"When God Calls"

Imagine you get a personal phone call from Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. asking you for a favor. Let’s say he asks you to come to his office right away so that he can talk to you about something very important. He tells you not to worry about your class schedule; he can have his secretary take care of that for the rest of the day. He is adamant about needing you there immediately because the window of opportunity is small. Do you drop everything and go? Are you excited about the possibility of sitting in his office and visiting with him about how you can help him? Or do you share with him that you are busy and do not have any free time until tomorrow afternoon? What about simply not showing up at his office and ignoring his request? What if he called you personally every day for a week…would you go meet with him?

Ken Davis brought us a challenge on Monday during Convocation (watch it online if you missed it! Ken Davis). If God clearly and miraculously revealed Himself to you and called on you to do something for Him…how long would it take you obey? We were reminded that God speaks to us every day. When God comes near and speaks to us we are standing on holy ground. God promises to build His Kingdom but He chooses to use our lives to do the work. Moses was a less than capable ordinary guy empowered by an extraordinary God. For every excuse Moses gave as to why he could not do the job, God reminded him that it wasn’t about his abilities…it was all about God’s abilities! “God will never ask you to do anything He hasn’t first prepared you to do.”

God wants us to experience live to its fullest. Full life is directly connected to our level of obedience when God calls. We cannot do our own thing, ignore God’s call, and assume we should enjoy the blessings of being fully alive. How often do we believe we should be given more blessings than we already have? Is God loving when He tells us “NO”? Is it right for God to withhold from me when I refuse to obey His call? Which excuse am I using to ignore God’s call to me? “Who am I?; How should I explain who You are God?; What if they don’t believe me?; What if they won’t listen?; What if they doubt me?; What if…?” God tells us “You can’t…but I can!” Will you trust Him?

“Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.” John 14:21 NLT

Thoughts on Prayer

We all realize that as Christians, we are supposed to pray. We know that somehow prayer moves God to action. Many of us have heard that we are to P.U.S.H. when we pray (pray until something happens). I do not always know how hard or how long I should keep pushing. One of the challenges I experience is having the proper perspective when I pray. At times for me there is a gap between knowing that I should pray and how I should go about praying for people's needs and for God's will. Are we supposed to say, "If it is your will Lord..." or does that cancel our request made in faith? Are we supposed to pray for 5 minutes or 3 hours? Should we read the Bible first and then pray or is it the other way around? Do we have to follow the acronym A.C.T.S. (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, intercession) as a proper outline for prayer or can we speak randomly? Are we to speak in King James English or can we use something that sounds more like "The Message"? Should we close our eyes, sit or stand, speak out loud, repeat the entire request again after it has been shared, remind God who the person is that we are praying for and all the details of their need, repeat the name God or Jesus over and over...?

I do not know about you, but I truly enjoy having conversations with people when we simply allow the conversation to move as subjects come up. I enjoy the visit more when the other person is relaxed and comfortable, when they appear able to share what is on their heart freely, when time does not appear to be an issue, when we talk about things that matter, when we trust one another completely, and when our conversations are shared with others who are able to learn something from them. I find that I enjoy "texting" a short thought without needing a lengthy communication at the time, making a quick phone call to inform someone I am thinking about them at the moment, or leaving a note that someone may find find later in the day. 

Could it be that prayer might be used more often if we did not over-think it so much? Let's simply understand it to be conversation with our Daddy in heaven who loves to hear about how our day is going, whose needs we are thinking about, fears or concerns we may have, the joys we experience, or that we might be feeling overwhelmed. Every-time we pray from our heart to an all-powerful loving God, we are changed for the better! Keep praying.

Philippians 4:6
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

The Dog of Desire

When Dr. Eric Mason spoke in convocation back in early September, he used a metaphor in his sermon that struck and convicted me: namely, that our physical desires are big Rottweilers on long chains.

Though we have ownership of our desires, they can quickly get out of our control, dragging us in directions we don't want to go. Not only can they drag us in the wrong direction, they can also turn on us, inflicting wounds that leave deep scars.

When we give our desires to God, he trains them and conforms them to His will. After our desires return from "divine obedience school," they are no longer impetuous Rottweilers, but rather seeing-eye dogs. They gently guide us in the way we should go, protecting us from harm that we cannot see.

All we need to do is entrust our unruly desires to the Divine Trainer, let Him conform those desires to His will, and blindly follow the "seeing-eye dog" of God's will in total faith and trust, knowing that His way is infinitely better than our own.

--Catherine Wilson

Finding God's Will

If you're a perfectionist like me, you might just not want to make a "huge" mistake or a wrong decision which means a waste of time and effort but no we do not have to worry. In Romans 8:28 we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.The biggest thing I think is trusting in Him and doing the best we can for today.

Visit this website:

http://www.cma-ministries.org/Studies/how_can_I_know_what_god_wants_me_to_do.pdf