Matthew 10:1 KJV - 1 And when [Jesus] had called unto [Him] His twelve disciples, He gave them power [against] unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.
Jesus Christ called 12 men to be His disciples to learn of Him, and to be His apostles to teach of Him after His ascension to Heaven. It's easy to see the call of Thomas, Peter, Bartholomew, and the crew as something special because they were called by specifically by Christ Himself! But what if the concept of being called was not limited to being selected by the literal voice of God? And what if the concept of being called was not limited to a task explicitly or exclusively labeled or defined as ministry? The Bible is clear on the reality of being chosen! Chosen as a group... Deuteronomy 7:6 KJV - 6 For thou [art] an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee [Israel] to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that [are] upon the face of the earth. Chosen as an individual... 1 Chronicles 28:10 KJV - 10 Take heed now; for the LORD hath chosen thee [Solomon] to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do [it]. The Scriptures reveal that to be called is to be asked or commanded by God, to do a specific task for God. Whether as a nation or a number one, the calling is not ratified by the type of task. The calling may be affirmed by others, but it is only confirmed by God. It is His divine appointment that has the authority to make the ordinary, extraordinary. The same One Who sanctified a day, the seventh-day Sabbath, is the same One Who sanctifies His servants! Therefore, as the LORD's servants, when we serve and however we serve, that service is a fulfillment of a calling when we are doing as He has called. Whether as "ministers of the altar" (Joel 1:13) we define as clergy or as "unprofitable servants" of Luke 17:10... So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. If the Lord Jesus calls you to preach to 5,000 people in an auditorium - you are called. If the Lord calls you to clean all the restrooms in that auditorium - you are called. If the Lord calls you to build a retaining wall on the side of that auditorium - you are called. If the Lord calls you to come to hear the seminar at 6pm at that auditorium...you get the picture. Matthew 22:14 KJV - 14 For many are called, but few [are] chosen. In other words, God is calling many but even fewer are choosing to be chosen! Accepting God's will for your life turns jobs into ministries; schedules into divine appointments. Under the sanctifying power of simply doing what God wills day-by-day, we choose to be chosen! Mark 15:37-38 KJV - 37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. 38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. Meditating on the life of Christ, I noted how He always teaches us to ask, but never to beg! Matthew 7:7 KJV - 7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: Luke 11:9 KJV - 9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. James 1:5 KJV - 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. While other Scriptures may encourage us to lean in or to persevere in prayer, we don't see the unction to beg because begging says as much about the beggar, as it does about the giver. If God called us to beg, it would speak to the nature of His giving. It makes it conditional, selective; which would make Him and every aspect of Him conditional, selective. Nonsense! Our Heavenly Father loves cheerful givers because they give like He gives! Case in point...Mark 15. When Jesus died on the cross, He gave on the cross. The Scriptures record that He literally "gave up" His life. The Son of God's very last breath was in itself a gift! An offering to God and an offering for you. Now the Father, Who has given up His only begotten Son, keeps giving... Mark 15:38 KJV - 38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. The curtain in the sanctuary in Jerusalem was completely torn from the top through to the bottom. This thick, blood-soaked, red veil was totally shredded to remove the separation between the Most Holy Place, where the presence of God once dwelt, and the Holy Place, where the High Priest ministered as a representative of the people. In symbol and in fact, there was no longer a barrier between us and God! Where once there was a curtain, now there was Christ as the Way to the throne of God! So with this path, paved in Jesus' own blood, to this God, Who gave His only begotten Son, do we now think that the attitude we should have is that of a beggar? Hoping that maybe, just maybe, God might cut us a break if we ask right. That "the Man upstairs" (a phrase I despise and a nickname that insults God) might throw us a bone if we bark louder? Come on saints, we are beggars no more - we don't take a number! If we receive Christ by faith, we have the Father in full! Because of God's love and Christ's sacrifice, we don't beg, we believe! We don't bark, we behold! We don't guess, we get! We don't haggle, we hope! We ask, not beg. Whether God says yes, no, or wait is His business. But us coming as children and not chattel (slaves), is ours! Matthew 8:13 KJV - 13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour. Jesus tells the Roman centurion to "go thy way', as if to say, "class dismissed!" There were many lessons to be learned in this singular encounter. But maybe the most important one was "and as thou hast believed." The centurion had a lot of strikes against him from our perspective for his prayer to be heard, much less answered. But the validity and the worth of his prayer were not started, or stopped, in him. In fact, it was in spite of him. Maybe it was by the import or the weight of his prayer that the Lord answered because it was a life-or-death situation? Well, if that was the case, then Jesus would have commended him for what he brought to him or the seriousness of his situation. But that is not what The Master applauds. Jesus says "as thou hast believed." "As thou hast believed" since the centurion tells Jesus that He doesn't have to come to his house because 1) the soldier is not worthy to have Him enter and 2) Christ doesn't have to be there to do what he is asking him to do. The paradox of humility and holy boldness is staggering! It's like the soldier is saying "I know I don't deserve to even ask you, but if this is what you want to do, I already know you can't help yourself from doing what nobody else can do face-to-face; much less long distance, so..." The centurion got on a wavelength that moved The Master to say... Matthew 8:10 KJV - 10 When Jesus heard [it], He marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. This was a faith that 1) knew God's will and 2) believed God's will. Once the centurion got on that frequency, nothing could be withheld. The same applies to us! There was no restraint. Not even reality could prevent this from happening because the will of the Sovereign of the universe is sovereign. It will come to pass. Matthew 8:8 KJV - 8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. "...but speak the word only..." Figuratively speaking, the centurion did not plop down, demand, and get in front of Jesus; rather, by his statements he is, by faith, standing humbly but firmly beside Jesus. He knows that if Jesus wants to heal his servant, nothing or nobody (Satan and every fallen angel included) was going to stop Him! He wasn't forcing the Lord to move, but he was saying that if this is what God wants to do, His will will be done! I t's not in our capacity to twist the arm of God that He moves, but rather in our capacity to trust the arm of God that He moves. That's simple - trust versus twist, and we can go our way! |
Categories
All
AuthorGod has something to say to us (more than we want to hear it)! That's why there is always a WORD! Archives
March 2024
|