The High Calling of God

"Be still, and know that I am God;"  Psalm 46:10 Recently I have been experiencing some balance issues. After some tests, I found out that it is an inner ear issue- affecting both ears. I would be unsteady and dizzy especially moving or changing positions quickly. So- I saw a Physical Therapist the other day, and she has given me some head exercises to do, to help correct the issue. She instructed me that when I would do the exercise, such as walking while moving my head either up and down, or side to side- that if I became "unbalanced", I needed to stop, pause and reset, in an attempt to retrain my brain as to how it responds to movement. Pretty cool, I think, that we can retrain our brain. I have always been amazed at how God created our bodies to either adjust to physical circumstances or our body can actually heal itself if given the proper environment- such as a healthy diet, plenty of water and staying physically active. Recently, the Lord has laid the verse- ...

  "But earnestly desire and strive for the greater gifts [ if acquiring them is going to be your goal ] . And yet I will show you a still more excellent way [ one of the choicest graces and the highest of them all: unselfish love ] ."  1 Corinthians 13:31 (AMP)  We can not go through life without experiencing, at some point, hurt, rejection, trials, sickness, etc. It is part of life. But as God put it to me very directly years ago- while I was complaining about some things that were going on in my life- He said: "I am not as concerned with WHAT you are going through as to HOW you are going through them". He cares about what we go through, for sure. But He cares more about how we are going through them. Are we going through them with revenge on our minds? Is there bitterness in our spirits towards those who have hurt us or failed us? What drives us- our craving to be right in whatever happened- make that person pay? Or are we concerned about being right with God. ...

  This was first published May 2020 as part of the Extravagant Devotion Series   Scripture reference John 12:1-8 Continuing our Extravagant Devotion Series.  “Extravagant”  means  "exceeding the limit of reason or necessity, lacking in moderation, balance and restraint, extremely or excessively elaborate and spending much more than necessary".  We have been looking into how Mary displayed extravagant devotion to Christ. We saw how it opens the door to the prophetic, the cost, a servant's heart, breaking the flask and now how Mary stayed focused on Jesus even though she was misunderstood.  John 12:4-6 Judas Iscariot and other disciples (stated in the other gospels)- became indignant while Mary was performing her act of extravagant devotion. There was a lot of murmuring, surmising and innuendos going on around her. Mary had to push all other thoughts aside, not look at the faces or listen to the comments. She had to make her way toward Jesus- not letting...