The Bible speaks in many, many places about wars, and compares the Christian walk and lifestyle to that of a soldier, going to battle daily.
Something struck me the other day, and had remained on me….
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. - 2 Timothy 2:3-4, KJV
Isn’t that picturesque? Can you just imagine someone being “tangled” in the affairs of this life? Can you just see the living vines and creepers in a jungle, and they have some poor soul in their grasp, slowly tightening like the grip of some terrible constricting snake?
It’s very appropriate when you talk of the world in this manner. I do feel that we as Christians do get tangled in the things of this world too often. That being said, how many times do we truly take that to heart? Do we ever really seek to become untangled from the things of this life that demand our attention? I know that I, for one, have become ensnared by many things… hobbies can turn into obsessions, television shows can become “must see”, slowly the time in our life is taken up until there is not enough time for the things of God. Like a sponge, the things of life will demand every drop of spare time we have, until family is dry, church is dry, spirituality is dry, and we are still left unfulfilled.
I have had a number of hobbies in the past few years… at one time I was over-enamored with my car, and joined an online forum for owners, spending enough time there that I was asked to become a moderator for the site. What a stupid hobby! Making a Honda Civic go faster and look nicer. I never got my heart really into it, but I was entangled in it. I had become so entangled that I was given responsibilities, and I couldn’t let those go… then I was reminded of the words of Jesus:
And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead. –Matthew 8:21-22 KJV
Those that don’t have the call on their lives can tend to it.
The phrase “Pick your battles” is a very common cliché`, but it becomes very true here. There are battles everywhere in life. You need to pick what battles you intend to fight as a Christian. If you want to battle abortion and other evils, and try to legislate righteousness then do that. You should pick your battles… pick what you will put your resources and time into.
Just as a tree needs to be pruned to grow in the direction it needs to grow, to produce the most fruit, we as Christians need to be pruned, so that we will produce the most fruit. The tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is “hewn down and cast in the fire”. If we desire to “please him that has chosen us to be a soldier”, then we must not entangle ourselves with many of the extraneous affairs of this life.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Thursday, January 18, 2007
The Call of God
What is the call of God?
What does it mean for God to place his call on your life?
Such questions have been of interest to me for years. For many years I knew what it was, but not how it was bestowed. What it is, is recognition that God has destined your life to be a servant of his people, a minister. How did you get it? It’s God and only God, however it seemed to my mind that it could only be “handed out” by other ministers, and typically it was only “handed out” to kids of the Pastor, oftentimes by a visiting minister.
It wasn’t until adulthood that I started realizing what it really was.
Jeremiah speaks of it as a “fire, shut up in his bones”:
…But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. – Jeremiah 20:9, KJV
Why does Jeremiah say the word was in his heart in that manner? Because a fire in your bones cannot be silenced or quelled. It must take its course. God’s call is the same way; it’s the same thing… a mission from God that MUST BE ACCOMPLISHED. Jeremiah knew his duty was to speak to the people of their imminent doom.
Paul said, and this is among my favorite scriptures:
For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! – 1 Corinthians 9:16. KJV
Why is necessity laid upon Paul? Because he chooses to obey God, he chooses not to ignore the “fire in his bones”, it is a yoke and a burden that he cannot give up, it is his goal and his mission, and what he’s put on earth for. He knows this and it is as impossible to ignore as the instinct for a worker bee to collect her pollen.
Even Jesus said, “not my will but thine be done”. It’s not what we want, it’s what God wants in our lives. And the call of God is such that it is inside you, it’s not something you merely want to do… NECESSITY is laid upon you, just like Paul, woe to you if you do NOT follow your call!
Yet how can you define the call of God? Is it an obsession, or an instinct? How about a weight or burden? A yoke or a passion? All of these?
Like I mentioned before, I thought that the call of God was reserved for the kids of the pastor, after all, they are constantly in the sight of the visiting preacher. When I begun to hear the call of God, I didn’t know it was the call of God, no one bothered to explain it. The Pastor didn’t tell me and the visiting ministers didn’t inform me. How was I to know unless I learned on my own?
Paul talks about his conversion and calling here:
For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. – Galatians 1:12
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. – Galatians 1: 15-17
I think it’s interesting that Paul did not attempt to learn of his calling from his fellow man, but he went straight to God, the author and finisher of our faith, and learned of God what he was to do.
Likewise, when I had begun to understand the calling of God placed upon me, I did not learn it from my Pastor, or any minister, or any prophet. God gave me revelation to understand what was in me, and confirmation was given through prophets, ministers, and pastors. Willing vessels confirmed that what was in me was of the Holy Ghost, for although Paul learned from God, he certainly was not alone in his ministry at Damascus. He was confirmed by like-members of the Body of Christ there, he was affirmed to be a minister of God by the other ministers there.
Sometimes I look at people who have learned of their call only from others, and I may observe that their call has not improved their sinning lifestyle, and hypocrisy is still rampant in their lives. This is not to compare myself to them, by any means, however I entertain a certain amount of skepticism when a person needs someone else to tell them that they are called of God. In my opinion, God’s call is pure enough to know it is God, loud enough so that you feel it (not hear it), and powerful enough that you can’t ignore it without a lot of discomfort. If you need someone to tell you that you have God’s call on your life, then what kind of call is it, a silent call that doesn’t work on your life? I’m not sure.I don’t proclaim to know everything, indeed I know very little, but I’m learning.
What I do know is that there is a call on my life. It is a burden that cannot be lightened, a passion that I cannot ignore, and a fire that cannot be quenched.
What does it mean for God to place his call on your life?
Such questions have been of interest to me for years. For many years I knew what it was, but not how it was bestowed. What it is, is recognition that God has destined your life to be a servant of his people, a minister. How did you get it? It’s God and only God, however it seemed to my mind that it could only be “handed out” by other ministers, and typically it was only “handed out” to kids of the Pastor, oftentimes by a visiting minister.
It wasn’t until adulthood that I started realizing what it really was.
Jeremiah speaks of it as a “fire, shut up in his bones”:
…But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. – Jeremiah 20:9, KJV
Why does Jeremiah say the word was in his heart in that manner? Because a fire in your bones cannot be silenced or quelled. It must take its course. God’s call is the same way; it’s the same thing… a mission from God that MUST BE ACCOMPLISHED. Jeremiah knew his duty was to speak to the people of their imminent doom.
Paul said, and this is among my favorite scriptures:
For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! – 1 Corinthians 9:16. KJV
Why is necessity laid upon Paul? Because he chooses to obey God, he chooses not to ignore the “fire in his bones”, it is a yoke and a burden that he cannot give up, it is his goal and his mission, and what he’s put on earth for. He knows this and it is as impossible to ignore as the instinct for a worker bee to collect her pollen.
Even Jesus said, “not my will but thine be done”. It’s not what we want, it’s what God wants in our lives. And the call of God is such that it is inside you, it’s not something you merely want to do… NECESSITY is laid upon you, just like Paul, woe to you if you do NOT follow your call!
Yet how can you define the call of God? Is it an obsession, or an instinct? How about a weight or burden? A yoke or a passion? All of these?
Like I mentioned before, I thought that the call of God was reserved for the kids of the pastor, after all, they are constantly in the sight of the visiting preacher. When I begun to hear the call of God, I didn’t know it was the call of God, no one bothered to explain it. The Pastor didn’t tell me and the visiting ministers didn’t inform me. How was I to know unless I learned on my own?
Paul talks about his conversion and calling here:
For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. – Galatians 1:12
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. – Galatians 1: 15-17
I think it’s interesting that Paul did not attempt to learn of his calling from his fellow man, but he went straight to God, the author and finisher of our faith, and learned of God what he was to do.
Likewise, when I had begun to understand the calling of God placed upon me, I did not learn it from my Pastor, or any minister, or any prophet. God gave me revelation to understand what was in me, and confirmation was given through prophets, ministers, and pastors. Willing vessels confirmed that what was in me was of the Holy Ghost, for although Paul learned from God, he certainly was not alone in his ministry at Damascus. He was confirmed by like-members of the Body of Christ there, he was affirmed to be a minister of God by the other ministers there.
Sometimes I look at people who have learned of their call only from others, and I may observe that their call has not improved their sinning lifestyle, and hypocrisy is still rampant in their lives. This is not to compare myself to them, by any means, however I entertain a certain amount of skepticism when a person needs someone else to tell them that they are called of God. In my opinion, God’s call is pure enough to know it is God, loud enough so that you feel it (not hear it), and powerful enough that you can’t ignore it without a lot of discomfort. If you need someone to tell you that you have God’s call on your life, then what kind of call is it, a silent call that doesn’t work on your life? I’m not sure.I don’t proclaim to know everything, indeed I know very little, but I’m learning.
What I do know is that there is a call on my life. It is a burden that cannot be lightened, a passion that I cannot ignore, and a fire that cannot be quenched.
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