AWAKEN ME!!

Luke tells us of a righteous man named Simeon and Anna, a prophetess, who were waiting for anxiously awaited "the consolation of Israel...the redemption of Jerusalem". On the day designated by  the Law of Moses both were in the Temple as Mary and Joseph brought their son to be "consecrated to the Lord" (Luke 22:21-40). At this very same time in the Temple were priests carrying out their duties, teachers instructing their students from the Book of Moses, people praying and seeking God, money-changers, merchants, and people like Mary and Joseph coming to fulfill the Law. Only two people noticed the long awaited Messiah was in their midst.
Two thousand years later we too get so distracted by the events of the day, pointing fingers, petitioning God that we fail to see the One we so earnestly seek is walking in our midst!! Lord, let your Holy Spirit awaken me to Your Presence in my life!! Don't let me be so busy seeking that I miss you completely. AWAKEN ME!!!

LESSONS LEARNED

This is my first post since April. Probably the longest I''ve ever gone without writing since God called me to this ministry in 2003. Over these last few months, God and I have been addressing my feelings of inadequacy I've had since He called me to this ministry. Am I the only one who feels hugely incapable and highly inadequate when being called to do something in His service? I don't think that is the case. Although the insights have been acquired through reading of Scripture and Bible Study, it can best be told through the making of this quilt.
The first time I started to make this quilt, I was very confident in my own abilities and cockily went about sewing it my way. By the second row, it was so out of square I had to throw it away. The second time I started it, I asked God to be with me and guide my hands every time before working on it. It stayed perfectly square from the first block to the last block, from the first row to the last. In order to complete any task assigned to me by God, He must guide me from the first word to the last, from the first sentence to the last sentence.
During the last fourteen years of writing this blog and another blog, facilitating Bible Studies, and speaking I've experienced feelings of being inadequate and being ill-prepared. After all, the only biblical knowledge I had was what I attained through Scripture or Bible Studies; the only writing experience was what I'd done on term papers and essays in school; and, the only photography experience was the pictures I took on trips or holidays. But then,, God showed me that Peter and John were fishermen and Matthew was a tax collector. All of the disciples were taught by Jesus just like me. To keep a quilt square, you must start in the center and work out. No matter what our calling is we must keep our eyes on the One who centers us to be effective, Jesus.
We are told in John 10 that the sheep knows the shepherd's voice and will not react to any other voice. An important part of doing this work is hearing my Shepherd's voice. Over the years, several people have either stated or questioned my ability to hear God's voice. This ministry cannot be undertaken without the ability to hear God's voice. No task or ministry can be effective without hearing our Master's voice.Too many times the Enemy has brought me to a standstill because of this one fear, maybe I'm not hearing God's voice. After all, who am I that the God of the universe would talk to me? Whether He speaks to you through Scripture or music or Bible Studies or thoughts or sermons or a small still voice, don't ever doubt that He can speak directly to you. Just as He guided my hand, He guides my ministry and yours. If you can call God, Father, and Jesus, Savior you know your Shepherd's voice.
Finally, while making this quilt it was necessary to seek the advice of others. In completing any task we are called to do for Him, we should not be hesitant to ask others for advice or assistance. No where in the Bible does it say "God helps those who help themselves." Jesus chose twelve people to spread the gospel, not one.

PHARISEE OR DISCIPLE?

As we look more closely to our relationship with Christ during this Lenten Season is your relationship one of a Pharisee or one of a disciple? Quickly we want to answer, "Why, of course, its as a disciple!! No way am I a Pharisee!!" That was my first response as this question tumbled around in my mind while doing my morning Scripture reading. But, some of the things Jesus is accusing the Pharisees of doing am I not doing them? Let's take a closer look at these two relationships, Pharisee or disciple.
The Pharisees that were following Jesus from place to place were there to attempt to entrap him for the sole purpose of finding something they could use to crucify him. They were not seeking answers to improve their relationship with God but to kill His Son. When Jesus was twelve, on the verge of becoming a man, he was found by his parents "in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers." At every opportunity the Pharisees were constantly testing him with their questions; constantly attempting to entrap him. Have we not, at some point in our life, attempted to entrap Jesus with our questions?
Jesus criticized the Pharisees because they washed their outsides but not their insides; tithed but neglected to show God's love; loved praise and attention; load ones down with laws and rituals and do nothing to ease the burden; not accepting the truth about Jesus; and they prevented others from knowing the truth about Jesus. We do the same when we do things to be seen rather than from the excess of our love for Christ. We do the same when we attend church on Sunday to be seen or because "its the right thing to do" rather than to worship the One who has saved you. We do the same thing when we "wear our Christianity" on the outside but our actions do not reflect God's love on the inside.
Jesus tells us to be on guard against "the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy". The New International Version Life Application Bible tells us the signs of hypocrisy is "knowing the truth but not showing it. People can say they follow Jesus, but not be obedient to his Word. 2) Hypocrisy is living a self-serving life. People may desire leadership only because they love position and control, not because they want to serve others. 3) Hypocrisy reduces faith to rigid rules. People can end up worshiping their own rules and regulations about what they think God wants instead of worshiping God Himself. 4) Hypocrisy is outward conformity without inner reality. People can obey the details but still be disobedient in general behavior. For example, a person may carefully tithe but be rude and obnoxious to his co-worker...Consider these signs of hypocrisy and make sure you are not guilty. Then ask God to help you live rightly."
As a disciple, "a person who is a pupil or an adherent of the doctrines of another" (Dictionary.com), of Jesus he tells us the greatest commandment is to "love God with all our heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbors as yourself". At one point he looked at his disciples and asked "Who do you say I am?" If your answer is like Peter's , "You are the Messiah" after honest introspection do your actions tell others you are a Pharisee or a disciple of Jesus Christ of Nazareth?

OUR SHEPHERD, MY SHEPHERD

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me

Lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside

Quiet waters, He restores my soul. Psalm 23:1-2 NIV.

Psalm 23 is a very popular psalm written by the psalmist David when he was king over Israel. He had lived through several years of being hunted by King Saul and his army. King Saul for several years had done everything possible to capture and murder David. Even after years of being chased, having to leave his beloved wife Abigail, living in caves, having opportunities to kill Saul and not; he wrote this psalm of assurance about his God.

Charles Swindoll in his study of the Psalm 23 is so revealing it causes us to view our relationship with The Shepherd in a more poignant, more alive, more loving relationship. Through these insights it is my hope it draws you closer to Jesus Christ, our Shepherd and God. God, the One who loved us immeasurably and with such an intensity He came as a babe named Jesus to live amongst us, be beat and whipped, suffer an agonizing death on the cross, and overcome death all so we could have a relationship with Him. 

To my amazement, sheep have no sense of direction, they can get lost in the familiarity of their own territory. All of us either have this same condition or know someone who does. There isn't a one of us who hasn’t been physically lost at some point in our lives. Spiritually, Romans 3:23 tells us “all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God” thereby being lost. In the same manner the shepherd of old would leave his flock and search out the one lost sheep our Shepherd searches us out and leads us back to the flock.

Sheep have no defenses except the shepherd who protects him. Other animals have growls, claws, sharp teeth, a keen sense of smell, an acute sense of hearing, speed, venom, and an acute ferocity to protect themselves. Spiritually, like the sheep, we are completely defenseless against The Enemy. Psalm 23:4b, Amplified Version, says it best: “Your rod (to protect) and Your staff (to guide), they comfort and console me.” Online, Quora tells us the rod was a “short, stout rod” carried on the shepherd’s belt for the purpose of killing any predators endangering their flock. Shepherds were held accountable for any injured or animal killed by predators. The staff or crooked “shepherd’s staff”  mentioned was an instrument used to grab a straying sheep and guide it in the direction the shepherd wanted it to go. Likewise, Our Shepherd uses His Word as a staff to guide us and His Holy Spirit as a rod to protect us.

Sheep are unclean animals. They will remain dirty until cleaned by the shepherd. Likewise, we are unclean until Jesus Christ cleanses us. In David’s time, a sacrifice was the only method ones could have their sins atoned. Our Shepherd, Jesus Christ, sacrificed Himself so our sins could be “washed away” by forgiveness and repentance. 

One of the most interesting revelations by Charles came through the writings of Charles W. Slemming pertaining to shepherds of the Middle East during David’s lifetime. When moving to a new field the shepherd would pour  oil over the head of every sheep thereby making it impossible for an adder (a poisonous snake) to bite and have its venom kill the sheep.  The oil our Shepherd pours over our head heals our body, our mind, our spirit, and our soul.

Throughout this psalm David is telling each one of us that God through His Son, Jesus Christ,  our Shepherd, “we shall not be in want”. There will be no want of food, no want of clothes, no want of shelter. How can I so boldly say this? Because when I keep my eyes on God, my Shepherd, if I have faith the size of a mustard seed, the tiniest seed, “I can tell a mountain to move from here to there. Nothing is impossible (Matthew 17:20 and 21). I have had my mountains and my Shepherd has provided for me.

Come, let Jesus Christ heal your mind, your body, your spirit, and your soul. Then, like David, you will be able to say: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.”

WRONG PERSPECTIVES

Hi there!! It's been a long time, a very long time!! Its been 2 months and 10 days to be exact and there may not be anyone out there that's interested anymore. However, I'm going to write this with the same perspective as when I wrote and posted the first one--this is dedicated to God's glory and He will bring the people who He wants to hear it.
My Aunt Bernice was a missionary in India for thirty-five years. Until late adolescence or my early teens she would come home every four years on furlough. To me, she was larger than life itself. She was the absolute personification of a disciple of Jesus Christ in the modern world. She has always been my superhero, the ideal follower of Christ. To me, she had a "special" calling just as all missionaries, pastors, evangelists have a "special" calling on their lives. Somewhere during my youth the notion was embedded in my mind these people received a "SPECIAL" calling like ones used to receive a SPECIAL DELIVERY letter in the mail. SPECIAL DELIVERY letters were not received by everybody and usually only for very specific reasons. Even when my daughters informed me Jesus called them to teach young children and their families about Christ; to me, they received a "special" calling. Rightly so, these callings are "special" because they have discovered God's purpose for their lives. Where my perspective was wrong was in thinking this only happened to a "select" few people. In truth, God has a "special" purpose for EVERY person's life.
Now don't go getting the wrong perspective!! God's "special" purpose for each of us is not salvation. Although, He DEFINITELY desires that for every person. You see, it's after we have accepted the salvation Jesus Christ offers that we each receive our "special" calling. God has a purpose, a "special" calling for each one of us. It's not something we can do alone; only with Him equipping us can we accomplish this calling.  As Tony Evans (pastor, author, evangelist)  points out, your purpose or "special" calling is going to have four characteristics: 1) it will require risk; 2) it will require focus; 3) it will require boldness; and, 4) it will require faith. It is "special" because you are representing the One True God. What is your purpose, your "special" calling? You have one and God will reveal it to you; all you have to do is ask!!