calling

"If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer." - 2 Corinthians 1:6

"God must love you a lot! He doesn't allow someone to go through the kinds of adversity you have experienced unless He has a special calling on your life." Those were the words said to me by two different mentors at two different times within a three-year period.

Later I would learn another related truth from a respected man of God - a man who lives in another country, a man whom God uses throughout the globe. "The depth and width of your faith experiences are directly proportional to your calling." What were these men of God saying?

They were describing a process of preparation that God takes each of His leaders through when He plans to use them in significant ways. A "faith experience" is an event or "spiritual marker" in your life about which you can say, "That is where I saw God personally moving in my life." It is an unmistakable event in which God showed Himself personally to you. It was the burning bush for Moses; the crossing of the Red Sea or the Jordan River for the nation of Israel; Jacob's encounter with the angel. It was the feeding of the 5,000 for the disciples. It was the time when you saw God face to face in your life.

If God has plans of using you in the lives of many others, you can expect that He is going to allow certain faith experiences to come into your life in order to build a foundation that will be solid. That foundation is what you will be able to look back on to keep you faithful to Him in the times of testing. Each of us must have personal faith experiences in which we experience God personally so that we can move in faith to whatever He may call us. Do you need a personal faith experience right now in your life? Pray that God will reveal Himself to you. He delights in doing that.

-os hillman

handling

"…because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:5-6)

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)

When a mother is preparing to feed her baby, she always tests the temperature of the milk before giving it to the baby. She may place a drop or two on her hand, she may feel the bottle itself, or even taste the milk herself. The mother simply wants to ensure that the bottle is just right for her baby. When the baby receives the bottle, the Parent knows that he or she can handle it.

Many times, we find ourselves in places in life that seem unbearable. We often question whether we will be able to stand the test of time. We wonder if we will be able to handle the weight of the situation. We find ourselves in the very situations we never imagined ourselves being in. The situations that we looked at from afar and said, "I cannot handle that." Many of us are dealing with situations that seem too hot too handle and we feel like throwing in the towel and giving up all together.
 
However, EVERY trial and tribulation has been tested by the Father before it is allowed to enter our lives. We must know and understand that God has not forgotten about us and He knows what we can bear better than ourselves. When we feel as though we can't go on, God knows what we’re going through, what we can handle and he will never leave us or forsake us.
-timothy jackson

healing

Misty's stormy years as a teenager had taken their back toll. Now twenty three, she still couldn't get over the stigma of being the "black sheep" in the family. Harsh words and unkind actions by both daughter and parents left scars, threatening never to heal.

 

Misty had become a Christian and changed her life, but the black sheep stigma still remained. Each time she saw her parents or talked with them by phone, her hurts returned. Although her mother and father said they loved her and were proud of her, the angered and injured feelings wouldn't leave.

 

"My parents tell me they love me," she pondered. "They say they forgave me for the past. They even ask me to forgive them." Misty couldn't understand why the pain could not leave.

 

Finally, she took it to the Lord in serious prayer. She looked up Scriptures on God healing those in pain. Misty began praying God would heal her wounds. She asked Him to help her forgive her parents for their unkind words and deeds. Whenever the pain tried to return, she returned to the Lord and left it with Him.

How could she make everything up to them? Misty would buy everything in the world, if that would help. God spoke to her again. He touched Misty's wounded soul. He reminded her that her mother and father had already forgiven her. Now, God asked Misty to take the final step. She must forgive herself.

Tears flowed. Cleansing confession poured out from Misty to her Savior. She finally turned to her inner self and forgave. The transformation and healing were complete. Misty felt the peace she longed to feel for so long.

From then on, phone calls with Mom and Dad warmed her heart. She really wasn't the black sheep. Instead, she had been the little wounded lamb. Now, Jesus, the real Lamb of God, healed and made her happy and whole.

-author unknown

past

"Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah."  Judges 11:29

We've all heard stories of individuals who have overcome extreme hardship during their childhood years. Children of alcoholics, orphans who never have parents, loss of parents to a fatal crash, childhood disease. These are all difficult circumstances to overcome.

Jephthah was a man who overcame his obstacles and refused to allow his circumstances to prevent him from becoming great in God's sight. He was born to Gilead, a result of his father's adulterous encounter with a prostitute. Gilead's wife, who had bore more sons, decided to reject Jephthah, and drove him away from their home saying, "You are not going to get any inheritance in our family because you are the son of another woman." Imagine the rejection this young man felt as he was cast away from his own family.

This experience taught Jephthah to become a hardened warrior. Today he probably would have been part of a street gang. As he got older, his reputation as a warrior became known to those in his country, so much so that when the Ammonites made war on Israel, the elders of Gilead went to Jephthah and asked him to be their commander. Jephthah had to fight off those feelings of rejection from previous years.

"Didn't you hate me and drive me from my father's house?" he responded. He overcame his hurt and pain, and responded to the call God had on his life.

It is said that if we were to help the butterfly remove itself from the cocoon, the butterfly would not be strong enough to survive. It is the struggle that prepares the butterfly to become strong enough to fly. Without the struggle in the cocoon, it could not survive as a butterfly.

The Lord prepares each of us in similar ways. Some of our childhoods seem to have been harsh and born from a seemingly unloving God. However, the Lord knows our struggle and will make our life an instrument in His hand if we will follow Him with an upright heart. He does make all things beautiful in His time if we are willing to be patient.

burden

Come to me to the most populated prison in the world. The facility has more inmates than bunks. More prisoners than plates. More residents than resources.

Come to me to the world's most oppressive prison. Just ask the inmates; they will tell you. They are overworked and underfed. Their walls are bare and bunks are hard.

No prison is so populated, no prison so oppressive, and, what's more, no prison is so permanent. Most inmates never leave. They never escape. They never get released. They serve a life sentence in this overcrowded, underprovisioned facility.

The name of the prison? You'll see it over the entrance. Rainbowed over the gate are four cast-iron letters that spell out its name:

W - A - N - T

The prison of want. You've seen her prisoners. They are "in want." They want something.They want something bigger. Nicer. Faster. Thinner. They want.

They don't want much, mind you. They want just one thing. One new job. One new car. One new house. One new spouse. They don't want much. They want just one.

And when they have "one," they will be happy. And they are right -- they will be happy. When they have "one," they will leave the prison. But then it happens. The new car smell passes. The new job gets old. The neighbors buy a larger television set. The new spouse has bad habits. The sizzle fizzles, and before you know it, another ex-con breaks parole and returns to jail.

Are you in prison? You are if you feel better when you have more and worse when you have less. You are if joy is one delivery away, one transfer away, one award away, or one make-over away. If your happiness comes from something you deposit, drive, drink, or digest, then face it -- you are in prison, the prison of want.

-max lucado

owner

"So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? (Luke 16:11).

 

Although he was an innovator in the reclamation of silver in the photographic process, Stanley Tam of Lima, Ohio, is best known for his commitment to Jesus Christ. A large sign adorning the home of United States Plastic Corporation proclaims "Christ Is the Answer," and Tam's widely read book, God Owns My Business, describes how he arrived at the conviction that he should legally make God the literal owner of his business.

 

Tam, who has traveled throughout the country and world to testify about his Christian faith, is one who is willing to "put his money where his mouth is." Although his business success could have made him a millionaire many times over, he and his wife, Juanita, draw only modest salaries from U.S. Plastics. All profits are channeled through the Stanita Foundation, with those funds designated for a variety of Christian ministries, primarily overseas missions.

 

In the fall of 1954, Tam was speaking at a revival meeting in Medellin, Colombia when God confronted him in a supernatural way. God let him know He wanted him to turn the business over to Him completely and become His employee. So, on January 15, 1955, Stanley Tam ceased being a stockholder in either of his companies, States Smelting and Refining Corporation or United States Plastic Corporation.

 

In order to do this God had to deal with one area in his life. "I have always enjoyed making money, and God knew that. Had He left me undisturbed in this area, I could have become a proud, materialistic, self-centered spiritual misfit. In asking of me the submission of the greatest drive of my life, He removed a blighting influence and replaced it with an inner peace and satisfaction such as I could never have known otherwise.

 

I don't think there is such a thing as a part-time Christian; we are all in full-time ministry. We each need to ask God to take our vocation and make it a ministry. And if we ask Him, He will do it."

 

Does God own your business or your work life? If not, why not make that decision today and let Him use your work life for His glory.

 

...name

Of all his names, "Father" is God's favorite. We know he loves this name most because this is the one he used most. While on earth, Jesus called God "Father" over two hundred times. In his first recorded words Jesus explained, "Didn't you know that I must be in my Father's house?" ( Luke 2:49). In his final triumphant prayer he proclaims, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." (Luke 23:46). In the Gospel of John alone, Jesus repeats this name 156 times. God loves to be called Father. After all, didn't Jesus teach us to begin our prayer with the phrase, "Our Father (Abba)"?

Abba was an everyday word. It was a homely, family-word. The equivalent would be Poppa, Daddy, or Dad. It is right for you to call God your Creator, indeed He is. You speak the truth when you call Him your Master, indeed he is. It is appropriate for you to call Him your King, Lord, and Sovereign God. But, if you want to touch his heart call him by the name he loves to hear. Call Him Abba. Call him your Father.

Some time ago, my daughter and I spent several days in the old city of Jerusalem. One afternoon, as we were exiting the Jaffa gate, my daughter and I found ourselves in a throng of people. From somewhere in the crowd we heard the voice of a small child. "Abba! Abba!" We turned and looked. There was a young girl, perhaps four or five years of age. She had become separated from her family. As the people were rushing past, she was stopped and afraid. "Abba! Abba!"

From out of nowhere, her father appeared. By looking at his hair and clothing, I knew, he was a Hasidic Jew. When he heard his daughter cry "Abba!", he had realized that she was separated from the family. I watched closely; I wanted to see what an abba would do.

He hurried over to her. Nothing was going to stop him from reaching his daughter. He immediately lowered himself to her level. He held her close. He then looked at her in the face and brushed away the tear. He gave her a firm word. He then stood and lifted her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and legs around his waist. He held her as they descended the ramp. When he stopped at a busy street, she stepped off the curb, so he pulled her back. When the signal changed, he led her and her sisters through the intersection. In the middle of the street, he reached down and swung her up into his arms and continued their journey. 

That is what an abba does. Isn't that what God has done for us? When we wandered away, he found us. When he found us, he lowered himself to our level. He brushed away our tears. He gave us a word of correction. He picked us up and he is leading us home. You have an abba.

I know what some of you are thinking. Yeah, God does that for some people. For good people. For strong people. Not me. I'm just ho-hum. I'm just average. I'm just measly old, little old, common, ordinary me.

Really? Because I read something else. According to what I read in the Bible, you are anything but ordinary. I read that when you said "yes" to Jesus, he said "yes" to you, that when you gave him your heart he returned the favor and gave you his.

I read that your Abba "has blessed [you] with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" ( Ephesians 1:3).

That you are a "new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" ( 2 Corinthians 5:17).

I read that you "have obtained an inheritance" ( Ephesians 1:11). You are "heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ" ( Romans 8:17).

I read that you have been "delivered... from the power of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the Son" ( Colossians 1:13). I read that "no one will snatch them out of my hand" ( John 10:28).

Normal? I don't think so.

I read that if you "Ask, you shall receive, Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you" ( Matthew 7:7). In fact, Jesus promised, "Whatever you ask in the name of your Father that will be given unto you" ( John 16:23).

I even read this: "Greater is He who is in you than He who is in the world" ( 1 John 4:4).

You used to be normal, ho-hum, and average. No longer. You are not who you used to be! Now you are:

    God's child ( John 1:12).

    Christ's friend ( John 15:15).

    A member of Christ's body ( 1 Corinthians 12:27)

    A saint ( Ephesians 1:1).

    Redeemed and forgiven of all your sins ( Colossians 1:14).

    Complete in Christ, lacking in nothing ( Colossians 2:10).

    Free from condemnation ( Romans 8:1-2).

    God's coworker ( 2 Corinthians 6:1).

    Seated with Christ in the heavenly realm ( Ephesians 2:6).

    God's workmanship, his masterpiece ( Ephesians 2:10).

    A citizen of heaven ( Philippians 3:20).

    Adopted into God's family ( Ephesians 1:5).

    Born of God, and the evil one cannot touch you ( 1 John 5:18).

    You have been bought with a price... you belong to God ( 1 Corinthians 6:20).

    Not ever going to be separated from the love of God ( Romans 8:35).

It seems to me that your Abba has high affection for you! If you have taken on the name of Christ, then you have clout. When you speak, God listens. When you pray, heaven takes note. What you bind on earth is bound in heaven. What you loose on earth is loosed in heaven. Your prayer impacts the actions of God.

Why? Because you are a child of God. And you have a good father... a good, good father! 

-max lucado