Author: Carolyn

I am a Christian, a sinner saved by God's amazing grace. Much like my life, my blog is a work in progress. The main objective I have for this blog is to "proclaim the praises" of the One who called me out of darkness and into His marvelous light! (1 Peter 2:9)

Calling: Following Jesus

Carolyn

This post is the second entry on the subject of “calling.”  Yesterday, the first in the series was on “Knowing Our Identity in Christ.” 

The first thing Jesus told his disciples when he “called” them was “follow Me” (Matthew 4:18-22).

He also said this to many people throughout the New Testament, such as in Mark 8:34-35:

“When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, ‘Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.'” (NKJV)

Following Jesus seems to be a primary calling that He gives us as Christians. What does it mean to follow Jesus?

Looking at the verses above, and if we were to continue to read and study further, we would see that following Jesus, being His disciple (a word given to the original twelve followers, but now used for any follower of Jesus), is a call that costs something, that involves sacrifice, but that rewards greatly.

Following Jesus involves denying myself, taking up my cross, and losing my life for His sake and the gospel’s. Many places in the Bible add to our understanding of this, and other passages also describe the rewards for following Jesus. These rewards include not walking in darkness, but having the Light of life (John 8:12), being honored by the Father (John 12:26), and having our lives ultimately saved (Mark 8:35).

John 8:12: “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.’”

John 12:26: “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.”

Though God may give us many “callings” in our lives, as Christians, we are all given this foremost call to follow Him. As we follow Jesus, we can trust that He will lead us into the other callings he may have for us.

This may go against other advice we hear in our culture such as “follow your heart’s desires” or “follow your passions” or “follow your dreams,” all of which sound potentially self-fulfilling, yet seem so abstract and elusive. Even in Christian circles sometimes, these messages can exist, a version of “you can be anything your heart desires” or “be all you can be” with Jesus on the side, endorsing our dreams.

As Christians, we should follow Jesus, not our passions, desires, or dreams, and He will develop in us godly passions after His heart that become our desires that He alone can fulfill. This is a Christ-centered call, not one focused on me.

There is much greater joy in following Jesus than what anyone or anything else can offer. And this is a straightforward, concrete call that we don’t want to miss or confuse with any other message being given.

Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (ESV)

Calling: Knowing Our Identity in Christ

Carolyn

I’m starting a series on “calling,” and today is the first post. 

Isaiah 43:1b, 7 (NKJV):

“I have called you by your name; You are Mine….

Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”

The first thought that comes to mind when I think of “calling” is “identity.” I like the verses above from Isaiah 43 where the LORD tells Israel that He called them by their name, and they are His. In the passage, we see that He created them, redeemed them, and formed them for His glory. He called them by His name, and they are His. This is their identity.

Ephesians 1 tells us that God does the same thing for us who are in Christ. In Christ, He has blessed us (v.3), chosen us (v.4), predestined us (v.5, v.11), adopted us (v.5), accepted us (v.6), redeemed us (v.7), forgiven us (v.7), made the riches of His grace abound toward us (v.8, 2:7), given us an inheritance (v.11), sealed us with the Holy Spirit (v.13), called us (v.18), loved us (2:4), created us for good works (2:10), and brought us near by the blood of Christ (2:13). And this is not even the full list!

The calling that God has for me and all those in Him will stem from our identity in Christ – the One who made us, saved us, and has given us life; we are His.

We must know our identity before we know our calling.
psalm 100 3

“Calling”

Carolyn

Have you noticed lately all the articles online, conferences, and books being published on the subject of “calling” for women?

I ran across an article on my Facebook news feed a month or so ago about this subject of calling. One click leads to another, and I then found the conference where this talk had originally been delivered.

Before I knew it, I was reading all sorts of blogs and online discussions, seeing other conferences taking shape around similar topics, and I found myself wanting to engage with these ideas to better understand what was being said. Over the Christmas break, I read several books, including a couple of memoirs, and I am now reading a Bible study on purpose and calling.

I suppose in my small corner of the internet, I want to add my own reflections to this conversation as I digest much of this material in what seems be a movement among Christian women. Over the next several days, I’ll be posting on this subject of “calling.”

A New Year’s Resolution

Carolyn

The new year. A time to begin again. New hopes, new goals, new plans.

Yesterday, I turned the last page and closed the book it took me a year to read. The Bible.

I used the NIV One Year Chronological Bible. It was the first time I had ever read the Bible in a year, the completion of a goal I set for 2013. It was a blessing to see the full scope of God’s Word, how it all ties together. I encourage anyone to do this and take time to see what God has spoken to us through the Bible.

For those of us craving to hear from God, this is the place we find Him speaking. It’s worth the time to daily read, reflect, and pray.

I could come up with a whole list of goals and resolutions for 2014 (i.e., exercise, eat right, limit distractions such as social media, etc.). Perhaps like last year, though, I should pick one main thing and find joy at year’s end when it’s achieved. Instead of many resolutions that end up broken, I name one that is attainable and that can produce growth through that one action. And then commit it to the Lord, asking for His strength to do it, dedicating the new year to Him.

What are you resolving to do this year?

The Patience of God

Carolyn

My high school friend Terri hosts an Advent reflection group on Facebook each year, and she asked me to write something for one of the days. This was what I submitted.

In this season of Advent, we wait with expectation for the coming of Christ at Christmas. We reflect again on his coming to earth in the form of a baby to live life as a man (fully God, fully man), die for our sins, and be raised again. During Advent, we prepare our hearts to make room for Christ (“Let every heart prepare him room” as Isaac Watts penned in “Joy to the World”). We turn away from the things – even good things – that would draw us away from Christ in this season, and we focus on Him. We ponder the true Gift Giver, God Himself, and the gift of salvation (and much more!) that is ours in Christ.

We also remember that there is a second coming of Christ, one to come, and we consider how we are preparing for that coming. (“Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit.” Luke 12:35)

We wait. We wait for our King’s arrival! We wait for His return!

In this season of our waiting, I began to reflect on a God who waits. Is there evidence in Scripture that God waits for us?

Look at these verses:

“Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you….” (Isaiah 30:18)

“Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4)

“…God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared,…” (1 Peter 3:20)

“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

“And count the patience of our Lord as salvation…” (2 Peter 3:15)

christmas oldMy husband and I are part of a couples’ “small group” in our church. We meet every month, rotating homes, to fellowship and study the Bible together. Several years ago, while we were at our small group in a time of animated discussion, I was listening to everyone share and fully engaged in the conversation. While we were talking about whatever our study was that week, several words flew across my mind, interrupting my thoughts: “I waited for you.”

It’s hard to explain as this kind of thing has only happened a couple of times in my life and perhaps it sounds odd. But while my attention had been fully focused elsewhere, not trying to imagine something God might say, those words cut right through the conversation and spoke (though not audibly) to my heart: “I waited for you.”

I remembered that when I was a little girl, there was a verse in the Bible that said something about God being patient so that many would come to salvation as He did not want people to perish. And in my young mind, I had wondered about that, thinking, “Yes, Lord, but the longer you wait, the more people are born, and so the more people are probably actually going to be lost because there are so many more people!”

After our small group, my husband went out to the movies with the guys, and I went home and got down on the floor with my Bible and prayed, asking God about this. “Where is that verse?” “And are you speaking about that verse to me?”

As I prayed and flipped through my Bible, I found the verse in 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”  (2 Peter 3:9)

face to faceI asked the Lord if He would keep showing me this verse and teaching me through it if this was truly from Him. Three days of that next week, God brought me this verse through various devotionals and books. One had come in the mail that week from a conference I had attended, and the devotional was about 2 Peter 3:9. I also occasionally work through the book Face to Face (it guides your prayer with Scripture), and 2 Peter 3:9 was listed as one of the verses for the day. Then there was a third source, as well, another day. All three unseen beforehand, placed and timed perfectly that week to show me this truth.

The thought was quite powerful. God had waited for me. Before I had believed Christ and trusted Him with my life and for the forgiveness of my sins, He had been waiting for me. Once it became personal, I suddenly threw out all of the mental mathematical work on that verse that I had done as a child! God had waited for me. I ponder each of those words. Our God, the Creator of the universe, the Savior of the world – waiting – for me, small though I am, sinful, unworthy, yet even for me, He waited.

Do you know this King that is coming? The One who has come and will come again? Can you imagine that He might be waiting for you? If you haven’t trusted Jesus for your sins, why not do so this very day, this Christmas season, and experience a rebirth even as we celebrate His birth.

The Bible tells us that if we confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved (Romans 10:9-10). I pray you know this Jesus as your Savior and Lord, and the abundant, eternal life He wants you to have. And may we celebrate with joy a God who is so personal, who loves us so dearly, that He would send His Son into our brokenness and sin to suffer in our place so that we might know His righteousness and be reconciled to God. What a gift! What a Savior! What a King! Praise the Lord!