September 25, 2013 … The Shoe Salesman

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2013 - Day 268

Devotional Song: Go to this link -  Please take the time to meditate on this poignant song, sung by a group of worshippers, entitled Here I Am, Lord, declaring the commitment to God’s calling to use any of His children for His glory … if … we’ll just answer His call.

Highlight meditation passage – Matthew 19: 26 [NLT]: …  
26 Jesus looked at them [His disciples] intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
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Highlight reading study of Matthew, Chapter 19, Verses 23-30: Go to this link … 

Reference Passage #1: Isaiah 6: 8 [God can use anyone who is willing to be used by Him. But when called are we willing to go.] … [NLT] …
8 Then I [Isaiah] heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” … I said, “Here I am. Send me.”

Reference Passage #2: Matthew 28: 19:20 and Acts 1: 8 [The Great Commission and Christ’s last earthly calling of His disciples charges ALL Christians to “go” and be His witness in the world. The question becomes, “Are we willing to respond and go in His Name?” ] … [NLT] …  
Matt. 28:19-20… “… Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  
Acts 1: 8 … "... But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Reference Passage #3: Revelation 3: 20 [Jesus, through His Spirit, is always knocking on the door of our hearts, desiring to relate to His called ones; but are we willing to open the door?] … [NLT]  
20 “… Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.

My Journal for Today: My devotional this morning by Os Hillman rips at me once again with the calling of Christ’s great commission and His charge to be His witness as His disciple in this world [see Matt. 28: 19-20 and Acts 1: 8 quoted above]. The question and the conviction is not that I don’t understand the calling. No, the question is … “am I willing to come and respond to His call?” And when we become born-again as Christians, as Rev. 3: 20 declares, that calling is relentless for our Lord to be in close relationship with His called ones and to use us as His witnesses in this world of lost souls.

And today, Hillman reminds his readers (that’s me!) of the story of Dwight L. Moody, an uneducated shoe salesman in Chicago, who heard a rather common preacher from England, Charles Spurgeon, share the Gospel; and he was overwhelmed at the response to this man’s preaching, realizing that it was God working through Spurgeon and no special greatness in Spurgeon himself which brought about the response to this man’s preaching.

So, Moody took God’s calling seriously, believing the truth of today’s highlight verse (i.e., Matt. 19: 26) … that with God, all things are possible. And we know what became of this common, uneducated shoe salesman, whom God used mightily as an evangelist with millions saved from his preaching. And now there’s a Christian seminary named after Moody as well as a radio network which carries the gospel all over the world.

Yes, this common shoe salesman believed God’s word and seriously responded to God’s calling for his life; and we see the result of this calling and conviction. And you may be thinking, as was I this morning, from our historical knowledge of Scripture of so many others who responded to God’s calling on their lives, … as did Isaiah who was the inspiration for the worship song I heard and to which I linked any readers here with me today. And there were so many other stories of common believers responding to God’s calling in faith … such as Abraham, Moses, all of the Prophets, … and then there were all of the commoner Disciples, including the later one, Paul, all of whom really took the Great Commission to heart and seriously followed Jesus’ charge to be His witnesses. It cost most all of them their lives; but they went in Christ’s Name anyway.

 So, do you feel the calling today? And in the calling are we willing to go? I’ve made my decision; … what about you?

My Prayer for Today … Here I am, Lord! Use me today?… Amen

Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online blog entitled Today God Is First [TGIF], authored by Os Hillman. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read Hillman’s TGIF blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.