WATCHWORD:
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
He has saved us and called us to a holy life — not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 2 Timothy 1:10
Meditation:
Holy Spirit? Hallucination?
You sit in your private place focusing on a devotional, perhaps a passage of scripture or you are engaged in private conversation with God. Out of nowhere comes an inspiring idea or thought that causes you to jot a brief note to yourself to remind you of what had come to you. What had come to you? From what source? Maybe you reference back to the devotional you were reading so you can recapture that idea. Maybe it’s an interesting choice of words that sparks a thought, something you read (“Wolves of Worry”) in a Jesus Calling, last March. Or perhaps it’s the idea that “I am a piece in God’s puzzle” that made you smile, and you jot that down to be referred to later.
Still, where did that inspiration come from? Was it a hallucination in your mind? Just my imagination? It’s not something I could make up. There had to be a source. Where then? The holy spirit? Really?” G speaking to me? Me? Why? Our role is not to say ‘Why?’, our role is to think ‘Thank you, Lord, for your presence in my life…’ His plan for you or me come in different sizes, shapes, purposes, and circumstances.
See if you can relate to this statement on the call of God by Angie Ward, a professor of ministry at Denver Seminary:
“It may feel like a nudge, or maybe it’s a burden you can’t shake, a burning, a whisper, a leading, a feeling of discontent, a prompting, an invitation, perhaps even a command. It’s hard to describe, but you’re sure of it. You experienced something. That something has come from somewhere outside of yourself, yet, at the same time, it resonates deep within your spirit. And it is asking, perhaps urgently, for a response. But you have so many questions, all cluttering your head and heart clamoring for attention. You take a deep breath. There it is again.”
Persistently. Excitedly. Kind of a warm sense of inspiration. Yes, sometimes urgent, almost demanding a response, now. Maybe the response demanded is far outside anything you have ever written or thought or did? Far outside your comfort zone. Beyond your qualifications, as you see them. What then? Lord, send someone else? Lord, don’t ask me to do that. No. The answer is, ‘Here am I, use me, Lord’.
What is a ‘calling’ anyway? It is not easy to define. Frederick Buechner says “Calling is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” And I believe there’s a deep gladness, an unshakeable joy in knowing that you were created for a purpose and in finding and following that purpose, you discover…You. More then that, God has picked you!
Listen carefully. In the stillness of the day or the night, it is there. Maybe just dots, a scattering of words or ideas, and the whispered voice tells you “connect”. Maybe a phrase that cries out “add flesh, words, thoughts, it needs to go out and be read, to be acted on, to serve others.” Or perhaps more urgently, “Help your neighbor, reach out to your friend, aid the homeless, serve others. “When you did it to the least of these my children, you did it unto Me”, Jesus reminds us. Take seriously the call of the Holy Spirit, the call of God. Amen.
Holy Spirit, make my heart open to the word of God, make my heart open to goodness, make my heart open to the beauty of God every day. So be it.
Come, Holy Spirit:
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. And kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you will renew the face of the earth.
Lord, by the light of the Holy Spirit you have taught the hearts of your faithful.
In the same Spirit help us to relish what is right and always rejoice in your consolation.
We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
