Be true to your calling
1Pe_2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
The light that ensues from God is the playing field of the person that is called. 1Jn_1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. Darkness on the other hand, is the playing field of the devil. The two cannot mix and light is superior to darkness. In order for your calling to be light, you must be rid of darkness. That is, darkness of the mind, soul and spirit. Because you are chosen and called, faithfulness to the call is imperative in handling the call while remaining in the midst of darkness on earth. Darkness will increase upon the earth but so must light, within ourselves though it does not like it. Isa 60:1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. Isa 60:2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. The glory of the Lord is the light shining in you and on you that the world can see though they are surrounded by darkness. This is the call of God on you; to shine and shine brightly. You can only do this by allowing His light to come into you through His word. His word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path. It is impossible for darkness to quench the light of God though it attempts to do so. That is why faithfulness is required in the calling.
Many are called but few are chosen. Many are called but they do not know why. Many are called and few respond. Many are called and they respond. That call is the cry of the Spirit, to find a good person who can do what God wants that person to do. Sometimes, like Jeremiah, the calling is a pre-ordained choosing of God. There is little choice for the individual involved. However, the call can also come after one is born and knows nothing of God or the call. This makes the call even more difficult because it is a harder learning curve in handling the call. Few are equipped to take up the call and go forth immediately like Apostle Paul. Yet, he was chosen to suffer and so the choosing makes a difference in the equipping. The calling also is quite different in its outworking based on the call. Each one is called and chosen for tasks but each one must accept them.
Most times, the one who is called by God does not know the reason immediately. The Prophet Samuel did not know the voice of God when he was called. It took someone senior to him to recognise what was going on and advised him to respond to the call the next time. This is where prophesy and preaching come into play in the modern context of the call. For example; a person goes to a meeting and hears the passionate call of God to be a missionary to some far away land because the missionary preached passionately and extend the invitation. Another heard the call and responded through prophesy over their lives or listened to another preacher who challenged them. Others heard the call directly from Jesus. Now, the call becomes the passion and purpose of the individual who has heard the call. Responding to the call usually requires more confirmation and therefore the need for added diligence of prayer while waiting on the Lord. Many do not done this and have made a shipwreck of their faith. 1Ti 1:18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; 1Ti 1:19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: 1Ti 1:20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. It is obvious that the warning to Timothy was to conduct his calling with warfare in mind based on sure prophecies. Not to assume things.
Once the calling is in play, the journey of life takes on many twists and turns. The call can be misunderstood and doubted when family, circumstances and time delays in life take their toll. Luk_14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Circumstances in life can become very difficult and time brings with it both physical and spiritual tiredness. Family can dissuade you from continuing in the call. Yet, it is very important to keep the flame burning about the call. To do this, one must seek God constantly while looking back on their journey to see the hand of God in their lives guiding them. Then to look forward to what is coming next by virtue of one’s faithfulness to the call. This requires a person to work hard at keeping alive the passion of the call since they first heard it. Gal 6:5 For every man shall bear his own burden. It is very easy to go back to the flesh once things get tough. Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Gal 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. The return to the flesh happened to the foolish Galatians. They went back to living by rules and the law rather than the freedom of the Spirit. The call was for them to come out of the law into grace which they did in the first instance but did not stay in grace for long, even after many miracles, signs and wonders. They did not remain faithful to the call by virtue of being bewitched.
Being called out of darkness has its battles. The previous attachments of darkness in a person’s life can work toward destroying their faithfulness to the Light. The demonic life in the world that a person had experienced through various activities they may have allowed in their lives brought the housing of demons. Once these demons were cast out they seek to get back into their old house. They work toward it through temptations of the same sin again. If that same sin is indulged in, there will be severe consequences. Mar_2:21 No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.
After coming to Christ, disappointment and discouragement of unanswered prayers and many other factors that come to us during the walk (call) can be quite devastating. One preacher spoke of a revival that was stopped in his country because of a scandal that happened through another man of God in another country. The reason the revival stopped was disappointment. The realisation that a great man of God could fall into disgrace had affected the one who was experiencing revival. One man’s food can be another man’s poison. We must never stop loving God, seeking Him and waiting upon Him at all times and no matter what the cost is. Many have paid the ultimate sacrifice of death because they believed in God and trusted Him. This is staying true to the call in one’s life.
The Bible is full of men who paid a price to follow God under any circumstance in life. Jesus Himself paid the ultimate price that was far greater than anyone of us have had to pay for our faith. The martyrdom of a Christian is a very sad thing and God does not take pleasure in the death of His saints. However, this is a reality of life and we must be prepared to die as martyrs if need be to keep our call. If martyrdom does not happen, there are many deaths along the way that occur which require us to embrace what God is doing. These deaths belong in the flesh realm of pleasure that lead to sin. Other times death to legitimate things have had to happen because God has called, like jobs & family. The death we experience as a Christian has to do with advancement for our souls and to achieve what God wants from us. This kind of death can be costly because it brings up the choice to stay faithful to the call or sink back into the flesh. Many so called Christians have opted for the later because they are just not willing to pay the price of death to self. Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Joh 12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. The relationship between producing fruit and much fruit has to do with death. One can produce fruit and stop. Yet, God is seeking much fruit and that will only happen when pruning takes place. This pruning involves cutting off dead things in our lives even though we have been fruit bearing. Somewhere along the way, we have allowed pride or something else to stem the abundant fruit producing process and have become satisfied with producing only what we think we should produce or what we think we can produce. God however, creates in us the potential to produce more than we can bear.
One seed can produce so much fruit that the tree will not be able to bear it. This is the seed that knows it’s potential and continues to produce because when it built its foundation, it built it upon good soil. It did not allow the pressures and pleasures of this world or the sacrifices of the call to diminish its capacity to produce and keep the call going. Through all the trials of the faith, it kept going because it knew the end. God is calling us to be fruit bearing trees that keep bearing all the days of our lives. There is no retirement for a Christian. Old age is not a reason to retire in Christ. More can be achieved in old age than one can imagine. Anna prayed in the temple for seventy years for the coming of the Messiah. Wow! Right into her old age. She shunned everything else for this one call on her life. She saw the manifestation of what she was praying for.
Don’t give up through the things that you observe, experience and know in the natural. Dive into the Spirit. Deep calls unto deep and says; come and see what treasures of darkness I have for you. Isa 45:3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. The call is sure and your name is written in the book of life. Stay faithful to the end and then you will hear the words; “well done my faithful servant”.
Lots of love
Pastor Noble
18/02/18