ACCEPTING GOD'S CALL

GO!  "God's presence and call often show up in unexpected places and at surprising times.  We should all be changed by God's presence each time we encounter God.  Have we sensed God asking us to do something differently in our lives?  We must have the courage to say YES!  May we be the presence of Christ today as we give back and share our lives with others." 

SATURDAY, August 11 "Everything"
Luke 5:10-11  (The Message)
"Jesus said to Simon, 'There is nothing to fear. From now on you'll be fishing for men and women.'  They pulled their boats up on the beach, left them, nets and all, and followed him."
     Nets and all.  Other translations say everything or forsook all.  What is our everything?  We tend to instantly think of material goods - our homes, cars, wealth, our things.  Our culture tells us this is our worth, our everything.
     But it is much more.  The everything our God calls into action includes our heart and minds, our talents and skills, and our shortcomings and failures.  God has given us all we have.  When we answer the call we give it all back to his service.
     God is going to take our everything and put it to work.  Are we ready?  Failure to do so means to miss out on God's miracle and blessing within us.  The disciples walked away from the biggest catch of their lives as fishermen to an even bigger catch - life with Christ.

FRIDAY, August 10   "On the Run"
Jonah 1:2-3 (The Message)

" 'Up on your feet, Jonah!  On your way to the big city of Ninevah!  Preach to them.  They're in a bad way and I can't ignore it any longer!'  But Jonah got up and went the other way to Tarshish, running away from God.  He went down to the port of Joppa and found a ship headed to Tarshish.  He paid the fare and went on board, joining those going to Tarshish - as far away from God as he could get." 
     How easy it is to run from God - or think we are avoiding God.  We do it when the call is hard, or inconvenient!  Not now, God, maybe later.  Send someone else.  But as Jonah eventually discovered, we can't run from God.  There is nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide.  Even when we are running, God will move heaven and earth to meet us where we are and gently (Jonah would say a whale's belly isn't NOT gentle!) guide us back to where he calls us.  Our goal?  Don't go on the run.  Stick around and heed God's call.  He's going to find you eventually anyway!
     

THURSDAY, August 9   "Hot Coals"
Isaiah 6:6-8  (The Message)

"Then one of the angel-seraphs flew to me.  He held a live coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.  He touched my mouth with the coal and said, 'Look.  This coal has touched your lips.  Gone your guilt, your sins wiped out.'  And then I heard the voice of the Master: 'Whom shall I send?  Who will go for us?'  I spoke up, 'I'll go!  Send me!"  
     God doesn't wait to send perfect people to do his work.  If he did, it would be a long wait - there simply aren't enough candidates available!  Instead, God takes us as we are becoming - unholy, unprepared - and empowers us.  God knows what we are capable of if we put our trust in him.  He knows the job we can do.
     Has the coal touched my lips?  Yours?  If the fire is burning, maybe it's time to say to God, "Here I am!  Send me!"
     This week's devotions are so poignant in light of Rick and my departure today to begin our retirement travels and volunteering.  I am excited for the flames to ignite us in anticipation of more and more service.  Habitat for Humanity, CHRPA (in Tucson), and where else?  Only God knows!

WEDNESDAY, August 8 "No Excuses"

Exodus 3:11-12 (The Message)
"Moses answered God, 'But why me?  What makes you think that I could ever go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?"  
'I'll be with you,' God said. 'And this will be the proof that I am the one who sent you.  When you have brought my people out of Egypt, you will worship God right here at this very mountain."
     "Why me, God? I don't have the skills, I can't do it, it's too hard!"  We can make all the excuses we want to tell God to send someone else.  Moses goes on to list reason upon reason why God shouldn't send him.  Why?  Because it is frightening and hard to accept God's call.  It means change and often hardship.  To accept often means doing more than we can handle....alone.
     And there is God's 'catch' - his promise.  We won't be alone.  God will be with us moment by moment.  That is who God is and what God does.  If we can have the faith to say yes and trust God, we will be amazed at the work God accomplishes - through us.  It starts by saying not 'Why me?', but 'Ye, God. Here I am.  Use me.'

TUESDAY, August 7  "Answers to Prayer"
Exodus 3:9-10 (The Message)

"The Israelite cry for help has come to me and I've seen for myself how cruelly they're being treated by the Egyptians.  It's time for you to go back: I'm sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the People of Israel, out of Egypt."
     The Old Testament is filled with the stories of those who were called by God to act: Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Gideon, David, Jonah, Daniel....  Each time, the action wasn't solitary between the man (or woman!) and God alone.  God was calling them on behalf of another group, a group who sees them as an answer to prayer.  The Israelites had been in captivity for hundreds of years.  Moses, in disrupting his life to answer God's call, was answer to their prayers.
     When God calls us, it will usually mean disruption and change. We can't view the call in a selfish way as affecting our life only.  Perhaps God will be using us to answer the prayers of others.  Let us pray to hear and accept the call of God to be a blessing to others.  

MONDAY, August 6   "Face to Face"
Exodus 3:6  (The Message)
"Then God said, 'I am the God of your father: the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.'  Moses hid his face, afraid to look at God." 
     Face to face with God.  The first image that comes to my mind is the final scenes of Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark - faces melting in terror in the presence of God.  It isn't a pleasant thought.  Our tendency is to react as Moses - in terror.  What IS it like to come face to face with God?  How would we know?
     Yet, when God's call pulls us into unknown avenues far beyond our comfort zone and into fearful experiences, we are seeing God.  We are afraid, yet God knows us, equips us, and is present with us - face to face in those we serve.
     Let us prepare ourselves to meet God in the most outlandish of places, prepare to boldly greet God with courage, praise, and respect, prepare our hearts to come face to face with God and hear God's call.

PAUSE! d365.org
"Accepting God's call requires courage to follow.  It's normal to feel fear and self-doubt, but ultimately God knows we can handle the calling that God places on our hearts.  Are you listening for God's call?  Prepare yourself today to hear and respond!" 

SUNDAY, August 5     "Stopping for God"
Exodus 3:4-5  (The Message)
"God saw that he had stopped to look.  God called to him from out of the bush, 'Moses, Moses!'  He said, 'Yes?  I'm right here!'  God said, 'Don't come any closer.  Remove your sandals from your feet.  You're standing on holy ground." 
     We highly respect Moses as a pillar of the Old Testament.  Yet, what if Moses had not stopped to look?  What if Moses had ignored the burning bush?  What if he had seen some interesting tablets of stone BEFORE the burning bush?  Would he have realized their importance?  What if Moses had been too busy with the details of managing a mob of exiles that he didn't take time for some mountain hiking?  What if?  What if?
     Do we have some 'what ifs' in our lives?  Are we missing God's call because we faill to recognize it?  God doesn't always beckon in the mainstream of life.  We won't get a phone call probably saying, "Hi, I'm God and this is what I'd like you to do!"  That would make it far too easy!  Sometimes God asks that we stop and take a look, to follow another path, to try something new.  God is calling us to serve in a specific way.  Let's make sure we don't miss our burning bush hidden in the chaos of our everyday lives!