God’s Specific Call For You

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” – Ephesians 2:10


You have a special place and purpose in the Body of Christ. We all do. Each of us has been called to our purpose. Not everyone has been called to be a missionary to another people, a pastor, a teacher, an evangelist, but we have all been called to our place in the Body. We should not look at callings, such as being a pastor, as meaning that those people are somehow more important in the kingdom than others, like you and me, might be. That, my friend, is worldly thinking. Everyone is the same to the Father. The source of the power to do what He calls us to do is from Him and not ourselves. We can’t, or shouldn’t, take credit for it. Apart from God we are spiritually impotent. We are incapable of doing anything, by our own power, that has eternal significance.

The point that I want you to understand is that since you have been called to fulfill your place in the Body it is God’s desire that you be faithful in that calling, whatever it is. Don’t use the world’s standards to judge your value in the kingdom of God. Let your light shine and trust God to use it for His glory. We each have a God-ordained place and purpose. To fulfill our spiritual destiny on this earth, we must be willing to trust God ― or as a pastor friend of mine says, “To faith God.”

God calls whom He wills, for what He wills, and sends where He wills. Our part is to obey.

“God places His saints where they will bring the most glory to Him, and we are totally incapable of judging where that may be.” ― Oswald Chambers

God has a specific and personal purpose for you.  Your greatest challenge is to believe that God can use you for His glory and eternal plan.  How He uses you is up to Him, not you.

Think of ways that God has used you in the past or present, no matter how big or small you might think it is.  Perhaps you should write them down as a reminder.

You are useful to God for His eternal purposes.  As significant as salvation is, that is not the end of the story.  You may not be called to preach, but each of us has a place in the Body of Christ. And it is not sitting in the pew on the back row. The common call makes it possible to be part of the Body of Christ. The specific call results in God designating you to be a specific part of the Body.

“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.  For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many. – 1 Corinthians 12:12-14

Think about what makes you the same as all other Christians before God. One part of the Body of Christ more important than another part of the Body.

“If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.” – 1 Corinthians 12:15-18

“And the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’; nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need.” – 1 Corinthians 12:21-23

There is a difference between our roles in the Body – but no difference in the importance of each role – they are the same.

Think of it this way. Jesus is the mind.  The Holy Spirit is the heart.  Christians are the body parts – each having its function.

"But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” – 1 Corinthians 12:24-27

It is God and not you who decides what it is you are supposed to do in the Body. Think about why is that important from each of us to know and remember.

Something to think about:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11

Most Christians don’t think a lot about being more than saved and the challenges of personal holiness associated with being a Christian.  That is really only the beginning of realizing our new life in Christ.  That thinking is the way we think as infants in our faith.  God wants us to be mature in our faith, which means that we must go beyond the comfortable and into the places were faith is waiting. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

God’s Common Call

“Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” ― Romans 8:30

Reading the New Testament, you see that one idea of calling has to do with becoming a Christian and living a life apart from the world. No longer drawn by the world’s song to indulge yourself and reject God, but rather to embrace God and reject the world. Many Christians spend much of their remaining new life struggling as they try to resist responding to that song. That is because our old nature longs to dance to the rhythm of the sin-filled world!

Our common calling is our call to a new life, loving God with “all”, following Jesus, living by faith, and submitting to the influence of the Spirit of God. We have been called to a new life. To live it, we have been given a new DNA.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17 

Some people say “I have always been a Christian”, but that is not Biblical.  We were all born into sin. Can you remember when God called you to salvation through Jesus? As a reminder, write a brief description of when and how that happened. It is important to know when you were born again, but it is not necessary to know the hour and minute.

“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” – Matthew 22:37

Part of the common call is to put God first.  Take a moment to consider how loving God with “All” has shaped the way you live your life.

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.” – Psalm 139:7-8

When I was in grade school – maybe even high school, the teacher was in the classroom, the students were on our best behavior.  But the classroom was in chaos as soon as the teacher left the room.  Consider what the benefit might be for your life if you were constantly aware of God’s presence. What are some ways that you can keep yourself God-aware?  Always being mindful that He is always in the room.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” –  2 Corinthians 5:17

When someone responds to God’s common call old things die and new things replace them.  What old things in your life have passed away? What things seem to persist in clinging to you? It is a common struggle – you are not alone in it.

We can’t live our new lives in isolation from other Christians.  Dr. Howard Hendricks, a professor at Dal-las Theological Seminary before his passing in 2016, once said, “Every Christian needs a Paul, a Barnabus and a Timothy in their life.  A Paul who builds into your life [a mentor], a Barnabas who will keep you ac-countable, and a Timothy into whose life you can build.”  In my experience finding those relationships is not something that you can make happen, but some-thing that will evolve through the providence of God.  Paul’s spiritual maturity must surpass yours.  That of Barnabas must be at least equal to your own.  Timothy will be someone who wants to grow in their faith and for whom you will be a Paul. 

Are there people in your life like that today?  If not, pray that the Lord will bring them your way. And then look expecting for them to show up.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

So You Want To Be Like Jesus

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple… In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. ” ― Luke 14:26-27,33

Jesus gave up everything to come to Earth for our redemption. He laid his life down. (John 15:33) To be a faithful follower of Jesus.  To fulfill your purpose on this earth requires that your love for God be greater than you love for anything else … you father and mother, spouse and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. To hate them means to not love them more than God. 

Very often, we are faced with spiritual challenges.  Faced with a choice – do what the Spirit of God has led us to do or choose that which we prefer to do.  It may be a small thing – or it may be something that is life changing.  It will always be contrary to the desires of our flesh – our old nature – what most people would call reasonable – not big deal.     

What is it that you are struggling with? That your flesh is resisting. That you know you should do, but the tug of the world is strong. It is a faith issue – a problem of trust that God will provide. Let me leave you with this encouragement from the Apostle Paul.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” – Romans 12:1-2

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Having The Same Spirit Is Not Enough

"What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?” ― James 2:14-16

Unity in the body of Christ is something that I have encouraged for many years.  Very often, I think, many Christians think of unity between Christians that are different ethnically, culturally, geographically, or maybe in the way they worship or feel about the sign gifts (prophecy, healing, speaking in tongues) much like their relationship with distant cousins.  They   acknowledge the relationship by virtue of the family tree but really have nothing to do with them. They might boast about the relationship if that person is famous, but that is for their own benefit and reputation, not the relative’s.   

God – through James – is telling us that unity – spiritual relationship is more than having a benevolent attitude for other Christians.  It is taking action when you see them in need.  Frankly, it is too easy to give money to your church and consider you have done your good deed.  That you have not walked on the other side of the road because you tithe and your church has a ministry for those in need.  That is good – but James was not writing to churches – he was writing to people in the church.  I have noticed that it is much easier for Christians to look to a distant land – perhaps even travel there and serve in some capacity for a week or so – than it is for them to walk across the street or across town.   

As I have written before (I always struggle with that wording. I want to write, “As I said”, but I didn’t say it, I wrote it)  I watch people as I listen.  Their faces and body language often reveal much more than the words they speak.  When a Brother or Sister of another ethnic group speaks of unity, it is much deeper that sharing the same Spirit.  They already know that.  But, if I may expand on James words, unity without works is also dead.

“Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this …” – 1 Peter 3:8-9

Each of us has opportunity to demonstrate Agape love to others. Don’t merely “hire out” your compassion for others and call it good. Be willing to walk to the other side of the road, not just to put a few dollars in a can held by an outstretched arm – or think that your tithe is good enough.  Not when you know the Spirit is prompting you to go further.  But to perhaps sacrifice for someone else like the Good Samaritan. He did more than give money, although he did that too. 

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:34-35

I could write more, but I won’t. I think you get the idea. In consideration of this Christmas season – I want to encourage you to love others like God loved us. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

We Must Be More Than A Silent Witness

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear...” ― 1 Peter 3:15

What is it that I must speak to this morning? That is the question I must answer every time I sit down to write a devotion.  I am sitting here this morning asking the Lord that very question.  Each one of us should be asking that question.  There is a British television series called the “Silent Witness”. It is about the use of forensic science to learn about a crime – “who dunnit” – from a corpse – a witness that cannot speak. Giving a reason for the hope you have suggests that something about you motivated a discussion about why you are the way you are.  Why you live the way you live.  Why you persevere the way you persevere.  Why it is that you seem to be different from the rest of the world.

Of course for someone to ask those questions – you would have to be different – not odd but different. Your life must reflect  love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. All qualities that others lack but crave, wishing they might even have one to cling to. Those qualities are the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23) They are qualities that are a product of being rooted and grounded in the Word of God and submitted to the Spirit of God.  And when people see that in you … they often want to know why.  It is nothing that you can take credit for achieving.  Those are life qualities that are supernatural.  You have them, not because of your lack of trouble in life, but you have them in spite of your troubles, life’s circumstances.  Otherwise telling people about Jesus and new life in Christ, when your life is no different than theirs, is like a Chevy car salesman trying to sell a Chevy to someone who drives a Ford when the salesman drives a Ford, too. 

Our lives are to be distinguishable from the world.  If you were in a line up – you with people who were not Christians – all of you wearing how you cope with life on your sleeves – would you stand out – could someone pick the Christian out of the lineup?  Would they pick you? Or would they say – “Nope, I don’t recognize any of them.”

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” – Romans 12:2

But let’s say they do – you are so obviously different from the others – it is easy for them to say “That’s him or her! That’s the Christian!” So you are carted off to the interrogation room and questioned about why you are different.  That is your opportunity to give the reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. You are not afraid of the one asking the question (at least you shouldn’t be) – but you are in awe of the One who brought the change in you.  The One who is making you different from the rest of the world – day by day.  You don’t have to be a preacher or some super saint to give a reason, to tell others about Jesus and your new life.  You just need to actually be different.  Salvation is spiritual and requires the Spirit to be in the teller and to be working in the hearer.  God will give you opportunity to tell – all you have to do is be ready.  And when the opportunity arrives, to no longer be silent.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Keeping Your Mind And Spirit Fresh When Your Body Is Frail

"… we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” ― 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Martie goes to see the neurosurgeon today for a follow-up after her spinal fusion. She is recovering well.  Her body sports so many “battle scars” reminders of the nature of our natural life and the trials it brings. Yet she presses on with determination and hope.  She and I often refer to our younger years – when our bodies were healthier and more vibrant.  Not so easily tired. The important question is not about how old we are on the outside, but how mature we are on the inside.  I was talking with a co-laborer yesterday about the work we are involved in.  She said that she and I are a team – she talks about a concept or issue and I share a scripture that applies to it.  It reminded me of the work that God has done in my life – the transformation that has taken and continues to take place.  I find that scripture comes out and I don’t even think about it.  My mind is fresh and my spirit is strong though my body is frail.

“But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”   – Galatians 6:14

 I am not bragging about my spiritual maturity – more – I am marveling at the work that God has done in me.  That would be my prayer for all of us – that one day each of us would look around – figuratively speaking – and realize that God has done a mighty work in our particular jar of clay.  That is my hope for you.  Oh – I am far from the goal – still. But inch by inch, I crawl through this life ever seeking to know Jesus and make Him known. And in that struggle – God is conforming me into the image of His Son, and one day, the process will be complete – but certainly not on this side of heaven.  In the meantime – I will continue to seek to bring glory to His name through the living out of my life to the full. I am reminded of a quote by John Newton, the writer of Amazing Grace.

“I am not what I ought to be — ah, how imperfect and deficient! I am not what I wish to be — I abhor what is evil, and I would cleave to what is good! I am not what I hope to be — soon, soon shall I put off mortality, and with mortality all sin and imperfection. Yet, though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be, I can truly say, I am not what I once was; a slave to sin and Satan; and I can heartily join with the apostle, and acknowledge, ‘By the grace of God I am what I am.’” – John Newton, Letter 1772

Can somebody say – “Amen!”

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Keep Your Eyes Open - Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates

“I [Paul] keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” ― Ephesians 1:17-19

I made my annual pilgrimage to the VA clinic yesterday.  Each year it is the same – visit 1 – lab work – a month later, visit 2 – see the Doc.  I am fortunate in that regard I suppose that my health has not changed much over the past several years. But I digress. My appointment was for 8:00 am.  I checked the web site and saw that the clinic opened at 7:30, it was a 50 minute drive so I planned to arrive about 7:45. I actually arrived earlier just after 7:30. I walked up to the door and imprinted on the door were the words “Open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.” What ?? I did not dress to stand outside in the cold wind so my only option was to go back to the car and wait and wonder.  Wonder why the web site said 7:30 and the door said 8:00 and since the door was locked, apparently 8:00 was the correct time.  I tried to suppress bad thoughts about whoever is supposed to keep the web site current. Reminded that our web site was not current either.  S’funny how trivial things – prideful things, like “Who are they to inconvenience me!” creep into our thinking and steal our joy.

That is about when I noticed a flashing sign two doors down, “Open – Coffee”.  Well, perhaps my day was about to get better.  I had been in that shop before – a year before.  It is actually a ministry of a local church. All I had was a $100 bill and a credit card.  I typically don’t carry that much money, it had been in my wallet for about a month, actually.  I didn’t want to pay for a cup of coffee with a $100 bill not did I want to pay for a $2 cup of coffee with a credit card.  That is when the man behind the counter asked if I was a veteran.  When I said yes he said “The coffee is free for veterans, thank you for your service.” That led to a conversation about my service, particularly about Vietnam – Desert Storm and PTSD.  I shared about our ministry – and why I was even in Texas talking to him.  Then he shared about their ministry, his and his wife’s.  He said that they always imagined that they would go to some distant place to serve but the Lord had kept them right there in Texas City.

That is when I shared the story of the time in Mississippi when someone asked me if I liked being in Mississippi in the middle of a devastation.  I answered, “There is nothing better than being in the center of God’s will for your life – fulfilling His purpose.  Geography has nothing to do with it. So, yes, I love being in Mississippi.” I told the man that it appeared to me that God was using them both for His glory and the good of the many veterans who entered that shop.  Sometimes we wonder if what we do matters – does our sacrifice make a difference for the Kingdom and in the lives of those we serve.  And sometimes the Lord uses us to remind others that it does – even though we may not see the fruit of the seeds that we plant through our obedience.

I asked him how their work was funded – he told me that they were volunteers and people donated the money for the free coffee, about $200 a month.  That is when the Spirit prompted me, “Give him the money!” So I handed him the $100 bill and said “Use this to help pay for the free coffee.” By far the most expensive cup of coffee I have ever had and, by far, the best cup of coffee I have ever had.

The moral to this story is this – Life – trivial things – can capture your heart and attitude – be on your guard and always be on the look out for spiritual opportunities.  You never know when you might have the opportunity to encourage someone in the faith. One closed door might just lead you to a door that is open and a blessing is waiting on the other side. It might even be when you are buying a cup of coffee!

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone