The place of God’s calling.

(Thoughts taken from Pastor Bill Bolin’s sermon: Passages)

Have you ever prayed to God to guide you to the “place” where He can release His calling into your life? Where and when does this happen? Is there a program we can follow that can direct us to the place to receive our purposes? I am a pretty big fan of Christian education. I would recommend that you would commit yourself to learn the Bible from solid, spirit-filled, doctrinally sound and balanced Bible teachers.  As we look at the story of Elisha we find him not in a nationally known prophet school but in his regular life’s work when God releases him in his calling.

“So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth .  And Elijah passed over to him and threw his mantle on him.” (I Kngs 19:19)

 We also find Moses who also chose not to go to the top leadership school, but he chose the desert.

 “By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him is unseen.” (Hebrews 11:27)

“Now Moses was pasturing a flock…to the west side of the wilderness.”

(Exodus 3:1)

We have to be careful to not despise the place where we are at spiritually. In my own life, I am guilty of looking around at my peers (most of my close friends are in vocational/professional ministry) and seeing God work in their lives, and being upset at God because I am not seeing the same opportunities while I am plowing fields or watching some sheep in the backside of the desert.  A lot of times I have felt like Job:

“Behold, I go forward but He is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive Him; When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him; He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.” (Job 23:8-9)

Let us all be encouraged that God knows where we are at. Not only does He know where are at, but more than likely He has led us to the place where we are currently at, so that He can prepare us for the purposes on our lives. The story of Moses and Elisha emphasizes the faith/supernatural dynamic of the place of preparation for God’s purposes in our lives. This dynamic, Paul highlights in 1 Corinthians 1:28

“and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are.”

Your situation right now might be one that is not a desirable situation, but know that as you continually live by faith, know that God is leading you and preparing you to receive your anointed mantle.

Key Verse: Deuteronomy 4:2

“Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.”

These words came from Moses (Lk. 24:44) to the people of Israel. This was a new generation of people, ready to enter the promise land with a new leader Joshua. These words are very similar to the words that Paul gave Titus. Paul told Titus to appoint elders (new leadership) in every town and train leaders who would “hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” (Titus 2:9)

There seems to be an important theme when passing a baton to a new generation. That important theme is the integrity of the Word of God.  Paul instructed Titus to hold fast to the faithful word. What did Paul mean by “hold fast?” Hold fast has a couple of meanings. One of the main meanings is to hold oneself opposite. Which means anyone who comes in and directly opposes the integrity of the Word of God, we cannot give in by letting someone or the culture to add or subtract from the Word of God. The Church needs to stand in direct opposition to that type of influence.

What exactly are we suppose to stand in opposition against? Here are two thoughts on this subject.

Salvation by works. We need to stand against a culture who strongly believes that the good that we do will bring salvation and a relationship with God.  People that believe this will one day ask: was the life I lived a life worth living? Or a salvation by works will lead people to disillusionment, and the meaning of their life will be meaningless. This is a perverted doctrine of salvation that leads to a life without meaning or a life that struggles to have meaning.  The only meaning of life comes through Jesus Christ who paid the ultimate cost for our meaning and purpose – death on the cross. (See Gal. 1:6-9)

Selfish ambition.  Which kingdom do we want to build? Do we want to build God’s kingdom or our kingdom?  We should always have an attitude of contentment of who we are and where we are at in God’s will.  So that we can teach the Word of God without the need to be grow our influence at all costs. We add or subtract from the Word of God, to make the Word of God more appealing and more adaptable to the culture around us which could help us move up the corporate ladder or stand in front of a bigger crowd. We need to be satisfied and content and become more concerned about the integrity of the Word of God then our popularity polls. The pure Word of God will bring true wealth. 

(See I Tim. 6:1-6, Phil. 4:11-13)

Starlight – The light in the darkness.

Key Scripture: Job 39:14-17 (NLT)

She lays her eggs on top of the earth, letting them be warmed in the dust. She doesn’t worry that a foot might crush them or that wild animals might destroy them. She is harsh toward her young, as if they were not her own. She is unconcerned though they die, for God has deprived her of wisdom. He has given her no understanding.

The verse above speaks about the contradictions with the will of God. If God is a good God, why would he create an animal without any wisdom? In life we face a lot of contradictions similar to this one. Why did this bad situation happen to me? Why would God let this happen? In these types of situations do we tend to become bitter towards God?

When we face contradictions, it is as if we are walking in the dark as far as the will of God is concerned. The inability of us to fully understand the purposes of God in very trying circumstances darkens our world. It darkens our world to a point where it is hard to see God’s hand filled with his bright glory in it.

Gen. 15:2-6 (NLT)

But Abram replied, “O Sovereign LORD, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since I don’t have a son, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no children, so one of my servants will have to be my heir.” Then the LORD said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own to inherit everything I am giving you.” Then the LORD brought Abram outside beneath the night sky and told him, “Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that – too many to count!”Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

 Abram faced a contradiction. Why would God promise someone that they would have many children and at the same time let a person to walk in bareness for a very long time? Abram faced this bareness for so long, that his body was as good as dead (Rom. 4:19). Why would God continue to promise someone children and let a person’s body die? Why would God let this horrible circumstance happen, when He promised to take care of me and lead me to a place of wanting nothing (Psalm 23:1). In times of darkness, we need to do what God told Abraham to do. We need to look up at the “stars of promise” (Jack Hayford).

When cold, dark times fall upon our lives; this is not a time to doubt God and his character. This is not a time to doubt the Word of God. But this is a time to BELIEVE: “Abram believed the Lord.” For we serve a God who can resurrect dead dreams, dead visions and dead plans for God is a God who “gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were” (Rom. 4:17).

Look to the stars in the darkness and strengthen your faith, do not waver in unbelief, but remember what an awesome creator we have who brought forth light and life in the midst of formless, and empty darkness. Be filled with the Holy Spirit who is hovering over your dark circumstances, like a mother bird caring for and protecting its young.

Gen. 1:2-3 (NIV)

“Now the earth was formless, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”

Brokenness is better than significance?

Today’s Daily Scripture: Jeremiah 7:22-23

When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices I wanted from them. This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Only do as I say, and all will be well!’

How much time do we concern ourselves with achieving a goal and accomplishing something significant? Do we feel that we should be admired if we lay down our lives for a good cause?

What should the focus of our lives be? There is a desire to achieve greatness not just for ourselves but to serve even a greater good. When we serve the greater good we tend to feel that we have achieved a level of significance that justifies our life and justifies our being here on earth.  Laying down our lives for a cause , calling, or a purpose is seen as valuable and even significant.

I believe this desire is a God given desire, but like all other parts of our human existence, even this desire has been diseased and corrupted by sin. Now, we feel that we can justify our lives by our performance.  This desire to accomplish something significant in life needs to be put in perspective.  The correct perspective is that God is the creator of the world. He is the great designer and architect of us and the world. God does not depend on us to accomplish anything.

Ps. 50:8-10

I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

What does God desire of us then?

Psalm 51:16-17

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

God does not desire our accomplishments but he desires our recognition of our nothingness without him. “..Those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (Matt. 10:39)

Let us put our lives in perspective. Let the greatness and the holiness of God break us and bring us to our knees every day. It is on our knees not on the pedestal of greatness that we will find that “all is well” (Jer. 7:24)

Sobriety Test

Zephaniah 1:7

“Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand”

Today’s scripture reading, the Lord is instructing us to “hold thy peace for the day of the Lord is at hand.” How do we hold our peace? What does this mean?

John Calvin writes that

“Thou whosoever hast been wont to speak against God, as if He had no care about earthly affairs, cease thy murmurs and self-justifications; submit thyself to God, and repent in time” In other words, those people who are inclined to speak against God because they feel they have a right to, stop it and hold your peace, or keep silent.

As followers of Christ, we should be the people who keep silent about our rights, and focus more time on our responsibilities to what God is calling us to do.

1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 list some of our responsibilities:

6 So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be sober. 7 Night is the time for sleep and the time when people get drunk. 8 But let us who live in the light think clearly, protected by the body armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation. (NLT)

Instead of thinking our lives are so important, and all of the problems that we are facing somehow justifies us to just constantly complain to God; let us hold our peace and become alert and sober about lives with the perspective that the day of the Lord is approaching. To be sober means calm and collected in spirit.

Remember that you live in the light, so protect yourself by making a faith stand, living a life of love and live always with an attitude of confidence that comes from our hope of salvation.

Zech 2:13

Be silent before the LORD, all humanity, for he is springing into action from his holy dwelling.”
(NLT)

Key Thought

In times of recession and hard times, we need spiritual leaders to take the responsibility to lead us and especially we need Christian Men to stand strong in the face of adversity to be the spiritual leaders that we need them to be.

Key Verse

2 Cor. 11:28

“And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.”

In 2 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul is continuing his defense as the true spiritual leader of the Church in Corinth. Apparently, there were some influential leaders within the Church of Corinth that believed that Paul did not have the “right” to lead the Church of Corinth with Apostolic authority. “For they say, His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account (2 Cor. 10:10). Paul gave a defense with a lot of audacity to prove why he was the true leader of the Church of Corinth. “Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things…Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one (2 Cor. 11:6,23).”

In the beginning of Chapter 11 Paul clearly communicates his relationship with the Church of Corinth. “I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already doing that. I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ (2 Cor.11:1-3)”

This jealousy that Paul talked about was a jealousy similar to a husband’s jealousy toward his wife. Paul, as an Apostle of Christ felt that his self-commendation in chapter 11 was honorable just like a husband would pull rank against any other man who tried to build an intimate relationship with his wife. A husband would say that, “I am the true husband of this woman; you have no right to develop a husband-like relationship with my wife.”

I think that the local Church today needs Christian Men to stand up and declare to be the true spiritual leaders of their families and in their communities. We need to have a godly jealousy for our families and for our communities as false leaders invade our areas of influence.  As followers of Christ we have the authority and ministry given to us by Christ to stand in the position of the true spiritual leaders in our communities. “ I will give you the keys [Keys represent Authority] of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven…All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation (Matt. 16:19; 2 Cor. 5:19).”

People will only look to us as true spiritual leaders if we have credibility. Paul’s credibility is listed in 2 Cor. 11:23-28. We have been given the keys of true spiritual authority in our areas of influence, but if we not willing to take responsibility for spiritual leadership in the hard times, we lose our credibility. . If we drop the ball in these hard times, there will be other leaders who will pick it up and proclaim another way of salvation (2 Cor. 11:4) Let us look at hard times not as roadblocks, but as opportunities to be the “go-to” leader to lead our families and communities.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him (James 1:2-5).”

Key Verse

Judges 18:31

“So they set up for themselves Micah’s graven image which he had made , all the time that the house of God was at Shiloh.”

There are two long distance relationships that we have looked at together this week. The first long distant relationship is found in Acts 11:19-25, and the other long distance relationship is referenced in Judges 18:27-31.

In Acts, we read that a group of Christians were scattered from Jerusalem because of the persecution related to Stephen.  This community gripped tightly to the doctrine, vision and leadership of their home church in Jerusalem.  They propagated the vision of the Church in Jerusalem by continuing to spread the gospel to the Jews and now the Gentiles to a distant city called Antioch. There are a lot of good lessons we can learn in this portion of scripture, but I would like to focus on the Antioch Christians and their relationship to the Church in Jerusalem.  The Church in Antioch reached a different group of people, but their identity with the Church of Jerusalem still was valued. The Holy Spirit did a fantastic job in planting a Church from Jerusalem in Antioch. The Holy Spirit worked through Barnabas to encourage and strengthen this Church.

Here are some things we can learn through this relationship

1)      The importance of a “Home” Church in our family’s lives. We need to be planted and trained in a “Home” Church. It is in the local Church that the spiritual side of our ministry training happens. Whether you are a teacher, engineer, sales rep, or a “stay-at-home-parent”, we need trained how to produce spiritual fruit in our areas of influence.  Just like the Christians in Antioch were trained in Jerusalem on how to “preach the Lord Jesus” (Acts 11:20). We also, need to commit to be properly trained so that a large number of people will believe and turn to the Lord (Acts 11:21).

So, what do I do with this spiritual training? This is a big question that is summed up well by a quote from Christian author and leadership expert John Maxwell:

When we help people get in the right circumstances to maximize their God-given talent, provide them whatever tools and support they need to be successful, make certain there is a clear understanding of expectations, share with them honest and open feedback, and finally allow them to be accountable and responsible for their own destiny…only then will we have led people successfully.

2)      After reading the above quote you might be a little overwhelmed on how to accomplish this task (I was when I first read that quote). The good news is that The Holy Spirit is there is encourage us to remain true to the vision that we have received from the Lord via Local Church. It is interesting to see that the Greek word  for encourage (Parakaleo) found in Acts 11:23 is the same Greek word used for the Holy  Spirit.”But the Helper (Greek word: Parakletos), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. (John 14:26). As we become immersed in the Holy Spirit, He will come along side of us and empower us to get the job done.

The long distance relationship in Judges 18:27-31 is the polar opposite of the relationship between the Church in Antioch and the Church of Jerusalem.  The relationship mentioned in Judges 18:27-31 is a relationship with the Tribe of Dan and Shiloh. Shiloh was the place where the ark of the covenant was kept during this time period.  In other words, Shiloh was the Church. The tribe of Dan lived in the northern extremity in geographical relation to Shiloh.  “They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father who was born in Israel; however, the name of the city formerly was Laish (Judges 18:29).” The people of Dan did not identify themselves with the “Church”.  Judges 18:31 explains what the result was of Dan’s relationship with Shiloh – “So they set up for themselves Micah’s graven image which he had made , all the time that the house of God was at Shiloh.”

We need to identify with a local Church so that we can be trained as spiritual leaders in our different callings in life. The Holy Spirit is there to helps us become the spiritual leaders that we need to be. If we do not identify with a local Church, we will not become properly trained and as a result we will be leading people with our own ideas and wisdom. Our leadership ideas and wisdom is as valuable as Micha’s graven images.  

Key Verse

“…there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord…” (Judges 2:10-13)

The importance of discipleship is emphasized in the key verse. Discipleship is a very common word in church and other various Christian circles. But I would like to point out that Discipleship might not be very common at all.

 In our study of the book of Acts, Pastor mentioned a word that has different implications when used in certain contexts. That word is the Greek word, Koinos, which is the Greek word for common. In Acts 2:44 and in Acts 4:32, the word is used to imply that the early Church considered themselves as one big family.

“By the power of this Spirit, therefore, we behold the first Christians not only in a state of active fellowship, but also internally changed: the narrow views of the natural man are broken through; they have their possessions in common, and they regard themselves as one family” (Commentary: Jamieson, Fausset, Brown)

The word is also used in Acts 10:14, 28. In this context, it is used to describe something that is common/worldly/unclean.

So, how can a word be used to imply “family” and “worldly/unclean” at the same time? The Greek word Koinos is basically defined as general use. It is understood that anything in my house can be used by my family without special permission, or a special event. Likewise, common/popular programming on cable and the common/popular night life activities in Pittsburgh is probably not something that I would automatically engage in. The most popular night life activity is to go drinking, during happy hour on Fridays. This would definitely be an activity that I would label as “unclean.”

Let’s take a look at how this topic on Koinos, relates to discipleship. I always relate discipleship to mentoring someone. Mentoring is a fantastic picture of not just teaching, but dedicating a lot of One-On-One time with someone. In order to get the buy-in (by “buy-in”, I mean someone trusts what you are saying is truth) I think we need to touch people’s hearts by giving them access to everything that we have. Once people feel that we just do not want you to be a part of our faith, but to be a part of our family too, I think people will open up their hearts to us, and let us touch their hearts by the awesome, supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.

I would argue that being an authentic Christian is the product of Koinos. Once we give sacrificially everything that we are and everything that we have in the name of Christ Jesus, people will start believing that what lifestyle they see is truly authentic and not some cheap imitation.  

The last point I want to make is that we should Koinos with people who might have lifestyles that we would label as unclean. Everyone wants to evangelize the very nice neighbor with well behave kids, someone who we really can relate to, even though they are not Christian. I think God wants to lead us to people who are so “unclean” that they are even rejected by society.  What you will find out that these types of people are the ones whose hearts are wide open to accept Jesus Christ.

10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ’sinners’?” 12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matt. 9:10-13)