RESPONDING TO GOD’S CALL

“For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was His plan from before the beginning of time -- to show us His grace through Christ Jesus.”  (1 Timothy 1:9 NLT)

Years ago a colleague in Ontario recounted an interesting experience with a fax.  Members of his church who were living in Australia sent him a fax.  He read it, and then noticed the date of the fax transmission. It was dated and sent the day after he received it -- because of Australia's time zone.  He dubbed the letter his "fax from the future".

God is calling to you from the future and into the future with increasing persuasiveness.  God is sending you "future messages" about what it means to be a child of God, to be a disciple of Jesus, to live a holy life.

None of us can manage, control or manipulate the future.  However, God calls you and then guides you toward the call.  God is always ahead of you, inviting you toward a richer life in Christ. 

-- from the church bulletin of Christ Church United, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada 

#5915

CALLED TO SELF-DENIAL

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”  (Philippians 2:3-4 NIV)

Self-denial conjures up in our minds all sorts of groveling and self-hatred. We imagine that it most certainly means rejection of our individuality and will probably lead to various forms of self-mortification.

On the contrary, Jesus called us to self-denial without self-hatred. Self-denial is imply a way of coming to understand that we do not have to have our own way. Our happiness is not dependent upon getting what we want…

Self-denial is not the same thing as self-contempt. Self-contempt claims that we have no worth, and even if we did have worth we should reject it. Self-denial declares that we are of infinite worth and shows us how to realize it. Self-contempt denies the goodness of the creation; self-denial affirms that it was indeed good. Jesus made the ability to love ourselves the prerequisite for our reaching out to others. (Matthew 22:39) 

-- Richard J. Foster in “Celebration of Discipline”

#5364

THE CALLING OF GOD

“With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling, and that by His power He may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. We pray this so that the name of our LORD Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the LORD Jesus Christ.”  (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 NIV)

What is the calling of God? In every life, calling may manifest itself in a different way, but the result will be the same. God's calling does not allow us to separate the sacred from the secular. We have one life to live for Him in every aspect of existence. The calling of God challenges us to bring Him into our most mundane activities, breathing life into our smallest tasks, and giving power to our greatest challenges.

-- Stephen Arterburn in “The Power Book”


#4527