Monday, April 27, 2009

Our Highest Calling Pt. III

"You shall be called priests of the Lord." Isaiah 61:6

"The Promise of God made to Israel belongs spiritually to all believers. Christians who let their light shine before men to serve Christ's saving purposes for the world. We may work or trade as others do, and yet we may be solely and wholly the ministering servants of God. Our chief occupation shall be to present the perpetual sacrifice of prayer, praise, and self-consecration to the Living God." Charles Spurgeon

So many people will do any amount of service (to God) rather than love. Unfortunately we are by nature are doer's and we struggle to just be what we already are. Instead of lovers and worshippers we would rather do tasks, push buttons and check lists. In doing this we feel better about ourselves and we feel in control.

God is seeking those who will love Him. He does not want nor seek workers but worshippers, those that will worship Him in Spirit and Truth. John 4:23-24

Only after that love relationship has been rightly established and all has been centered upon Him, can he safely send us out to work with Him.

"When Israel was a child I loved Him as a son and brought him out of Egypt, sacrificing to Baal and burning incense to idols. I trained him from infancy, I taught him to walk, I held him in my arms. But he doesn't know or even care that it was I who raised him."
Hosea 11:1-5
Living Bible

Man is made for God, but God is also in a sense made for man. He created us not only that we might give ourselves to Him, but that He might also give Himself to us. It was God who came down to walk with Adam and Eve in the garden. (Genesis 3:8)

God created us with the capacity to receive Him. How often it happens when we worship God, He comes to us. We see it in the scriptures and also in our experience. Worship brings God's presence near. As we worship God, and give ourselves to Him , He gives Himself to us.

In 11 Chronicles 5 We read and interesting story about the temple of Solomon being completed and the Elders gathered, the ark was brought in but the Glory of God did not come down. There were innumerable sacrifices made that day but the Glory did not come down. It was not until the trumpeters and singers "were as one" to make a sound to be heard in praise,worship and thanking the Lord" that the Glory of God came down.

"then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud for the Glory of the Lord had filled the house of God"

It was not when they built the temple. It was not when they offered sacrifices. It was when they praised and worshipped God that the Glory of the Lord came down.

We were formed for His Glory, and we must continually be transformed to escape the conformity of the world in order to full fill our Highest Calling as priests unto the Lord,"...which is our reasonable service of worship..." (Romans 12:1-3)

When God brought the four million Hebrews out of Egypt , it is significant to note that He planned in His heart to make them all priest's. `(Exodus 19:3-6) He did not want only a priestly tribe (tribe of Levi) He wanted to make the whole nation a "...a kingdom of priests and a holy nation..."

God promised them if they would fulfill two conditions they would be unto Him a peculiar and special people above all people. Those two conditions were 1. Obey His Voice 2. Keep His Commandments.

In Exodus 24:3 Israel responded and said "all the words which the Lord hath said will we do". But it wasn't long before they were worshipping a molten calf (one of the old gods from Egypt) and sitting down to eat and drink and rising up to play.

These two violations of against God caused Moses to become "waxed hot" as he descended from Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments. The people had violated both of the conditions God had set up. He could not make or force them to be a kingdom of priests it must originate from their heart and manifest in obedience. They had become so dull and disobedient they could not endure His voice any more because of their sin and violation. (Hebrews 12:19-20)

Lord have Mercy on us, and forgive us of our blanant disobeience to your voice and your commandments. Teach us once again how to walk in your ways as priests unto the Lord.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Our Highest Calling Pt.II

Isaiah 61:6 "But you shall be called the priests of the Lord..."

One of the main reasons for the "power failure" today in christian church is that Christians have failed to Minister to the Lord!

Our ministry to the Lord must come before our ministry to men if we are to be effective. Likewise if we receive ministry from man before ministering to the Lord we will find ourselves relying on man and not God as our source and trust.

We need to once again dig down into the springs of God and bury ourselves in Him as our source, not forsaking Him the fountain of living waters, as the children of Israel did by hewing out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. Jeremiah 2:13.


As we are caught up in the wonder and grace of the person of Jesus Christ and long to know Him intimately we are fulfilling our first calling. When we go Godward as priests unto the Lord we discover a new freshness of power and compassion Manward.


There are many examples of Ministering to the Lord found in the Bible.

I Sam. 2:11;18 - "but Samuel ministered before the Lord, even as a child..."

II Chronicles 5:11-14 - "the priests could not continue to ministering because of the cloud..."

Luke 1:46-55 - "My soul (mind,will,emotions) magnifies the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced..."

Acts 13:1-3 - "as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said..."

Luke 10:38-42 - "And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at Jesus' feet..."


From the beginning of time God sovereignly declared that He made all things, including man for Himself, that is, for His pleasure and for His Glory.

Col. 1: 16-17 " For by Him all things were created that are in Heaven and that are on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist."

We were made for God's pleasure, to praise and worship Him forever. We are priests unto Him first. We are the Lord's portion and His inheritance according to Deuteronomy 32:9.

I encourage you today, minister to the Lord by loving the least in your midst, minister to the Lord with your tithes and offerings, minister to the Lord in praise,worship and prayer. Fulfill your chief occupation and consecrate yourselves as ministering servants of Living God.





Friday, April 17, 2009

“If a Thing is Worth Doing, It Is Worth Doing Badly”

The great English journalist, novelist, and wit, G.K. Chesterton once said, “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” By that he did not mean that mediocrity was acceptable. By no means. He was a man whose entire life and career was a testimony to excellence. Chesterton was surely among the brightest minds of the twentieth century—a prolific journalist, best-selling novelist, insightful poet, popular debater, astute literary critic, grassroots reformer, and profound humorist. Recognized by friend and foe alike as one of the most perspicacious, epigrammatic, and jocose prose stylists in the entire literary canon, he is today the most quoted writer in the English language besides William Shakespeare. His remarkable output of books—more than a hundred published in his lifetime and half again that many afterward—covered an astonishing array of subjects from economics, art, history, biography, and social criticism to poetry, detective stories, philosophy, travel, and religion. His most amazing feat was not merely his vast output or wide range but the consistency and clarity of his thought, his uncanny ability to tie everything together. In the heart of nearly every paragraph he wrote was a jaw-dropping aphorism or a mind-boggling paradox that left readers shaking their heads in bemusement and wonder.Still, he insisted, “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” What he meant was simply, “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing.” If a thing is worth doing, but for the lack of resources; it is still worth doing. If a thing is worth doing, but for the lack of popular support; it is still worth doing. If a thing is worth doing, but for the lack of practical experience, or the lack of adequate facilities, or the lack of sufficient funds, or the lack of anything other material advantage; it is still worth doing. If a thing is worth doing, it is simply worth doing. No matter what.Of course, there is one little problem with such a philosophy: it is bound to get you into trouble. And lots of it. Guaranteed.Indeed, anyone who acts on principle is sure to attract criticism. Anyone who determines to follow a course of action is going to meet with opposition. It doesn’t matter what the course of action is and it doesn’t matter what the decisions are. Any course of action and every decision is liable to come under fire. People can only argue with a stated position. Critics can only rail against actual programs. Opponents cannot oppose nothing. In the same way that they cannot fight something with nothing, they cannot fight nothing with something.That means that if you want to remain in everyone’s good graces you’ll have to make sure to do nothing whatsoever, decide nothing whatsoever, and stand for nothing whatsoever. To not do the thing worth doing is always safer and more popular.Of course, it is also wrong.As Teddy Roosevelt proclaimed, “Better faithful than famous. Honor before prominence.” Likewise, James A. Garfield claimed, “It is a greater honor to be right than to be president—or popular, for statesmanship consists rather in removing causes than in punishing or evading results—thus, it is the rarest of qualities.” Both men would have wholeheartedly agreed with Chesterton’s maxim. And as a result, both men were reviled. Indeed, both men were ultimately shot down by assassins—Garfield succumbed to his wounds while Roosevelt survived.Doing the right thing is dangerous. It is bound to rankle the ire of some. It is bound to enrage others. It is bound to provoke a ferocious reaction. It always has. It always will.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Our Highest Calling

" You will be called priests of the Lord." Isaiah 61:6

This promise of God made to Israel belongs spiritually to all believers. Christians who let their light shine before men and purposefully reach out in God's Love are fulfilling His purpose in the earth.

We may work a job in the marketplace as others do but we are solely and wholly the servants of God. Our chief occupation is to present the perpetual sacrifice of prayer, praise, and self-consecration to the living God. This is our priestly calling.

"For you see your calling, brethren, that no many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence." I Corinthians 1:26-28

"Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began." II Tim. 1:9

The word "called" means to invite or summon and is especially used of God's call to participate in the blessings of the Kingdom.

We read the account in Exodus 19:6 where God is speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai and longing to draw Israel closer to Him to make covenant and be His "special treasure". He goes onto to say, "you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests an a holy nation......"

The Apostle Peter tells us by inspiration of the Holy Spirit that we are a chosen generation a royal priesthood and a Holy Nation unto Him.

You may not wear a clerical collar or preach sermons from a pulpit but if you are a believer in Christ, you are called to fulfill your calling as priests unto the Lord. What an honor to be chosen to minister to Him. I encourage you today to revisit these scriptures and let God speak to you. You first belong to Him and your Highest Calling is to praise Him and offer yourself as a living sacrifice.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Jesus Lays Down His Life

The Bible does not say that Jesus bled to death or that He was killed. Rather, Jesus died on the cross of His own free will. He willingly laid down His life. He said:

"...I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father" John 10:17,18

Christ's blood, which was shed on the cross, had in it his very life. The blood which was shed on the altar by an animal sacrifice under the old covenant was only able to atone for or cover our sins. The blood of Christ was able to do much more. His blood was not only to cover our sins, but His blood was able to completely remit or put away our sins as though they had never been.

"For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls;for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."
Leviticus 17:11

Therefore, when the Bible says that through His blood we have redemption, it is saying that through His death, we have life.

Worthy is the Lamb to receive Glory, Honor , Power and Dominion !

Let God Love You

Let God have time to love you as His child. He delights to love you. Practice praying prayers like, "I give you me Lord, enjoy yourself".

One reason we flee from God's presence is that all we can do is be still and let him love us. We have no buttons to push in order to feel in control so we feel incompetent and flee to the work environment where we feel in charge, secure and competent.

The major function of the Holy Spirit is to reveal Jesus more and more in our daily lives. But we don't want to lose control. We often times fear the things we can't control and try to control the things we fear.

We are afraid to let God in because we lose control. The great Apostle Paul writes in Romans 5 that "...the love of God is shed abroad into our hearts by the Holy Spirit..."

Welcome the Holy Spirit, let him show you the area's of wounding and offenses that need the cross of Christ applied in order to bring to death the defense mechanisms that have been established and allow the healing presence of His love to flow.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Men Without Chest

We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful." C.S. Lewis

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Restoration "In the Beginning"

I have been thinking allot lately about the subject of loss and restoration some of it prompted from personal experience and also with people that are in my life that I care about as well as what our nation is currently going through.

In the book of Genesis Chapters 1 -3 we read the account of how God created man is His won image-male and female. Man enjoyed the image of God and the intimacy of God with unbroken fellowship. When man decided to take his life into his own hands, he broke covenant with God. Fear and deception of God's provision for for them opened the door for this doubt to be conceived by Eve. (Gen. 3:1-7) But God's restoration work began immediately , helping the now self-conscious man trying to cover his nakedness and shame. God provided restorative clothing by blood sacrifice from animals which typified the Great Sacrifice of the Lamb of God to restore us the Father.

The Restoration of Intimacy with God must first begin with our thoughts!! Our thoughts about the one we love creates Images in our minds that sustains, nurtures and causes us to persevere in our relationships.

Jeremiah 29:11 We read "I know the thoughts I think toward you..." Thoughts create images and images provoke our worship and intimacy in relationships. God's thoughts of us are for "a future and a hope". God our Father is thinking of your future right now!

I Chronicles 28:9 " As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you;but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever"

Isaiah 55:8,9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."

In future posts I would like to discuss more on this crucial subject.

My Prayer "Father I pray that my thoughts would be of a loyal heart and a willing mind and that I would rest in the fact that your thoughts toward me are for peace not evil to give me a future and hope according to Jeremiah 29:11."