Tag: Calling

Here Am I, Send Aaron

Posted on by

The title comes from an episode in the life of Moses where God had called him into missionary service. God approaches Moses on Mt Horeb in a burning bush and tells Moses that He has seen His people and their suffering, their affliction, and their hopelessness. Moses is saying, “Right on,God. You can do it. I’m behind that plan all the way.” Then God informs Moses that He will be sent to Pharaoh to bring the people out of Egypt (Exodus 3:10). Then Moses begins a series of excuses:

  1. Who am I? (Exodus 3:11)
  2. Who are You? (Exodus 3:13)
  3. What proof do I have that You sent me (Exodus 4:1)
  4. I don’t speak well (Exodus 4:10) so God sends Aaron, too.

Since Moses is often used in sermons of how God calls someone into the ministry, I will not use him other than as an introduction to what God did with Amos.

  1. God calls laymen: (Amos 7:14a) he was not a prophet, and never went to seminary.
    1. Amos was shepherding.
    2. Amos was single-minded: minding his own business.
  2. God commissions laborers: (Amos 7:14b) God utilized his trade for the kingdom.
    1. Amos was laboring.
    2. Amos was listening.
  3. God controls livelihoods: (Amos 7:15a) God took him from the familiar to a place totally outside of his comfort zone.
    1. Amos was agreeable.
    2. Amos was teachable.
  4. God commands to leave: (Amos 7:15b) We must plan to go unless God specifically calls us to stay.
    1. Amos was observant.
    2. Amos was obedient.
  5. God communicates by listening: (Amos 7:16) he was to hear the Word of the Lord; and God used a display of visions to make his point.
    1. The plumb line (Amos 7:7, 8, 9)
      1. Hold the plumb up to your own life.
      2. Are you a good steward of all He has given to you?
    2. The summer fruit (Amos 8:1, 2, 3).
      1. The time is short (Amos 8:2).
      2. The task is significant (Amos 8:3).
      3. The temptation is security (Amos 7:8, 9, 8:12).

[print_link] [email_link]

Set Apart From Birth

Posted on by

This is the first part in a series on the life of the apostle Paul. First off, using the term, “the apostle Paul” may conjure up images of some holy man, spiritual mystic, saintly statue or iconoclastic portrait, but in the original language of the New Testament (Greek), the term apostle really means “one who is sent out.” That is exactly what happened to Paul in the New Testament, he was called by God and sent out with a message. That is what we read about in the book of Acts; Paul and his missionary journeys take up most of the book’s content.

The passage today is from Galatians 1:15-16, where Paul tells us that he was set apart from birth and called by God; that the Father revealed the Son to him so that he might preach to the nations. The question comes, what may have been the upbringing of Paul? In what sort of home was he raised? Taken from Scripture and the Code of Jewish Law (which for centuries has been the foundation of Jewish life), Paul’s life was surrounded by Jewish custom and tradition, and guided his Jewish moral, social and religious behavior.

In Galatians 1:15-16, since Paul mentions being set apart from birth, he describes the rite of circumcision, which is the sign of the covenant (going all the way back to Abraham, Genesis 17:2, 7, 9, 10, 14). Paul includes in his testimony that he was the son of a Pharisee (Acts 23:6), a topic on which I will follow up next time.

The Jewish household was surrounded by Scripture, even from the very front door of the home. A mezuzah (the little container attached to the doorpost) contained a portion of sacred Scripture from Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and Deuteronomy 11:13-21. These are the bedrock of the Jewish faith.

There were three priorities for the devout Jew: study of the Torah (the Law of Moses), marriage, and doing good deeds. I’ll save the look into Paul’s boyhood home for next time.

So, what does this all have to do with us today? When was the last time you looked at your spiritual past? From where did you come? How far has the Lord brought you? You know more than anyone where you have been, and out of what God has saved you. Do you understand that what he has done in your life is no accident? We can also have the same response as Paul, that we have been called from birth. Circumcision is not the issue, but once we have come into a relationship with Christ, we can begin to see that He has guided us down a path that includes providential care and provision. We might not see it during the early or dark days, but hindsight is always 20/20, we can see how God has led us to where we are today. Take time this day to rejoice in what God has done in your life.

Secondly, how committed are you to the Word of God? Does your soul hunger and thirst for the things of God? Do you long to hear from Him? Do the Scriptures comfort your soul and fill your spirit? How do you handle the Word of God? Do your kids know how much the Bible means to you and your spiritual life? Do they see you reading from it and do you teach its principles each day?

One last question: do you sense the need and urgency to make necessary changes to become all that God desires for you to be? Not just for your own sake, but for your family’s sake.

Appointed or Anointed?

Posted on by

We have been studying the life of David in our Sunday morning Bible study and something struck me the other day. It’s no secret that Kim and I have been called by God to minister to the Lord through a local congregation, but if we are not careful, we can lose focus on how we got into the ministry in the first place. Let’s take a look at Saul for a moment…

In 1 Samuel 18:7, 8, 9, Saul is imploding as a leader. He’s got anger issues. He’s got jealousy issues. He’s got evil spirit issues. He’s a madman who’s got fear issues (1 Samuel 18:10, 11). I believe it is all because Saul forgot who had called him in the first place. He was more concerned about his popularity ratings with people than pleasing God. The people praised David more than the king (1 Samuel 18:7), “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his tens of thousands!”

This made Saul very angry. “What’s this?” he said. “The people credit David with ten thousands and me with only thousands. Next they’ll be making him their king!” So from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.” Saul forgot who had made him king! Saul was afraid of the people appointing David, but Saul wasn’t appointed by people. He was anointed by God.

If you forget who called you, you’ll run into trouble. You’ll become a people pleaser. You’ll feel threatened because of your insecurities. And the fear of man will be your downfall. David was Saul’s greatest asset, but Saul was threatened because of his insecurities.

Mark Batterson at National Community Church in DC writes:

Can I offer this simple reminder to pastors? You weren’t appointed by a denomination or elected by a congregation or ratified by a board. You were anointed by God. And if you forget, you’ll leadership will implode. I’m not saying you aren’t accountable to a denomination or congregation or board. But never forget your ultimate accountability is to the one who anointed you in the first place.

For David, he understood the anointing (1 Samuel 15:17), “The Lord has anointed you king of Israel.”

[print_link]