Good Friday morning! The weather thingy actually says that we are starting well above freezing today, what a change for the better! However, there is also a weather alert that I cannot view yet because the Weather Channel's desktop thing is sooooo slow today. I'm guessing that it will be a wind warning though. Praise the Lord for the nice day that yesterday was when speaking of the weather. We will not give up hoping for another nice day with only a gentle wind! Giving up on some things is easy. If a collection is taking over your house, perhaps you should give up on that endeavor. But we also have a journey to walk with Christ. A calling for which God has created you and me specifically to accomplish in His strength.
Yesterday, I heard at least twice the phrase 'never give up'. We have come to realize that when God wants us to get something we will probably hear it in more than one place within a day or two. The first time it came to my attention was in my personal Bible study of 2 Corinthians 4:1 - Therefore, since God has given us this new ministry (or way), we never give up! This came from a man who probably felt tempted to give up and go write his letters from a nice villa on the coast of Capri at some point. Paul and his companions suffered terrible persecutions as the Devil tried to stop his missionary journeys and his letters to the churches. I expect that Paul felt much as we do at times and asked the Lord when he might be able to retire to a life of reading and relaxation with only the odd letter or two to write once in a while. However, Paul affirmed his intention and urged on the Corinthians at the same time with his assertion to never give up.
The next time came when watching an old movie last night. One of the main characters pledged to never give up. That makes for a very dramatic moment, but movies aren't real. Of course they are not, but we are here and we need to hear and read about not giving up. We also need to stand before the Lord and say it out loud! Therefore, since God has given me this new ministry, I never give up! Personalizing Bible verses can help to get the Word into our hearts. God wrote the Bible especially for you and for me. Take His Word and make it personal. Let others know that your Bible is about Jesus and about you! And then let each person know that Jesus has a Word written especially for him or her too.
Perhaps the singular calling you have in your little life poured out for Christ is to do nothing but support the printing of as many Bibles as you can. Another person might be called to take those Bibles to as many places as he can during his lifetime. And yet another might be called to translate the Bible into as many languages as she can with her gift for tongues given by the Spirit. Each of us may have only one gift and one mission in our lives. We tend to want all of the gifts of the Spirit, or at least to pick the few that we want.
I fall into the same thinking as many others. Prophecy sounds great; wouldn't it be cool to know the future? Healing, yeah give me some of that too so I can heal the suffering in this world. Oh, and teaching, wouldn't it be great to know everything too! Praise the Lord that the Spirit decides who gets what gift. When I ask the Lord what I should be doing or whether I should be going somewhere, I get one single word response over and over again - Write! At no time has it ever came to me as "Right!" as in yes, do what I want to do. Always it is the "Write!" as in do what God would have me to do. You may have a similar one word mission in your life. God's command to you may not be as complicated and diverse as you might expect.
We fear that God will call us to be busy from dawn to dark, perhaps even earlier and later than that, each and every day of our lives. We get used to what the corporate world demands and we expect God to be the same way. However, your first command or mission in your new life in Christ might very well be to stop, listen, meditate on the Word, learn discipleship, or study slowly and other things that don't go with our rush-rush life of today. Try meditating on the Word where someone can see you today. You may very well be told to stop daydreaming and get to work. We have those busy, rush, hurry, trained minds that the corporate world likes to instill in its minions. No wonder little or no creative thinking happens in a corporation!
Take up your mission for God, no matter how little that mission may seem to fit your paradigm for Godly missions. God may call you to slow down and listen for His quiet whisper today. If you don't hear God's command right away, keep listening and never give up!
Bucky
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