Answer The Call

Ephesians 1:1"Paul, and apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saint which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Jesus Christ".

We all have a calling from God. It doesn't matter who you are, we were all saved ,separated and set aside to proclaim the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some of us have been called to be Teachers, Preacher, and Pastors, while others are called to be members of the body, doing various functions. But no matter what the call, we are all called to be servants of Jesus Christ in word and deed. Now there are not many who have the calling that Paul had on his life or who has suffered as much, but we are all to surrender to that call with the same determination that Paul did.

 Paul was greatly privileged, there is no greater privilege in all the world than to be a servant of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the son of God, the supreme Lord of the universe in all it's enormity. Paul was possessed by Jesus Christ. Jesus the Son of God had took on human form to save the whole world. God's only begotten Son has given man the chance of knowing Him in the most personal way, as his Savior and Lord. Paul knew Christ, knew Him personally, knew him as his savior. Imagine knowing the Son of God personally! No greater privilege could exist. Paul knew this and he surrendered his life completely to Christ. All he was and all he had, Paul turned it over to Christ. He was possessed and obsessed with Christ. He Lived for Christ and for Christ alone. Christ was Paul's Savior, but he was also his Lord and Master. Paul was not his own to do as he willed; he was Christ's to do only as Christ willed. There was also a call to the Church and it's believers; we have been called out separated, consecrated, sacred and holy. We have given ourselves to live a consecrated, holy life, all for the glory of God. So we must also surrender our all over to Christ. His will must be our will, as we live our life for His glory. We must be sure that we are counted among the saints of God by living a faithful life for the glory of God.

 

How many of us can truly say that what we are doing is God's will? How many of us are sure that our work and profession are of god and not for self elevation. Is our calling biblically backed. Remember God doesn't change" Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever". Can we truly say we are right where God wants us? Are we working and serving where God wants us or where we want to be? Are we in God's will or are we trying to make our will his will?

Speak Boldly

Acts 18:9-10 " then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee,and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city".

It seems today many who have been called to proclaim the word of God are more concerned about the feelings of the people than they are about the saving of souls. We live in a time when correction is looked upon as judging, and being popular is more important than being effective. But the mission and purpose of the gospel and those God has chosen to proclaim it, is to prepare man for a life everlasting.

Here in our text Paul was proclaiming the word of God to those who professed to know God and he was rejected. But the Lord spoke to him in a vision telling him to stay on point and fear not. See it is the truth of the gospel that saves the souls of lost man. Making them feel good in their sins will not get them to glory. We must be carful not to be more concerned with filling up pews and collection plates, than we are in saving souls and making disciples. We shouldn't let the fear of appearing judgmental keep us from pointing someone going wrong, in the right direction. After all the focus of any ministry should be to present every person perfect in Christ before the Father.

Today's religion tends to be more about who we are and what we can get instead of who God is and what we need to give up. Let us turn back to God and work tirelessly in the building of His Kingdom and the spreading of His gospel. Remember His love for us offers us salvation, but our love for Him receives Him in our hearts..

God Is Great!

Psalm 104:1 "Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honor and majesty."
As one meditates upon this Psalm, it sings of the greatness of God and the gift he has given to man, His glory.He is honored in that the heavens, and the elements, depict His majesty. He is honored by the beast of the field, the birds of the air, and all of nature obeys His laws. All of  His creation obeys and  responds to His will, but man.

Man has been given the power of choice, he may disobey God, he may reject God's love, and may turn a deaf ear to God's call, but in the end MUST give glory to God and acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ. Unfortunately, this might come to late to bring salvation (Phil.2:11).In His power God gives life, protects life and preserves life. Through His power, we shall be victorious over death, the grave, and hell. With His grace He has supplied man with all he needs. We have the assurance of His presence and power, to guide our ever move, to give us strength for every task, and to protect us from all evil. The greatness of God is all laid up in His wonderful gift to all mankind Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

When we accept this wonderful gift God has given us, we can enjoy a peaceful life, in the rest of our Father which art in Heaven.We will have happiness and joy that can come from no other source. But all this hinges upon one thing, it all comes through Jesus Christ, God offered the gift, will you accept it?

Do You Love The Lord?

John 14:15 " If you love me, keep my commandments"

Do you really love the Lord? Now of course all of us would say yes, and the truth is we all truly believe we do. But do you love Him more than your spouse? Is your commitment to Him greater than that to your job? Do you have as much trust in Him as you do your bank accounts? Do you spend as much time with Him as you do with your car? If we were really honest we would see that there are other things in our life that tend to come before Jesus.

When it comes to the things which we deem important or dear to us how do they stack up with our love for Jesus. When it comes to our spouse, If you treated you spouse like you do the Lord, giving them the same attention, care, and time spent would they feel you loved them? If they show their love to you like you show your love to Christ would you feel loved? If you went to work the way we attend Church would we still have a job after a month or so of being late all the time. Would you still have a car if you paid the note like we pay our tithes, giving them what we feel like and not what we owe. The bank account gets more attention than the bible and it is guarded closer than we guard our hearts, yet we feel we really love the Lord.

In all honesty we actually live our lives based on God's love for us, more than our love for Him. Jesus tells us if we love Him to keep His commandments; which are to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart soul and mind, and to love our neighbor as yourself . Let us begin to make a conscience effort to give the Lord and the things of the Lord the same attention and energy as we do the things of this world we say we love, that a lost soul might follow us to Jesus the Savior of the world.

Can The Dead Live?

Ezekiel 37:5 "Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:


Sometime when part of a great worship service, it can be easy to  get so caught up in the moment, that you might forget the whole world is not saved. We can get so exited with what's going on inside the church, that we can forget there is a lost and dying world outside the walls. With all the shouting, hand clapping, singing, dancing and, praising going on inside, it can drown out the cry's for help taking place outside. We might overlook the fact that just outside the walls, there is a world lost in darkness,  prisoners of sin, a valley full of dead souls, and God is asking " can these bones live"?

The good news is, all in darkness can come to the marvelous light. All who are dead in sin can find life in the Word of God. God said He would cause breath to enter and they shall live, and the prophet was commanded to speak the Word of God to the dead bones and they would receive life. Jesus told us to speak the word of God to all that are spiritually dead and watch them come to life. Like Lazarus when he was called from the dead, let us speak God's word and watch His spirit move that there will be life in those dead in sin. God's spirit will begin to flow through their hearts and through the power of  regeneration, they become anew, different from the first. Because there is life in the Word and His spirit, that which was dead, can now have life.

God's will is that none shall parish. Let the people of God obey the Word of God and once again proclaim the truth of God, that a dead world might live. The bible says "faith comes by hearing, and hearing the word of God": Let us be obedient and proclaim the good news of Salvation, that the dead might live in Christ. 

Real Love

Luke 6:27-28 "But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you".

What would happen if, as Christians, we started actually living out what Jesus taught us? Jesus' teachings on love attacks several traditions and misinterpretations of scripture that we sometimes use to justify our sinful and unloving nature.While we have learned to love thy neighbor, we sometime seem to exclude our enemies. But Jesus shatters this line of thinking by instructing us to love and do good to our enemies.


The love Jesus instructs us to love with, does not result from any merit or attractiveness in the other person, but comes solely from the heart of the one loving, and we are to seek the best interest of that person, despite their behavior toward us. Now this love does not result from a weakness or failure to stand up for truth or justice, it is a purposeful love that flows from a strong heart that seeks the eternal salvation of others. This sacrificial love demonstrates that our purpose for living is larger than self. Our love must be strong and purposeful in accepting mistreatment, as it shows our trust in the Lord and his ability to use the situation for his Glory. Jesus not only taught us our love must be strong and purposeful when mistreated, but we must also be merciful to others in our daily lives, as the Father daily pours out new mercy on us.

The standard of sacrificial love goes beyond what others might do or what we might feel we should, but it is what Jesus teaches us to do, and what he did.The prime example of selfless giving is our heavenly Father himself, who showed kindness to all humanity regardless of how they treated him, as he gave his only begotten son that we might have everlasting life. When we love others the way Jesus instructed us to, we show the world we are his...

Walk The Talk

Ephesians 4:1 "I Therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called."
One day when I was lost, Jesus died upon a cross! Jesus the Christ laid down His life that we might have a right to the tree of life. He fulfilled for us all that God requires of us to enter into His kingdom and enjoy everlasting life with our Father. Everything I need to live in peace with my creator is all wrapped up in the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. With all he did, the least we can do is walk worthy of such a life.

 

Here we have Paul saying, with all Jesus did we ought to live a life worthy of the calling to which we were called. In view of all that God's grace has done for us sinners, we should live in a manner befitting the divine call and the great price paid for salvation. With all He went through, with all He endured, with all He suffered, sacrificed, gave up, and surrendered,with all He did for us ,we should live a life worthy of His name. We must be humble in our dealings with one another. Let us be patient with the weaker and lame sheep of the flock. Let us seek to bear one another's burdens in love as Christ bore ours on the cross. We are one body, we must bend over backwards to maintain the unity and oneness of the body. With all He did, let us deny our self daily and walk in harmony with our Savior.

With all Jesus did for us, we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. With all He did, we should walk worthy of our call, that a lost soul might come to know the salvation we enjoy. He died for us, so let us live for Him.