YOUR TRUE CALLING

Have you ever considered why the Lord called you to be a child of God? Was it to become a powerful preacher of the gospel, to be a missionary in a far-off country or to be a good husband and father or wife and mother? Is your calling to be a successful business person or an efficient administrator? While these may be valid pursuits in life in obedience to the calling of God, we need to look more closely into the Scriptures to identify our true calling.

In my study of the Scriptures, I have discovered at least 41 calls that apply to the lives of believers. Consider, for example, that we are called out of darkness into His marvelous light (see 1 Pet. 2:9) or that we are called to be saints (see Rom. 1:7).

But not one of these 41 calls is our primary call. When God created Adam there were no churches to pastor, no heathen to preach the gospel to and no businesses or offices to manage. The primary reason God created Adam was to fulfill His desire for a family with whom He could enjoy sweet communion. His first priority is the same today as then: to enjoy His children in a love relationship.

Jesus declared, “’If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him’” (John 14:23, NKJV).

Our primary calling is our destiny to enjoy relationship with God, not to work for Him. The work God gave Adam to do was to have dominion over the earth. He was in charge of taking care of the place where he would live with his descendants and where God would come to walk with him and commune with him.

God’s desire for believers is to cultivate a love relationship with each of us. In the context of that relationship He will then give us specific tasks to do. Yet the tasks should never diminish the priority of relationship with Him.

Of course, God has ordained that the church, the body of Christ in the earth, serve one another as we serve God. But we must be careful to prioritize our calling the way God does and not according to man’s perspective. God intends that our service to the body of Christ and to lost humanity proceed out of relationship with Himself. That relationship of worship – the creature to the Creator, the redeemed to the Redeemer – will motivate us to serve out of a heart of love for God.

I am convinced that whatever God does to advance His purpose on the earth is born out of a worshiping people. When the woman at the well asked Jesus questions about worship, He responded, “’The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him’” (John 4:23).

It was the woman’s question and Jesus’ answer that led me to seek God and search the Scriptures in order to understand what Jesus meant by worship in “spirit and truth.” God seeks worshipers who will cultivate a love relationship with Him. He values our relationship with Him more than anything we can or will ever do for Him. We can show Him that we value it as well by laying hold of our primary calling to enjoy and worship Him.

BY: Dr. Fuchsia Pickett

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Healing Before Ministry

"And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed." - Joshua 5:8

Before the nation of Israel could go into the Promised Land they had to be circumcised. Circumcision is painful, bloody, and personal. God requires each of us to be circumcised in the heart before we are allowed to enter and receive the blessings that await each believer in the Promised Land.

This circumcision can often be very painful. Circumcision requires losing our old way of life. The process of spiritual circumcision may mean a loss in areas that have been a part of our lives in order to draw us to the Savior. God understands this. Consequently, like the people of Israel, we must wait until we are healed before we begin to be effective in our calling. If we launch out too early, we will be ineffective and may risk infection and disease and will not be at our full capacity. God wants each of us to walk in His healing grace.

The people of Israel fought only two battles when they were coming out of Egypt. In the Promised Land they fought 39 battles. Each of us must be prepared to enjoy the benefits of living in the Promised Land. However, we must also be prepared to wage war against the enemy of our souls. Make sure the Lord has provided the needed healing to your circumcision experience before you enter the Promised Land.

by Os Hillman

_______________________________

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YOUR TRUE CALLING

Have you ever considered why the Lord called you to be a child of God? Was it to become a powerful preacher of the gospel, to be a missionary in a far-off country or to be a good husband and father or wife and mother? Is your calling to be a successful business person or an efficient administrator? While these may be valid pursuits in life in obedience to the calling of God, we need to look more closely into the Scriptures to identify our true calling.

In my study of the Scriptures, I have discovered at least 41 calls that apply to the lives of believers. Consider, for example, that we are called out of darkness into His marvelous light (see 1 Pet. 2:9) or that we are called to be saints (see Rom. 1:7).

But not one of these 41 calls is our primary call. When God created Adam there were no churches to pastor, no heathen to preach the gospel to and no businesses or offices to manage. The primary reason God created Adam was to fulfill His desire for a family with whom He could enjoy sweet communion. His first priority is the same today as then: to enjoy His children in a love relationship.

Jesus declared, “’If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him’” (John 14:23, NKJV).

Our primary calling is our destiny to enjoy relationship with God, not to work for Him. The work God gave Adam to do was to have dominion over the earth. He was in charge of taking care of the place where he would live with his descendants and where God would come to walk with him and commune with him.

God’s desire for believers is to cultivate a love relationship with each of us. In the context of that relationship He will then give us specific tasks to do. Yet the tasks should never diminish the priority of relationship with Him.

Of course, God has ordained that the church, the body of Christ in the earth, serve one another as we serve God. But we must be careful to prioritize our calling the way God does and not according to man’s perspective. God intends that our service to the body of Christ and to lost humanity proceed out of relationship with Himself. That relationship of worship – the creature to the Creator, the redeemed to the Redeemer – will motivate us to serve out of a heart of love for God.

I am convinced that whatever God does to advance His purpose on the earth is born out of a worshiping people. When the woman at the well asked Jesus questions about worship, He responded, “’The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him’” (John 4:23).

It was the woman’s question and Jesus’ answer that led me to seek God and search the Scriptures in order to understand what Jesus meant by worship in “spirit and truth.” God seeks worshipers who will cultivate a love relationship with Him. He values our relationship with Him more than anything we can or will ever do for Him. We can show Him that we value it as well by laying hold of our primary calling to enjoy and worship Him.

BY: Dr. Fuchsia Pickett

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Are We Saved by Faith Alone or by Faith that is Not Alone?

MORAL LAW

 Another group, the Antinomians, void of the law.  Antinomian is a compound word from the Greek roots “antinomian” meaning “without law.” The sect originated in the days of the Apostles, Its followers suppose that the gospel was designed to release Christians from their obligation to obey the moral law. Their doctrine grew out of a perversion of the doctrine of justification by faith.

The Jewish scholars had taught that men would be saved only by perfect outward conformity to the moral and ceremonial laws. In opposition to this, Paul taught that by the works of the law no flesh can be justified; first, because all men had broken the law already, and second because no obedience however perfect could make restitution for past disobedience.  Therefore, all people are already condemned by the law because of their pardon and acceptance. The atonement of Christ is, therefore, the only ground for pardon. Those who are saved are justified solely by faith in Christ irrespective of any legal righteousness of their own.

     The Biblical view of justification by faith was perverted by the Antinomians. They maintained that if people were justified by faith alone, then good works are unnecessary. They believed that faith in Christ is substituted for obedience to the law of God. They overlooked the fact without personal holiness no one shall see the Lord.

Holiness of Heart Is Part of the Gospel

    Varieties of the Antinomian sect have existed throughout history and in almost every part of the Church. They have not always been known by this name, but thousands have and still do manifest their belief and practices. They may generally be recognized; when holiness of heart and life are demanded, they complain that this is legal preaching, that the gospel has been exchanged for the law. They think that the gospel is designed to repeal the moral law; not only to set aside the penalties for believers in Christ, but also to discharge them from any obligation to the moral government of God, render it impossible for either law or gospel to sanctify them and “utterly perish in their own corruption.”

    Obviously, a person professing faith in Christ must live a holy life, as holy as if he expected to be saved by his works. If he indulges in sin, abandoning all regard for the law, he is the minister of sin. He is perverting and abusing the gospel. He becomes, in heart, an Antinomian. The gospel becomes a license to sin and Christ the apologist for sin.

PRINCIPLES OF REVIVAL p. 98

Charles Finney

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CAN YOU TRACE IT?

Peculiarities Of The Movement

There is no preaching, no order, no hymn books, no choirs, no organs, no collections and, finally, no advertising. I am not saying these things are wrong. I simply want you to see what God is doing. There were the organs, but silent; the ministers, but among the rest of the people, rejoicing and prophesying with the rest, only there was no preaching. Everybody is preaching. No order, and yet it moves from day to day, week to week, county to county, with matchless precision, with the order of an attacking force. Mr. Stead was asked if he thought the revival would spread to London, and he said, “It depends upon whether you can sing.” He was not so wide of the mark. When these Welshmen sing, they sing the words like men who believe them. They abandon themselves to their singing. We sing as though we thought it would not be respectable to be heard by the man next to us. No choir, did I say? It was all choir. And hymns! I stood and listened in wonder and amazement as that congregation on that night sang hymn after hymn, long hymns, sung through without hymn-books.

The Sunday-school is having its harvest now. The family altar is having its harvest now. The teaching of hymns and the Bible among those Welsh hills and valleys is having its harvest now. No advertising. The whole thing advertises itself. You tell me the press is advertising it. They did not begin advertising until the thing caught fire and spread. One of the most remarkable things is the attitude of the Welsh press. I come across instance after instance of men converted by reading the story of the revival in The Western Mail and The South Wales Daily News.

The Three Characteristics Of The Meetings

It was a meeting characterized by a perpetual series of interruptions and disorderliness. It was a meeting characterized by a great continuity and an absolute order. You say, “How do you reconcile these things?” I do not reconcile them. They are both there. If you put a man into the midst of one of these meetings who knows nothing of the language of the Spirit, and nothing of the life of the Spirit, one of two things will happen to him. He will either pass out saying, “These men are drunk,” or he himself will be swept up by the fire into the kingdom of God. If you put a man down who knows the language of the Spirit, he will be struck by this most peculiar thing. I have never seen anything like it in my life; while a man praying is disturbed by the breaking out of song, there is no sense of disorder, and the prayer merges into song, and back into testimony, and back again into song for hour after hour, without guidance. These are the three occupations—singing, prayer, testimony.

In the afternoon we were at another chapel, and another meeting, equally full, and this time Evan Roberts was present. He came into the meeting when it had been on for an hour and a half. He spoke, but his address—if it could be called an address—was punctuated perpetually by song and prayer and testimony. Evan Roberts works on that plan, never hindering anyone. I venture to say that if that address Evan Roberts gave in broken fragments had been reported, the whole of it could have been read in six or seven minutes. As the meeting went on, a man rose in the gallery and said, “So and So,” naming some man, “has decided for Christ,” and then in a moment the song began. They did not sing Songs of Praises, they sang Diolch Iddo, and the weirdness and beauty of it swept over the audience. It was a song of praise because that man was born again. There are no inquiry rooms, no penitent forms, but some worker announces, or an inquirer openly confesses Christ, the name is registered and the song breaks out, and they go back to testimony and prayer.

In the evening I stood for three solid hours wedged so that I could not lift my hands at all. That which impressed me most was the congregation. I stood wedged, and I looked at the gallery of the chapel on my right, and there were three women, and the rest were men packed solidly in. If you could but for once have seen the men, evidently colliers, with the blue seam that told of their work on their faces, clean and beautiful. Beautiful, did I say? Many of them lit with heaven’s own light, radiant with the light that never was on sea and land. Great rough, magnificent, poetic men by nature, but nature had slumbered long. Today it is awakened, and I looked on many a face, and I knew that men did not see me, did not see Evan Roberts, but they saw the face of God and the eternities. I left that evening, after having been in the meeting three hours, at 10:30, and it swept on, packed as it was, until an early hour next morning, song and prayer and testimony and conversion and confession of sin by leading church-members publicly, and the putting of it away, and all the while no human leader, no one indicating the next thing to do, no one checking the spontaneous movement.

A Church Revival

What is the character of this revival? It is a church revival. I do not mean by that merely a revival among church members. It is that, but it is held in church buildings. I have been saying for a long time that the revival which is to be permanent in the life of a nation must be associated with the life of the churches. What I am looking for is that there shall come a revival breaking out in all our regular church life. The meetings are held in the chapels, all up and down the valleys, and it began among church members, and when it touches the outside man it makes him into a church-member at once. I am tremendously suspicious of any mission or revival movement that treats with contempt the Church of Christ, and affects to despise the churches. Within five weeks, twenty thousand have joined the churches. I think more than that have been converted, but the churches in Wales have enrolled during the last five weeks twenty thousand new members. It is a movement in the Church and of the Church, a movement in which the true functions and forces of the Church are being exercised and filled.

The movement is characterized by the most remarkable confession of sin—confessions that must be costly. I heard some of them, men rising who have been members of the church and officers of the church, confessing hidden sin in their heart, impurity committed and condoned, and seeking prayer for its putting away. The whole movement is marvelously characterized by a confession of Jesus Christ, testimony to his power, to his goodness, to his beneficence, and testimony merging forevermore into outbursts of singing.

This whole thing is of God; it is a visitation in which he is making men conscious of Himself, without any human agency. The revival is far more wide-spread than the fire zone. In this sense you may understand that the fire zone is where the meetings are actually held, and where you feel the flame that burns. But even when you come out of it, and go into railway trains, or into a shop, a bank, anywhere, men everywhere are talking of God. Whether they obey or not is another matter. There are thousands not yielded to the constraint of God, but God has given Wales in these days a new conviction and consciousness of himself. That is the profound thing, the underlying truth.

The Origin Of The Movement

In the name of God let us all cease trying to find it. At least let us cease trying to trace it to any one man or convention. You cannot trace it, and yet I will trace it tonight. Whence has it come? All over Wales—I am giving you roughly the result of the questioning of fifty or more persons at random in the week—a praying remnant has been agonizing before God about the state of the beloved land, and it is through that the answer of fire has come. You tell me that the revival originates with Roberts. I tell you that Roberts is a product of the revival. You tell me that it began in an Endeavor meeting where a dear girl bore testimony. I tell you that was part of the result of a revival breaking out everywhere. If you and I could stand above Wales, looking at it, you would see fire breaking out here and there, and yonder, and somewhere else, without any collusion or prearrangement. It is a divine visitation in which God—let me say this reverently—in which God is saying to us: See what I can do without the things you are depending on; see what I can do in answer to a praying people; see what I can do through the simplest who are ready to fall in line and depend wholly and absolutely upon me.

________________________________________________

Much can be gained from studying the move of God throughout history. I would be unwise to attempt to mimic the exploits of these men and women of God from old, but there are reasons why God used them, and we would do well to put ourselves in the same position. Evan Roberts was only used because he travailed in prayer day in and day out for years in expectation for what God would do. Are we so committed? Because until we are willing to suffer with Christ like Evan Roberts suffered with Christ, we will never see the glory of God like Evan Roberts saw the glory of God.

-from the book titled simply The Welsh Revival

 

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Living the Love Life

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

– John 15:13

We often think of "laying down your life" for someone else in terms of dying. That's what Jesus did. He loved us so much He laid down His life by dying in our place so that we could live.

But now, He's asked us to lay down our lives in a different way. He's asked us to show our love, not by dying for others, but by living for them.

Exactly what does that mean?

Sometimes it means giving our lives by spending time in prayer for someone. Other times it means giving of ourselves with love and understanding. Many times it means laying down our own selfish desires in order to meet the needs of another.

Romans 15:1 puts it this way, "We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves."

When you lay down your life, you live to please God instead of yourself. You let your life be guided by His love. If love leads you to the person next door, you follow. When love calls you to intercede for someone in need, you yield.

Commit yourself today to lay down your own life—and take up the love life. Say:

"Father, in Jesus' Name, I see from Your Word that You were willing to give of Yourself, in the person of Your Son, for all men. I understand that because Jesus is Lord of my life, I, too, am called to give myself to others. I choose to accept that calling today.

"I'll give of my time. I'll give of Your love in me. I'll be strong and lift up those who are weak. I'm willing to be available to be used of You so that those around me might experience the abundant life You have provided.

"You have loved me, Lord, with the greatest love there is. I count it a privilege now to share that love with others. I thank You for it in Jesus' Name. Amen."

FAITH TO FAITH
KCM

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What It Means to Be Full of the Spirit

How it is that the moment you are filled with the Holy Ghost persecution starts? It was so with the Lord Jesus Himself. We do not read of any persecutions before the Holy Spirit came down like a dove upon Him. Shortly after this, we find that, after preaching in His hometown, they wanted to throw Him over the brow of the hill. It was the same with the twelve disciples. They had no persecution before the day of Pentecost; but after they were filled with the Spirit, they were

soon in prison.

 The devil and the priests of religion will always get stirred when a man is filled with the Spirit and does things in the power of the Spirit. And persecution is the greatest blessing to a church. When we have persecution we will have purity. If you desire to be filled with the Spirit you can count on one thing, and that is persecution. The Lord came to bring division, and even in your own household, you may find three against two.

The Lord Jesus came to bring peace; and soon after you get peace within, you get persecution without. If you remain stationary, the devil and his agents will not disturb you much. But when you press on and go the whole length with God the enemy has you as a target. But God will vindicate you in the midst of the whole thing.

Excerpt from "Ever Increasing Faith"  p. 105
by Smith Wigglesworth


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