Author: kezha1

The call of God is an expression of His nature…the purpose only being for our good and His glory. My service which results from this call on my life is always unique and suited just to me. That’s because His call always takes into account my human nature, character, gifts, talents, and passions. God will never call you to something you don’t already possess. (Even though it may be a talent you never knew you had!) Another thing is that God will never recall His giftings or call from our life. (Romans 11:29) Therefore God’s call prompts within me a desire to serve Him out of love and devotion in ways I’m familiar with.

Paul had been put on a ship sailing to Rome to stand trial before Caesar, but as it attempted to reach a safe harbor to Winter over in the ship was caught up in a violent storm & driven helplessly along by it. For many days the ship was battered by ferocious winds with neither the sun nor stars for guidance. As the storm raged on it says all aboard gave up all hope of being saved…but then God intervened with a message to Paul that all was not lost. The storms that enter our lives are very much like that…the winds turn against us… it seems like we’re being swept along against our will as we’re battered from all sides…finally finding ourselves overwhelmed by hopelessness. But just like Paul, God is there to calm the sea of chaos around us…reminding us to set our eyes on Him and not to be afraid.  

In a way our old self must be nailed to the Cross…or as Oswald Chambers called it, we need to have a White Funeral… a burial of self. Both Ephesians 4:22-24 and Colossians 3:9 speak of this taking off of our old self and putting on our new self…the imagery being that of taking off old frayed & tattered clothes and a putting on brand new ones. Thus a White Funeral is where our old self dies in order that our new self can be dedicated wholly to Christ. The term White, in a White Funeral, references back to Revelations and a sign of purity as the saints washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:14)  

Jonah couldn’t run away from God anymore. He was hemmed in from every side…in the innermost part of this giant fish with no where to go. It was just God & him, and Jonah knew his time was very short. This type of situation can be a very sobering time for anyone who’s near death…alone with just their thoughts…reflecting back on their life…either with peace or with fear.  But it says that despite Jonah’s disobedience, he still considered God his, so he called upon the Lord his God and pleaded for deliverance…knowing that God would not only hear him but save him from Sheol or death. God has a way of putting us in serious predicaments to get our attention… so we are then forced to consider making the good decision of asking for forgiveness & repenting of our waywardness.

Jesus used Parables to explain Spiritual Truths…comparing one thing (Spiritual Truths) to another (natural things). To most of the crowd, they were just nice stories, with the true meaning going over their heads. But to the Twelve disciples, when they were finally alone with Jesus, it was the time to ask questions about what He really meant & clear up their confusion. And Jesus was always ready to explain carefully & thoroughly, in order for the Twelve to gain intimate knowledge of said Spiritual Truth. So are you confused today? Are you baffled & bewildered by troubles, illness, sorrow, or pain in your life or the life of another? Is your life a confused jumbled mess right now with no answers? Might I then suggest you do what the disciples regularly did…they got alone with Jesus. For when it’s just Jesus & you, He will give insight, discernment, perception, and most of all wisdom into the most confusing of predicaments.

When everything around us is dark & chaotic it’s difficult, if not almost impossible, to make good decisions. Our mind goes blank, our emotions get the better of us, and even simple choices are hard to make. But if we ask the Lord to send us His light and truth into the confusion, He is faithful to bring clarity, order, and understanding. We can then be confident, as we walk in this light and truth, that He will supply wisdom to make good decisions. As it says in Psalm 25:4-5, ” Make me to know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my Salvation.”

To take this idea that God is our refuge, let’s read Psalm 5:11-12 which says, ” Let all who take refuge in You be glad; let them sing for joy. Spread Your protection over them, that those who love Your Name may rejoice in You. For surely, O Lord, You bless the righteous; You surround them with Your favor as with a shield.” Both these Scriptures depict God as our island hideaway where danger is kept far off shore. But both also talk about songs of joy & deliverance, which translated are more shouts of victory. Troubles will continue to invade our lives…there’s no getting around it. But God promises protection, security, and help during those harrowing times…allowing us to rejoice in victory over them. 

Mother Teresa once said, ” I pray that you will understand the words of Jesus, ‘Love one another as I have loved you.'(John 15:12) Ask yourself, ‘How has He loved me? Do I really love others in the same way?’ Unless this love is among us, we can kill ourselves with work and it will only be work, not love. Work without love is slavery.” When Jesus told His disciples to love one another it really wasn’t a new commandment…in Leviticus 19:18 they were told to “Love your neighbor as yourself”, but here Jesus changes the wording from “neighbor” to “one another” and from “as yourself” to “as I have loved you.” So by changing the wording, Jesus put the focus on our need to pattern our lives after His sacrificial love for us. This takes examining our own lives and thinking about the many ways God has loved us… and then emulating that same grace, mercy, and love to everyone we come in contact with daily. The greatest model we have before us to follow is the life of Jesus…serving as and most worthy of imitation in our life.

When Jesus taught He never used idle words or offhand remarks…every word and phrase that He used held great importance. In this discourse, He was teaching about His Second Coming…that it would not only be unmistakable to all, but also sudden and totally unexpected, with no window of opportunity for last minute repentance. In His reference to Lot’s wife, we need to go back to Genesis 19:1-29 and the story of how Sodom & Gomorrah were reduced to ashes by God’s righteous judgment. Ezekiel 16:49-52 tells us that Sodom was not only known for its homosexuality & sexual violence but as a very affluent city, the people were overfed, arrogant, and indifferent to the poor and needy. This is where we find Lot & his family living…the righteous living among these heinous transgressions…Lot’s soul tormented by what he heard & saw everyday. But Lot was also very wealthy and with great status so the idea of leaving everything behind caused him to be reluctant. But the two angels commanded they leave with this warning, “Flee and don’t look back.” But as the story goes, Lot’s wife did look back longingly at all she once had and she became a pillar of salt. So going back to Jesus’ teaching, why did He use her as an example? What happened to Lot’s wife is a sobering lesson about disobedience, hesitation, and looking back on things (even very good things) that God has very pointedly told you to leave behind.  

Luke 8:1-3 gives us insight into the women, both named like Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and Salome, and other unnamed ladies that accompanied Jesus and His disciples as they traveled. They were a loyal group that had been cured of evil spirits & diseases and desired to support Jesus out of their private means of money & provisions…playing a very pivotal role in the early Church…funding missionary efforts & opening up their homes as places Jesus could teach. But what was so amazing about this was that in the day Rabbis flatly refused to teach women, so Jesus’ acceptance of them into His group of disciples and followers was highly unusual and unheard of. Just think, these ladies practiced hospitality as they served and all the while learned from the Master Himself as they witnessed miracles and listened and soaked in His teachings…so in a way they did both, “Follow Me.” and later after Jesus’ resurrection they were more than equipped to, “Go Home and Teach.”