God’s calling on our life and its success is totally up to Him. Our part then is very simple…obedience. This became very evident in I Samuel 15:22 when the old prophet replied to the people, “To obey is greater than sacrifice.”…showing that God values obedience and a surrendered heart over any religious acts. So when God opens a door to His calling in your life, you have two choices…walk through the door or balk. What He’s asking of you at that moment is for unconditional obedience, whole hearted allegiance, and covenant faithfulness…whether you understand everything or not.
Psalm 36:7 ” How priceless is Your unfailing love.”
Think about this for a moment. Everyone you will meet today is deeply loved by God…regardless of how you feel about them. They may be rude, indifferent to your plight, or even outright mean to you, but we’re to love them anyway. For to become more like Jesus, our perspective needs to be transformed to see them through God’s eyes. Many people hated Jesus, disrespected Him, and even mocked Him…but He loved them anyway. That’s because the love of God is unconditional, everlasting. and transformational…His love not based on our actions or worthiness, but is a fundamental aspect of His very nature. So today, remember to love one another just as He loves you.
Matthew 5:16 ” Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
A lighthouse doesn’t fire off cannons to call attention to it’s shining…it just shines. Back in Genesis, God spoke light into the darkness…His glory being the bright light that surrounded His Presence. This glory returned in the form of Jesus Christ, “We’ve seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.” (John 1:14) This light of God’s glory forever shing in the face of Jesus. And so as Believers, we are to let our light shine forth…standing out as brightness in a morally perverse and dark world. So how do we go about letting our light shine? We strive for a righteous life daily…showing a Jesus-like compassion to all with humility and a generous heart. For it’s how we live, not in what we say that makes the biggest impart in the people around us.
Joel 2:25 ” I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.”
Judah had been overrun by locusts…this plague of a type of grasshopper descended and swarmed on the land…without parallel in the country’s history. The agricultural economy was ruined as the devastation grew. The Writer, Joel, believed it was God’s judgment of the people due to their unrepented and stiff-necked arrogance. (Remember Pharoah and the plague of locust? Exodus 10:14) But within the verses there is also God’s promises of restoration, mercy, and abundant provision to His people… following their sincere repentance. For He promises not only physical renewal of the land, but hope and spiritual renewal of the people. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Joel 2:32)
I Samuel 17:45 ” David said to the Philistine, Goliath, ‘You come against me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.’ “
When God wanted to make a King out of David, He didn’t give him a crown…He gave him Goliath. During our lifetime we too will face unsurmountable odds, impossible situations, and hopeless circumstances. But if we look at these challenges as preparations for God’s calling, we can then view them as the process of readiness in order to fulfill His ultimate plan for our life..
Psalm 7:8 ” Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is within me.”
Godly character isn’t built by avoiding the hard seasons in our life at all cost. It’s built by trusting God through them. It’s called integrity through the bad times as well as the good…the difficult seasons as well as the easy ones. It’s doing the right thing when no one is looking…and trusting in God’s grace and mercy when those grueling and rough times hit us out of nowhere. Psalm 26:1 reminds us, “I have walked in my integrity and have trusted in the Lord without wavering.” And it’s that type of confidence in God that will guide us by the ethical framework and right relationship with God… leading us on the righteous course of life… no matter what the season is.
The Gospel is the Good News that we can be saved and forgiven from our rebellion against the God Who created us…if we will only turn from our sinful ways and put our trust in the life, death, and resurrection of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
In his letters to the Church in Corinth, the apostle Paul, warned them about false teachers and their twisted feel good message that preached another Jesus. In I Corinthians 15:1-4, he pointed out that the Gospel Message wasn’t wishy-washy, but was the profound concept that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. But in many Churches today from both the music and the pulpit, there is little to no mention of sin, repentance, the blood of Jesus, or the Cross. Instead, it’s all entertainment and an emotional experience…dressed up in spiritual language but without any power. There’s stirring words of grace, but no call for holiness…there’s a cry for intimacy, but without any personal accountability…and there’s only a rare reference to Jesus Christ, and none to His work on the Cross. As the early Church was warned by Paul, so is the Church today – do not turn the grace of God into lewdness.
James 1:26 ” If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.”
It’s been a long, hard day, and you’re headed home…tired, hungry, and still going over the crazy events of the day. Suddenly, someone cuts you off and out of your mouth comes a barrage of very unkind words that surprise even you. It’ ‘s not surprising then that Oswald Chambers once wrote, “The greatest test of a man’s character is his tongue.” Our tongue has the capability to speak both virtue and vice, and thus has the power to corrupt our entire moral character. Even King David realized how hard it was to keep his tongue from from evil when he stated in Psalm 39:1, “I will put a muzzle on my mouth.” But the saddest part is that we can’t claim to be religious if we can’t control our speech. That’s because, careless words can only harm relationships and misrepresent our faith to others…making our garbled religion useless to God.
Hebrews 12:10 ” Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness.”
The discipline of our earthly fathers is limited by time and by their fallible wisdom. But our Heavenly Father’s discipline was planned from the beginning of time by His infinite wisdom…for “our good”, (our benefit and advantage)…making us holy as He is holy. (I Peter 1:15-16) God’s Divine discipline is always out of His immense love for us, unlike earthly discipline which can serve as punishment. That’s because God’s ultimate goal in His discipline is always purposeful…conforming us more and more to His character and moral purity.
Zephaniah 3:17 ” The Lord your God is with you…”
Verses 17-19 in the third Chapter of Zephaniah describe the blessings of God’s presence, power, and protection to His people. Within these verses we see fully His love, hope, and restoration to those who trust in Him. It reminds us that God is ever present and mighty…not distant and indifferent. (Isaiah 12:6) In Hebrews 7:25, it tells us that God’s power is complete and mighty to save. Finally, God’s joy for us is deep and personal…His love and protection quiets our fears and brings us peace as He reveals His presence, power, and protection. (Psalm 131:2, Hebrews 13:5, I John 4:4, John 10:29)
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