Do I pray in line with my purposes, or God’s?  Many have taken the scripture “….let your requests be made known unto God”, (Philippians 4:6), requesting God to change things in order to make life less challenging, to suit themselves.  There are times when God uses our circumstances to do His work to change our hearts and perspective in life, bringing us into line with His purpose, conforming us to the image of His Son.  We can favour the above scripture hoping for change and ignore the following one: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts”, Isaiah 55:9.

As I seek God for Himself and not just blessings, the change that God requires takes place in me.  He gives spiritual sight to see things from His perspective and pray according to His will.  Jesus prayed: “For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever.  Amen”.  Matthew 6:13.  God’s power is to extend His kingdom, for His glory, not to extend my little kingdom for my glory, or to keep me in my comfort zone to stagnate unchallenged.

Salvation is our free gift but is not the prize.  Jesus is the Door we all came through at salvation and our earthly, spiritual journey began.  The Lord encourages us to press on.  Paul spoke these words, Philippians 3: 13-14: “……forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which are before.  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”.  The prize of the high calling of God on our lives is to be conformed to the image of God’s Son, (Ephesians 4:13).  As we walk in humility in life’s challenges, God rewards incrementally another measure of the stature of the fullness of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.  Christ in me, the hope of glory……God’s!

Mark 7:13  Jesus said: “You make the word of God of none effect by your tradition”.  How many of us are stuck in traditions, going nowhere, even religious ones  –  our holy cows?  Tradition makes void the word of God!  The life of God is like a mighty river that keeps rolling on.  It never stagnates or dries up.  Jesus is our River of  resurrection life.  “In Him we live, and move, and have our being”,  Acts 17:28.  The fullness of God is our birthright in Christ.  Only as we walk in humility will we experience this treasure.

God cannot be put in a box!…..not even in a religious one of tradition.  It is time to see that God works outside the box of our traditional thinking, and experience too.  All that we have known and understood in our thinking has to be surrendered as God moves in new direction.  God requires repentance of our past and present judgements that have become strongholds of opposition to His work in our hearts.  As we bow and humble before Him, He will anoint us with fresh oil, equipping us for His call on our lives.

The call of God is to every Believer.  It is not to rank, or position, but to function in whatever area God has placed you.  Am I a carrier of God’s presence and peace in the workplace, school, the home, recreation?  Or do I bring discord?  Jesus said a tree is known by it’s fruit.  Our lives are an open book, read of all men and observed under the eye of Almighty God.

Have you recognised the call of God on your life?  Many live their Christian life without recognising their call in divine purpose.  Every member of the Body of Christ has a certain function to fulfil.  In the Body we do not compete, but complete each other.  Every member matters, (1 Corinthians 12: 14-31).  Whom God calls, He equips.  God equips us with His power.  The source of this enablement and ability to function is by the power of His anointing.  This is the life of Christ enabling us to function in the home, work, pulpit or recreation.

1 John 2: 27 declares, “But the anointing you have received of Him abides in you….”.  The anointing is not just for the preacher in the pulpit then, it is for each of us in our every day lives that we may live, breath and operate in our heavenly mantel.  Our responsibilty is to keep our eyes on Jesus as we face our daily challenges, ever seeking to only doing, and saying, the things that please the Father.

 

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash