many people are leaving the local church and the Lord. They are those who have not allowed His Spirit to come into their lives and sift it. They never allowed themselves to be crushed; they have become ‘foreign objects’ in the flour- they won’t sift through. How many of us can remember that almost every recipe called for the flour to be sifted. We had to sift it with the baking powder, salt, baking soda and other ingredients. How many times were there pieces that were hard and would not sift? We threw it out. We didn’t want those hard, mineralized pieces to be in our batter. It is the same process for the Lord, though He doesn’t throw us out. He usually gives us another chance to be sifted, over and over again. There are those who are willing to go through the sifting process, the refining process. Others have refused-when the heat is turned up, when th

Slowly, softly, so gently, the Lord allows the warmth of the sun to filter through the clouds to soothe your aching spirit. It trickles down from His heart and once again your spirit is beginning to feel new life. Not in the earthquake, not in the tornado, not in the fire- but in that still small voice: "Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10. After a time of darkness and silence, life begins to filter inside, deep into the caverns. As you weep and pour out your heart before the Lord, somewhere in the midst of the storm He begins to calm, soothe and restore. He reaches down and fashions you anew. He comes inside and heals and restores. In the midst of the pain, in the deep of the night, in the center of the storm, He is there, ever interceding, ever present. Even when you are not aware of His presence, when you acknowledge Him He is released into the very canyons of your spirit. 1 Kings 19:11-12 : "And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the L

John 3:30 : “He must increase, but I must decrease- He must grow more prominent, I must grow less so.” (Amplified Version) I recently taught a Bible Study on this verse. Jesus Christ must be manifested in our life. He is the One that is to be seen, not us. Yes, God uses people- but the world should see Jesus Christ in us. 2 Corinthians 4:7 states: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” And Colossians 1:27 tells us that Jesus Christ in us is the hope of glory. All through the New Testament you can find verses that tell us that Jesus Christ is this treasure inside of us—we are the clay pots and He is the treasure. Others should not see the clay pot- they should see the treasure- Jesus Christ- inside of us. In order for this to happen, we must decrease—yield our lives to Him, submit our wills to Him—and Christ must increase- be magnified in our bodies and in our lives, be Lord of all we say and do. While st

A few years ago my husband and I had the opportunity to visit Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. It is located near the Blue Ridge Parkway in Linville and is one of the highest peaks in the Blue Ridge Mountains. One of the main attractions there is the Mile High Swinging Bridge, a 228 foot galvanized steel suspension bridge which spans an 80 foot chasm and is one mile high in elevation. On the bridge a person has a 360 degree panoramic view of the beautiful mountains and scenery below. As I always do when planning a vacation I spend hours on the computer, looking up web sites of the places we are going to visit. This was going to be one of the highlights of our southern trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway. I gazed for countless hours at the photographs and imagined what it was going to be like once we got on the bridge. I could have never imagined just what the experience would mean to me. The ride to the top was a twisty winding road that at times seemed to direct our car s

Colossians 1:9,10 "For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;" For several years I have daily prayed these verses plus verses 11 and 12. I am often reminded especially of verse 10- to walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him and to be fruitful in everything I do. He often reminds me that “It’s not the quantity of what I do each day but the quality” .  It isn’t how MUCH I get accomplished each day but the QUALITY of what I do- how effective is it, was it God’s will, is it being fruitful, productive, how do I treat people. I do realize sometimes we don’t know how fruitful our works or words are, but the Word of God does tell us that His Word will not return void. I can do a lot of things each

Zechariah 4:1-6 Zechariah 4:6 “So he answered and said to me: ‘This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit’ says the Lord of hosts.” The exiled Jews returned to their homeland in 536B.C. God gave the prophet Zechariah a series of eight visions to assure the people that He still loved and cared for them. Zerubbabel was one of the leaders that was helping the people to rebuild the altar and begin reconstruction on the temple. In chapter 4, verse 6, God is letting the people know that He was going to help them by the power of His spirit and not by their own power. The words "might" and "power" indicate human force and power, such as an army. It includes human accomplishment in obtaining goods. But God is letting His people know that the rebuilding of the altar and the temple, and facing the obstacles that they would face- was going to be accomplished by His Spirit. I believe God is telling His people- the Church-

Genesis 22:14: "And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, 'In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided" The twenty-second chapter of the book of Genesis gives the account of Abraham offering up his son Isaac. When God stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son, he then saw a ram caught in some brush. So he went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt sacrifice in place of his son Isaac. It was then that Abraham named that special place- The-Lord-Will-Provide or  in the Hebrew it is rendered YHWH Yireh, where we get the name Jehovah Jireh.This is a beautiful picture of what God did for us. He offered up His son Jesus Christ in our place. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice. He provided the perfect sacrifice for mankind. God has always been the provider for His people. He provided food and water for Elijah (1 Kings 17:1-6).  God provided food for Elijah and a widow woman and her family. (1 Kings 17:8-16). Go

Matthew 12:25 : "And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, 'Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.'" Numbers 32:11,12: "Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the Lord." In the reference of Matthew, Jesus knew their thoughts. He said that every kingdom divided against itself would be brought to desolation, that it would not stand. If our hearts are not wholly turned to the Lord-we  will fall and we will not be able to stand in the last days. The enemy will gain a foothold. Only TWO out of the entire tribe of Israel entered into the Promised Land- Joshua and Caleb- because they had whole hearte

  (This is a picture of the banner that was displayed on the wall of the church where Keith and I were married) Deuteronomy 8:2: "And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not." Today, April 17, 2012 marks an anniversary for me. 40 years ago I entered nursing school. Wow! 40 years! How much has happened since and how much happened to lead up to that decision. After giving my heart to Jesus Christ on February 10, 1971, I began a journey with the Lord. Shortly after that, I remember praying for three consecutive nights the same prayer- asking God what He wanted me to do with my life. I was totally open to His will. I had gone to college and was preparing to be an elementary teacher but had quit in the first semester in 1970. I had often thought of being a nurse during my years of growing up. So I was wi

Luke 24: 30,31; 35, 36   "(30)Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. (31)Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him, and He vanished from their sight." "(35)Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, 'Peace to you'" Jesus was risen from the dead. He was appearing to His disciples. It was after He broke the bread that their eyes were opened. We don't really get to know the Lord until He breaks the Bread of Life unto us- His Word. Then our eyes are open. The Bible isn't just some history book though it contains history. The New Testament isn't just about Christ and the disciples and the church. It is a LIVING Word. When we read this Word we should pray that our eyes are open to what the Lord is trying to reveal to us. The Lord Himself had to be broken before He could be revealed. We have to be broken so the Lord

Many years ago, while in prayer, the Lord gave me a vision of a vessel. On a potter's wheel was a vessel being prepared. This vessel was not allowing the Potter to have His way; it kept trying to get off the wheel and out of the Master's hands. On a wall to the right were shelves that contained many beautiful, shining vessels with beautiful and intricate designs. Being made fire proof by the Master Potter, they were on display, waiting to be filled with the Holy Spirit, the anointing. They were the Lord's pride and joy. They had allowed the furnace to perfect them, allowed themselves to be tempered, purged, beaten, reshaped and remolded. Then I saw the vessel that had not allowed the Potter to perfect it. It was cracked, dull, chipped all over and very, very ugly. It was unable to contain the Holy Spirit because it had not allowed itself to be tempered; never allowed itself to remain in the Potter's hands. This made the Lord very sad because He wasn't allow

Matthew 11:28-30: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." When we think of a yoke, we naturally think of something that is quite cumbersome, hard and difficult to live with. But in the case of the Lord's yoke- it is just the opposite. He said His yoke is easy and His burden light. The word "yoke"- in the original means to join. How can something hard and heavy that binds us to something or Someone else be easy and light? In the days when farmers worked with yoked animals, the animals had to learn to work together. If one got out of step, the load shifted and possibly overturned. The animals HAD to be in step together. And they had to have one leader. One would emerge as the leader. It is the same with a Christian. We have to allow Christ to be the leader.

Webster defines "identity" as "sameness of essential character; self-sameness or oneness". It is a sign of ownership but it goes much deeper than that when referring to the Christian being identified with Christ. In Christian baptism we are certainly being identified with our Lord Jesus Christ by taking on His name. But for the Christian who wants to be everything that the Lord has intended him or her to be-it goes much deeper than that. Jesus Christ was identified with the Father in: His Will John 5:19 : "the Son can do nothing of Himself but what He seeth the Father do." John 5:30 : "I seek not my own will, but the will of my Father." His Speech John 12:49 :  "For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak." His Presence John 14:9 -  "..He who has seen Me has seen the Father..." His Love for Others John 15:9 - "As the Fath

John 20:11 - “But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb.” Luke 24:1-5 - “Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they and certain other women with them, came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments, then as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead?’” A tomb is a burial place. It is a place where dead things are put. These women were told to stop looking in the tomb. They were instructed to not look for life inside the tomb. The tomb equals death and decay- the old life. Nothing is in the tomb but decay, rot and old grave clothes. Jesus was risen from the dead. He was no longer in t

For many years I have kept a journal. I just purchased a new one for the new year. A new year! Like my new journal it is full of “empty pages’- ready to be filled! I’m excited to see what the Lord is going to do this year. Often He gives me a verse or thought to take me into the new year-but this year He did not. But I’m still excited and anticipating what He is going to do. No resolutions- I usually break them before the month is over. I just have a determination to continue on reaching for the “prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”- Philippians 3:14. Pastor’s message this morning began with: “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision” then went into Exodus and Deuteronomy on the servant-after serving for 6 years- could chose to go free. If not-if he wished to stay with his master- his master would pierce his ear with an awl- a symbol of ownership. Oh, how I want that! But there is a price. I am reading Elizabeth Elliot’s “Through Gates of Splendor” , the s