The High Calling of God

 "Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"   1 Corinthians 3:16   I am a little behind on my post, but I finished the devotional, "The Greatest Gift" by Ann Voskamp on Christmas morning. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I was especially moved by the reading on December 22 about being a dwelling place for God.  After Christ's ascension, He sent His Spirit to those who had gathered in the upper room- as Christ had directed them. The Spirit of the Lord invaded that room and the hearts of those who were gathered there. And ever since, He does the same! When we allow Him, when we have prepared a room- a place in our hearts- for Him- He comes and invades us~dwells inside of us~lives inside of us~leads, guides and directs us~and speaks to us on a daily, continual basis. The author spoke about how we are God's dwelling place and to make sure that we always have room for Him to dwell in. It wasn't something that I didn...

“ In the same region, there were some shepherds, staying out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night” Luke 2:8 The angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to the lowly shepherds out in the field, watching over the flocks.  The angel of the Lord appeared to these shepherds who were watching, tending to the flock, especially those ewes that may be giving birth in the spring, possibly to be used as  Passover lambs. Just a short distance away, the Lamb of God-our Passover Lamb- was born in a stable. John the Baptist, when he saw Jesus approaching to be baptized, said: "Behold! The Lamb of God.."  That word "behold" means: to pay attention, observe, to experience, discover". We, as the lovers of God, should be beholding the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. We need to be focused on, to see with our mind's eye and to pay attention to Him. In doing this, our hearts and our minds are set on the Lord and other things fall by the wayside. When we focus on the L...

"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."   Luke 2:10-11 Fear not! The message is still true today. So many people are filled with fear and anxiety of many things- the unknown mostly. Fear of losing their job, getting sick, not being able to provide for their family. Fear of something happening to their loved ones, fear of growing old, fear of what is coming in the new year. The unknown. We spend so much time worrying and fretting over the future that isn't even here yet and over things that may never come to pass. Fear not!  God says, fear not. The Apostle John said "there is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment." (1 John 4:18)  If you have ever been in the grips of a panic attack, fear of something coming- you know those words first hand: " fear is to...

  "And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God." Luke 1:35   Quietness. Can you hear it? The miraculous in the stillness. God works in the quiet, in the stillness, in the small whispers and deep thoughts. Roots grow deep in the quiet of winter. They find water and nourishment deep in the soil.  The miraculous is taking place. Something seems to appear dead- but in the darkness, in the quietness and stillness of the earth- a miracle is taking place, hidden from the human eye. The miracle of new beginnings, new life.  It isn't in the earthquake- the loud and boisterous. It isn't in the fire-of personalities. It isn't in the flood- the flurry of activity and fleshly emotions-- but it is in the still, quietness of the mystery of God in Christ- the incarnate- virgin birth.  Jesus Christ- first conceive...

“And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3‬:‭15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ We were talking about Advent- awaiting the coming of a special event or person. During Christmas time, it is inspiring to purposely set aside some time to meditate on and read the scriptures leading up to the birth of Christ.In my previous post, My Christ’s Family Tree, I mentioned that I had started the project from the devotional "The Greatest Gift" by Ann VosKamp. Since then I decided to come up with my own verses and reflections. My Family Tree- began way back in Genesis. Even before that.  But today, I want to focus on Redemption- God’s gift to mankind through Jesus Christ. Redemption means to buy back, pay a ransom, to free from captivity.  And that is exactly what God through Christ did for us.  He sent His Son as a ransom to pay the sin debt and set us free!  Redemption!   Up to chap...

 Matthew 1:1-23 "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.... And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.  Now all this was done , that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying , Behold , a virgin shall be with child , and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is , God with us."    For the past couple years, I have been lead to purchase Christmas devotionals for the month of December known as Advent. The word advent means: "a coming into being or use"   It goes back to Latin, meaning arrival or appearance.. (Webster Online Dictionary). In Christianity, it is the period beginning four Sundays before Christmas. Some people observe it by a season of prayer and fasting, a time to set aside for reflection and prayer regard...

 "I will lift up my eyes to the hills-from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord Who made heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1,2 Recently I was reminded of this verse as I was navigating through a particular test. I was asking the Lord to send someone who could help me, encourage me, give me some answers. But that wasn't what God had in mind. As I continued to pray, the Lord brought this verse to mind- in a rather strong way. Actually, I had been asking Him to speak to me, and for days there was only silence. I was asking to sense His presence,  like I have in the past- but that did not happen either. Then, out of the blue- or I would like to say, out of His throne room, this verse boomed into my spirit. I had to repent and confess that I was looking for answers and for help in others, rather than in Him. This verse doesn't say our help comes from the hills. Sometimes we look to those hills, don't we? Those people who you think always has a good answer, an e...

 First posted in 2014   The other day as I was reading in Acts something neat happened. As I read a subtitle for a chapter, my eyes did one of those tricks that happen from time to time. The subtitle was   “Journeys in Greece”   but my eyes read it as “Journeys in Grace”. I chuckled to myself but I thought-how neat—Journeys in Grace. Our Christian walk truly is a Journey in Grace.   From the very first moment we are born again through the blood of Jesus Christ and every day thereafter, it is a journey of grace. As I look back at my 40+ years of serving the Lord, I can say it has been a journey in His grace. I haven‘t always made the right choices. I have done some pretty stupid things at times, but as I obeyed the Spirit’s leading, I was lead back to the right path. There are many, many verses about grace but one of my favorites is  2 Corinthians 12:9 . Paul is saying:  “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfec...

   "Surely Your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life,..." Psalm 23:6 (NLT)  I was reminded of this incident that happened last fall. Our English Lab had just had surgery to remove some tumors from her hip and leg. This is what I posted from that night:  So, I had a rough night. First, I was very nauseated, my back and hip were hurting and I couldn’t fall asleep. I got back up with a cup of tea and began reading my devotional on Emmanuel. Then shortly afterwards, Emma decided she didn’t like her evening meal and threw it up in the hall. Poor baby. I thought I felt bad. Nothing compares to throwing up with an E collar around your neck. (those who have pets will get the picture). So, at about 2:00 am I am cleaning up her and her collar and the floor. My back was already hurting but I got the job done. (And I was proud of myself that I didn’t break down in tears feeling sorry for myself). I went back to reading some more. Emma then went to...

  "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you." 1 Kings 17:9 In my previous posts, I have been speaking on "Seasons" . Last post I wrote about our season at Cherith- which means  "separation", "cutting off" . Sometimes God has us go through a season when we have to totally depend on Him for all our needs. God sent Elijah to the brook Cherith ( 1 Kings 17), where he was totally dependent on God to provide food, water and safety. After a period of time, God then sent Elijah to the town of Zarephath, where a widow woman would care for him. Zarephath  means "refinery" from the root word to test or prove true . God was preparing Elijah for the great miracle at Mount Carmel, where fire fell from heaven and burned up the offering and everything around it- to display God's power and to prove that He was the only True God, as opposed to Baal and all the othe...

 "Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan."  1 Kings 17:3  In my previous post, I spoke about the different seasons that we go through spiritually. Today I want to speak more specifically. If we have a desire to fulfill our destiny, to fulfill the purpose that God has ordained for us, we must pass through many spiritual seasons. God destines and ordains these seasons in order to refine us, draw us closer to Him so that we may truly know Him in intimate ways. I have, and always will, maintain that our walk with the Lord is not a list of do's and don't's. It is not a life of tradition, religious activity and so on- but it is a relationship- a relationship that we begin to establish when we first are saved and begin our walk with Him. As time goes on, we learn how to enrich that relationship- just as any spouse would do in a marriage. You learn one another. You never stop learning and knowing your spouse. And w...