The High Calling of God

Well, here we are at the end of another year. Reflecting on all that God has done for me, my family and our church I can't help but praise Him! I serve an awesome God! He has brought me and some family members through some physical afflictions, even creating a miracle in my husband's back. He brought me through what seemed like a heart attack to find out that my heart is in perfect condition. He is delivering me from severe gastric reflux. He has delivered and is delivering us from too many things to mention. And then there are all the times that He has protected and provided for us when we weren't even aware of it. There have been many things we have prayed for but we have not seen the answer yet. Many still need deliverance,  healing, provisions and many things from the Lord. But we do not lose heart. The fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much and we continue to walk in His righteousness and pray out for deliverance for others. God hears each and every praye

John 11:25 "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live." A few weeks ago I spotted a Gerber Daisy plant growing between our sidewalk and the ally. It was not in the spot where I had planted it. Yet, there it was blooming, its golden petals and dark brown center lifted up towards the heavens as a testament to what God can do with something even after it has been uprooted and tossed to the side. I realized that sometime in late summer, I thought the plant was dead. It had stopped blooming and its leaves were all dry and shriveled up. So as I do with dead plants, I pulled it up and gave it toss towards the ally. Evidently, it never made it to the hard surface of the alley but ended up in a very small grassy area. When I saw that flower just blooming its little heart out- I thought: "Wow! What a life lesson to be learned here! This daisy bloomed where it was tossed away!  Proof that what G

Acts 8:26-38 In this text, Phillip was testifying to an Ethiopian eunuch about Jesus Christ. As they came upon some water the eunuch asked Phillip- What's hindering me from being baptized? Phillip responded by saying that if he believed Jesus Christ with all his heart, then he could be baptized. The eunuch responded in the affirmative and was baptized. I am not speaking about baptism today, although I believe every believer must be. But my question today is this: What's hindering you? What's stopping you? What's preventing you from being all that God has designed you to be. I am referring to the mindset that many Christians find themselves in- a general way of thinking that prevents them from being all that God intended them to be. The word hindered means to prevent or forbid, to deny or refuse someone from a certain thing. Some of the synonyms are: manacle, obstruct, shackle, handcuff, inhibit. So many Christians live beneath their privileges and responsibi

1 Kings 6:1-7      "7 And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built"    While studying this passage recently verse 7 spoke to my heart. While the temple was being built, the stone was cut and finished away from the temple- at the quarry. Then the stone was brought to the temple area and was put in place. There was to be no noise or commotion around the temple area while it was being built. No instrument was to be heard. I thought about our spiritual lives. Most of what God does is in secret, hidden away from the ears and eyes of man. His mysteries and works are often hidden and done in secret- so that no human can take the credit- so that man will not glory in the works of his own hands. And then, in God's timing, He reveals those whom He has cut, fashioned an

1 Samuel 28:3-7 3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land. 4 Then the Philistines gathered together, and came and encamped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. 6 And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets. 7 Then Saul said to his servants, "Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.&quo

1 Peter 2:4-8 "4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame."   7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone," 8 and "A stone of stumbling And a rock of offen

John 8:12 " Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, 'I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.'" Ephesians 5:8 "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of the light;" Ephesians 5: 13,14 "But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light; for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, 'Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." The Bible speaks much about "light'. Christ is known as the "light of the world". Christians are called "children of the light" . We, as Christians, need to bring everything into the light of Christ. Bring them out of the shadows and expose them to the light. All of our situations, emotions, thoughts and/or conflicts. Don't you just love the first morning light? It signifies the end of t

John 4:13-14 13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."  These scriptures are part of the story about Jesus and the woman at the well. She had drank from many wells in her life- but never from the ONE WELL that would give her eternal life. Jesus offers us the living water which is all we need. People walk by the well of living water every day! They pass it up for something more convenient, on the go, quicker. There is only one well that we should be drinking from. The world and Satan offers many different kinds of wells but this water only le

Finishing up our look into Abundant Life in Christ, (although one can never exhaust this subject), I thought about some of the keys that it takes to live an abundant life in Christ. Remember we aren't talking only about earthly abundance but about spiritual abundance. But when we live in spiritual abundance it always leads to having our needs met through Christ. Sometimes the Lord does bless us with earthly "things" but this is always to lead to a greater good in the lives of others- not to heap up "things" or wealth for ourselves. In Matthew 14:15-21 is the story of Christ multiplying five loaves and two fish to feed thousands. Christ used this opportunity to teach His disciples and us a couple of very important lessons. The first lesson I see here and a key to abundant life is to be thankful for what we do have . Many times we spend our time thinking and complaining about all the things that we don't have and we give very little thought to all the thi

Colossians 1:27-" To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We are continuing on in our study of the abundant life. It is so much more than what most Christians believe. It isn't in the accumulation of things for our own pleasures, but it is living a life that is full and thriving in the good graces of our Lord. Even if God does bestow on us earthly treasures, He only does it so that we can make deposits in the kingdom by giving to others. In Romans 15:13 Paul made this statement: "Now the God of hope fill  you will all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost."   He was trying to make them understand that since God was a God of hope, He would fill them with that same hope THROUGH the Holy Ghost. In Colossians 1:27 Paul was explai

John 10:10 "Jesus said.....'I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly." 1 Thess. 3:9-4:1 In verse 10 Paul mentions that he prays for the Thessalonians that they would  “perfect what is lacking”  in their faith.  He goes on in his prayer that the Lord would make them increase and abound in love to one another and to all. The topic of love is a gigantic topic and one that can never really be exhausted. In a few weeks, we will be celebrating a very popular holiday- Valentine's Day. Many, I think, have the wrong idea of what love is all about. They think it has to do with "them"- how to be satisfied, get their needs met, etc. But the Bible gives us a very different idea of what Godly love is. I f we really want a Biblical definition of the word love, we need to read and put into practice  1 Corinthians 13 , sometimes referred to as the love chapter. Wow! How far short I fall when I really study and try to absorb and

John 10:10 Jesus said “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” In our Adult Sunday School, we have been talking a lot lately about "thriving" in the Lord. We shouldn't just be living a mediocre Christian life, but we should thrive and excel at everything we do. I have really been thinking about that and have made that my prayer for this coming year. I want to thrive, I want to abound in the Lord. Jesus said He came to give us life and that more abundantly. Many Christians think this means accumulation of goods, a goodly name, promotions, fame, recognition,-which leads to exalting self instead of the Lord. But in actuality, Jesus is telling us that our abundant life is to be used for the benefit of others.  It isn’t about us—it’s about Jesus and advancing His kingdom in the earth through His Church. The word "abound" here means to "exceed a fixed number of measure, to be left over and above a cer