For Thought and Meditation - Wednesday, December 22

[Pine Baron]

Good morning all.Today's message reminds me of my tendency to over think things too much. I'm working on it. Have a safe and blessed day.

The Drawing of the Father
By Oswald Chambers
No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him… —John 6:44

When God begins to draw me to Himself, the problem of my will comes in immediately. Will I react positively to the truth that God has revealed? Will I come to Him? To discuss or deliberate over spiritual matters when God calls is inappropriate and disrespectful to Him. When God speaks, never discuss it with anyone as if to decide what your response may be (see Galatians 1:15-16). Belief is not the result of an intellectual act, but the result of an act of my will whereby I deliberately commit myself. But will I commit, placing myself completely and absolutely on God, and be willing to act solely on what He says? If I will, I will find that I am grounded on reality as certain as God’s throne.

In preaching the gospel, always focus on the matter of the will. Belief must come from the will to believe. There must be a surrender of the will, not a surrender to a persuasive or powerful argument. I must deliberately step out, placing my faith in God and in His truth. And I must place no confidence in my own works, but only in God. Trusting in my own mental understanding becomes a hindrance to complete trust in God. I must be willing to ignore and leave my feelings behind. I must will to believe. But this can never be accomplished without my forceful, determined effort to separate myself from my old ways of looking at things. I must surrender myself completely to God.

Everyone has been created with the ability to reach out beyond his own grasp. But it is God who draws me, and my relationship to Him in the first place is an inner, personal one, not an intellectual one. I come into the relationship through the miracle of God and through my own will to believe. Then I begin to get an intelligent appreciation and understanding of the wonder of the transformation in my life.

[USMC87]

Amen, I am so happy God softened my hard heart and gave me faith to believe in him.

[GhostHawk]

We who are raised in this world often have trouble putting our will aside and accepting his.

For 40 years I was the goat who wanted no shepherd. No green pastures, no still waters. I wanted the rocky steeps and the wild waters. But to truly be Christian, we must SERVE HIM. His will be done on earth as in Heaven. Our will must be set aside to follow and serve the Lord.

The good news, is that once we do fully accept him, accept his will. Is the peace that surpasseth all understanding, Peace like a river which flows down over us.

There are a lot of one hour sunday morning Christians. If we would be more, we must put out will aside and LISTEN and FOLLOW.

Good Message Brother Pine Baron. And a good reminder of what is truly important for the season.

God bless and keep you all.

[hoodat]

I am at a place in my growth where this message is extremely pertinent and important. Thank you so much. jd

[dverna]

IMO, Galatians 1:15-16 has been taken out of context in this message. This scripture refers to Paul and his calling to spread the Gospel. He did not question his call to preach. We should never forget that Paul knew Jesus and was a Disciple. There was a close personal bond established between them, in addition to a bond of faith.

For most of us, it is appropriate to question when we think God is calling on us. This is particularly true with a non-believer. The writings and life of C. S. Lewis come to mind.... a man who was an atheist and made his conversion.

If your teenage child tells you God and called him/her to be baptized, we would all rejoice. If the same child says God had called me to drop out of school and serve Him by living among the drug addicts on the streets of San Franisco, we may feel a discussion is appropriate.

[Ickisrulz]

IMO, Galatians 1:15-16 has been taken out of context in this message. This scripture refers to Paul and his calling to spread the Gospel. He did not question his call to preach. We should never forget that Paul knew Jesus and was a Disciple. There was a close personal bond established between them, in addition to a bond of faith.

For most of us, it is appropriate to question when we think God is calling on us. This is particularly true with a non-believer. The writings and life of C. S. Lewis come to mind.... a man who was an atheist and made his conversion.

If your teenage child tells you God and called him/her to be baptized, we would all rejoice. If the same child says God had called me to drop out of school and serve Him by living among the drug addicts on the streets of San Franisco, we may feel a discussion is appropriate.

Paul was not a Disciple and did not know Jesus during his time on earth. It is unknown whether or not Paul ever even heard Jesus speak. Paul was opposed to the Gospel at first, but eventually came around and rendered an invaluable service for the Church. How did Paul get to know Jesus? Jesus appeared to him one time and spoke less than a 50 words to him. Paul got to know Jesus though his knowledge of OT prophecies, what he heard from the Apostles and the work of the Spirit (much the same as us).

Paul was "called." The Disciples were "called." Some kings and prophets were "called." Others serving in ministry to the Church just had a "desire", which according to Paul is adequate and probably the norm. See 1 Tim 3:1.

My only comment on the original post is that if one thinks God is speaking to them, compare the message to Scripture. That is the actual written message and the idea that God didn't do a whole lot of speaking to people directly in the Bible. If you listened to some Christians you'd get the (unbiblical) idea that God never stops talking.