Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics of Daniel O’Donnell singing … Here I Am Lord … poignantly singing of responding to God’s call with our willing/humble service.
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Highlight Verse[s]: 1 Corinthians 1:27 [NKJV] … 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; …
… Really, God; … You’ve chosen me!!!
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Highlight Passage [context]: 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 [NKJV]… USE THIS LINK …
… God’s truth, thru Paul, that God’s ways are sometimes mysterious to us.
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Reference Passage : … Joshua 1:1-9 [NKJV]… USE THIS LINK …
… God’s call and charge to Joshua … as well as His promise to be with him in his calling.
Reference Passage : … Matthew 5:48 [NKJV] … 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
… And to that charge from Jesus, I think all must say, … “I just can’t do that!!”
Reference Passage : … Acts 1:8 [NKJV] … 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
… Jesus calling to ALL Christians and His promise to provide HIS power to enable us to be His witnesses to the world.
Reference Passage : … Hebrews 13:5-6 [NKJV]… USE THIS LINK …
… God’s promise to all He chooses … that He …”will never leave us, nor forsake us!”
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Tim Gustafson, uses a word picture with which most of us can identify to teach on God’s calling to His beloved. The ODB author wrote: “I just can’t do it!” lamented the dejected student. On the page he could see only small print, difficult ideas, and an unforgiving deadline. He needed the help of his teacher.
We might experience similar despair when we read Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44). Anger is as bad as murder (v. 22). Lust equals adultery (v. 28). And if we dare think we can live up to these standards, we bump into this: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (v. 48).
Yeah, … been there, felt that, and have worn that T-shirt, for sure! I can remember looking down at a genetics test in college [see photo] and having those “No Way!!” feelings [see photo]. I think we’ve all felt inadequate to our calling at times, haven’t we? And those feelings are certainly described in may Biblical characters.
Think of Joshua getting the overwhelming calling to lead God’s people into the Promised Land after Moses died (see Joshua 1). Or what about “scaricat” Gideon being called to take 300 men to face thousands of Midianites [see Judges 6]? Or Moses’ doubts and fears when God called him at the burning bush [see Exod. 3]? Or impetuous Peter whom Jesus called to be a “fisher of men.” [see Matt. 4] Those turned out to be pretty good witnesses for God, didn’t they? But they certainly had those “NO WAY, GOD!” feelings when they were called.
But then we remember the truth of God’s word in the highlight and reference passages above; and we’re confronted with a truth a mentor repeated many times to me, … that … “God’s calling is His enablement.” And so, if we’re convicted or feeling called by God’s Spirit to a certain task or service for God, and we’re having those “can’t do it” feelings, we can know that our God will gives us what it takes from His Spirit to carry out that task; … just as He did with Moses, Gideon, Joshua, or Peter.
So, let’s just jettison those “I just can’t” feelings; and rely on our God to give us what it takes to do what He calls us to do and let’s echo what Daniel O’Donnell sings in the linked song … “Here I Am, Lord, … I will follow!!”
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Lord, Jesus, thank You for Your enabling grace and Your calling for me to serve.
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My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … Lift me up to overcome my feelings of inadequacy and pour Your enabling/empowering grace into my efforts to fulfill Your calling. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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