I'm almost sad to wrap up this little adventure in learning we've been on, but praise the Lord, there is so much more to learn of His goodness!  Suffering is nearly as difficult to do as it is to understand.  I don't think we can ever fully grasp with our minds the meaning behind our pain, this is a beast that must be taken on in spirit, with The Spirit guiding us all the while.

In John 16:33, Jesus told us of the pain we would face due to our reborn status as His brothers and sisters and He reminded us of the victory we will undoubtedly have in Him. 

"In the world you face persecution.  But take courage; I have conquered the world!" 

Our peace rests in this verse, if in no other.  Christ conquered this world, and He wants to lead us to that same victory.  Hallelujah!

We will be greatly encouraged if we are intentional in seeing that part of our living out God's purpose for us involves being beaten and battered as we take up our cross in pursuit of eternity.

"There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, 'It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God'" (Acts:14:22, NRSV).

We can also take joy from our suffering if we can train our hearts to look vertically when trouble is on the horizon.  Seeing the gift of being changed by our Lord through the use of our circumstance as an honor, even if only in short bursts at a time, is still food for a weary soul.  Philippians 1:29 speaks so wonderfully to this aspect of suffering.

"For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well--"

We are called to suffering to prove God's strength and faithfulness to bring us through.  We suffer well to bring Him the glory from giving us grace and peace under pressure.  Our trials bring us closer to the Christ-like status we as disciples strive for during our short time on earth.

"Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God's will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good" (1 Peter 4:19, NRSV).

We should wear our suffering as a tribute to the King, not martyring ourselves, not with a grumbling heart, but with the joy of knowing we're going to move on shining bright for the world to see.  Seeing hope in the eyes of the struggling people of the world helps people to see Jesus.  We suffer to save souls.

Suffering is inevitable, but it doesn't have to be inescapable.  We find our exit route in Christ...the way out is to always be looking straight up!

"For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.  'He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.'  When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly" (1 Peter 2:21-23, NRSV).

Our time studying the seven divine calls to Christians from God continues today, and it is quite a timely word.  While there is much to uncover about the God appointed importance of subjection to authority, I want to preface with a scripture that describes the only instance in which this subjection is to be tossed aside.  Ladies, we can never let those in charge lead us down a sinful path, and this includes our husbands!

"But Peter and the apostles answered, 'We must obey God rather than any human authority' "(Acts 5:29, NRSV).

Staying under the authority of man must never mean stepping out from under the authority of God.

"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God" (Romans 13:1, NIV).

"Do you want to be on good terms with the government? Be a responsible citizen and you'll get on just fine, the government working to your advantage. But if you're breaking the rules right and left, watch out. The police aren't there just to be admired in their uniforms. God also has an interest in keeping order, and he uses them to do it. That's why you must live responsibly—not just to avoid punishment but also because it's the right way to live"  (Romans 13:4-5, MSG).

Never has a passage from The Message grabbed me as this one today.  As Christians, we struggle with the moral compass based differences we have with those who have been placed in charge of the free world.  We often exercise our right to speak against those in authority and we often protest in this way or that.  While we are free to speak, we are not free to do as we please, no matter how much our opinions clash with the one in charge.

I am so convicted by this lesson.  If you really think of all the ways we break free from authority it is nothing short of sinful.  Often we think of the unlawful deeds as the big bad that is out there in the world.  Drugs, robbery, murder.  In reality, we're all guilty of authority dodging, and probably on a daily basis.  Speeding, burning music or videos that we never purchased, getting extra change at a restaurant and not returning it...I could go on, but I don't want to condemn here.  I want to encourage us to move beyond the non-issue we have with defying authority.

Maybe some of these hit home for you, I know a few do for me.  While we aren't in fear of worldly authorities in many such instances, we should feel convicted to strive for doing what is right and good.  Even in the small things.

Live by example.  Christ's example.

My little SonShines, this journey we're on is shaping up to be quite the ride and I can't wait to see what new treasures we will uncover along the way.  Today, we get to visit the divine call to sonship.  Today, we find a tour guide of sorts in our brother John.  He weaves us all along the trails of God's goodness in the Scripture we're meditating on today.  By the end of the ride we will be refreshed for the journey, renewed in our way of thinking, and ready to take our rightful place as daughters of the King! 

"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.  But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:1-2, NRSV).

"I am writing to you little children, because your sins are forgiven on account of his name.  I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.  I am writing to you, young people, because you have conquered the evil one" (1 John 2:12-13, NRSV).

"Do not love the world or the things in the world.  The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world--the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches--comes not from the Father but from the world.  And the world and its desires are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever" (1 John 2:15-17, NRSV).

"And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming" (1 John 2:28, NRSV).

"See what love the Father has given us, what we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.  The reason the world does not know us it that it did not know him.  Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed.  What we do know is this:  when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.  And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure" (1 John 3:1-3, NRSV).

Lord, you have set us apart, and gloriously so!  We are special because we are yours.  We know love because we know you.  Father, please help us to keep our eyes on eternity and not on the worldly riches that entice us away from you.  Shape us with your infallible hands, smoothing our imperfections and strengthening our resolve against this world.  Lord, we want to step into our roles as your royal children--made in your image and made acceptable through your Son.  It is in His name that we pray and praise you today.  Amen.

 We've been uncovering some joyous truths through our exploration of the seven divine calls to the Christian from God.  Salvation, sanctification, and service are calls that save, cleanse, and steer us toward the example of Christ, thus connecting us to our Father in heaven.  Today, we're going to find hope and rest where we least expect it--in alienation from the world around us.  That sort of separation sounds so lonely, but take heart, it is in that isolation that we form the deepest of connections and the truest of friendships! 

Surrounding ourselves with other people after God's own heart is a vital part of our own spiritual growth.  Limiting the influence that this world has on us is key to living under Godly authority.  Just as we must remove the weeds from our gardens before they choke the life from our plants, we must uproot fellowship with nonbelievers so that eternal life can grow within us.

In 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (MSG) , we are given wonderful word pictures that help us to see the sense in separation.

"Don't become partners with those who reject God.
How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That's not partnership; that's war.
Is light best friends with dark?
Does Christ go strolling with the Devil?
Do trust and mistrust hold hands?
Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God's holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom God lives.
God himself put it this way: 'I'll live in them, move into them; I'll be their God and they'll be my people.  So leave the corruption and compromise; leave it for good,' says God.
'Don't link up with those who will pollute you. I want you all for myself. I'll be a Father to you; you'll be sons and daughters to me.'"

God isn't asking us to turn our backs on the lost souls of the world, He's prompting us to protect our own souls against the influence that comes with such connections. 

If you move from New York to North Carolina you will eventually pick up a touch of our southern drawl.  We take on characteristics of those we surround ourselves by, it is a scary fact of life, but it is also a wonderful tool in our arsenals as Christian soldiers!  Christian friendships enrich our lives in countless ways.

Reach out to the ungodly, but don't seek their counsel.  Speak up in the presence of the lost, but don't look for them to understand you.  Pray for people who don't know the Lord, but don't trust them to have your best interest at heart.  We can be a friend to unbelievers, we just can't depend on them to be friends to us in the ways we need most.  Perhaps the joy that God works in our lives will entice those around us, but we must always be intentional to not let the world entice us!

"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us" (1 Peter 2:11-12, NIV).


Lord,
We have an awesome task before us as your children, but we have a mighty God in our corner all the while!  Father, we ask that you will strengthen us as we answer your call to remain separate from this world.  Help us to feel set apart and special because of whose we are, not who the world says we are.  Build in us a line of communication with the lost that is a conversation between you and the hearts of man, cutting out all chance for our being led astray in our efforts to witness to your glory.  Father, protect us and guide us all the days of our lives.  For it is your life that is in us and your will that shall be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Thank you for your faithfulness in all things.  Amen.

O taste and see that the Lord is good.

God calls each of His children in so many differing ways, but He also calls us each to something larger.  Every one of God's people have the same seven divine callings, no matter the varying circumstance.  We are to listen up, heed the call, and answer with a joyful heart!  We've unwrapped the goodness that lies within our Savior's invitation to salvation and we've dug into the riches of becoming sanctified by the loving hand of the Lord.  Today, we're going to unearth the treasures of being called to serve!  Talk about the ultimate Miracle in the Mundane...our service is divinely appointed!  Hallelujah!


"You did not choose me but I chose you.  And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.  I am giving you these commands so that you will love one another" (John 15:16-17, NRSV).

Jesus had a way with words, but His life's work was about far more than telling us how to live.  Christ demonstrated to the world that sometimes you have to get your hands dirty.  Christ showed us time and again that the duties of the day aren't interruptions in our journey, instead, they are opportunities to serve our Father, in love!  Jesus lived a life of love and service, setting the perfect example for His disciples.  Blazing the trail for His followers.  Paving the road less traveled.  When we wear that word, disciple, we can feel purposeful, invincible, and humbled.  After all, we are wonderfully made...flaws and all, and we were chosen to take up our cross and follow!

"Then Jesus told His disciples, 'If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me'" (Matthew 16:24, NRSV).

Jesus stopped along the way from one sermon to another and worked in the lives of those around.  He had His goals for the day, but He allowed for God to sprinkle little tasks onto His path.  Christ denied Himself the opportunity to walk away from God's work, often to His own detriment, I'm sure.  Being selfless doesn't mean ignoring your own needs, it means choosing to look past your wants in order to see what God desires for you.  I've never read anywhere in Scripture that Jesus never grew physically tired or never had a long night, but you can bet that He never lacked the spiritual energy to answer a call from the Father.  That's part of the beauty in serving a just God.  He never gives us more than we can take on through Christ, who strengthens us! (Philippians 4:13)

"Consider your own call, brothers and sisters:  not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth" (1 Corinthians 1:26, NRSV).

Are you tired, weak, weary, busy, suffering, alone, imperfect, lazy, afraid, restless, distracted, lost?  Sometimes the best way to get beyond these earthen hurdles is to work past them!  God wants to grow fruit, juicy and dripping, from the vines of our connections with the people of the world.  He wants His goodness to dangle in the reach of the hungry, that they might taste and see that He is good!  (Psalm 34:8)  He's handpicked us for the job and if God is for us, who are we to argue?

"For we are what He has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life" (Ephesians 2:10, NRSV).


Father,
You have given us the perfect example and leader in Christ Jesus, and we can't thank you enough for carving our path through His.  We're humbled and eager to get to work as your vessels, your very hands and feet on this earth!  Lord we ask that you will give us wisdom, understanding and discernment so that we might know your plans for us.  We accept the perfect gift of your faithfulness to provide the energy, the know how, and the tools to grow the fruit you've called us to share.  We ask these things of you in the name of your Son, Jesus.
Amen.

I'm really excited to explore this next call with you, my little SonShines!  You can learn more about this journey we're taking over here and our first stop on this tour of seven calls is right here.  Next up, we'll be exploring our call to sanctification.

Paul, Silvanus (Silas), and Timothy, wrote letters to the churches of their time and God's inclusion of these letters in His Holy Word has made them letters to The Church as a whole.  That includes us, sisters!  Praise Jesus! 
There isn't much that makes you feel more loved than the letters Christ's first disciples wrote.  These were men in direct contact with our Risen Savior...with LOVE itself! 
Each letter exudes that undying love.

In one such letter, we are urged to remain pure,
"for this is the will of God, your sanctification:  that you abstain from fornication; that each one of you know how to control your own body in holiness and honor..." 
(1 Thessalonians 4:3-4, NRSV)

As I prepared for this devotional, I couldn't seem to move beyond the word "fornication" in the passage above.  So many translations have the words, "sexual immorality" in its place, but somehow something felt lacking in that term.  God called for further digging, and I grabbed my study shovel and He uncovered a treasure that I'm eager to share.

The original Greek word used here was "pornea" and yes, as you can guess by the all too familiar first syllable, this word does most often translate as "fornication".  Sometimes the key isn't in the word used, but in the timing of the usage!  Today, fornication is limited to the idea of sexual immorality; in Biblical times it had a much broader implication.  It did include all forms of sexual impurity, but it also spoke to the sin of idolatry. 

The Strong's definition for idol is an image, a phantom, an image in the mind, and later, the image of a god, an idol.

In today's society it isn't difficult to find objects of idolatry.  The image of the perfect house and body, the ever-elusive phantom of worldly status that we chase, an image in the mind of how we want life to be, and later, if left unchecked, the image becomes like a god in competition with our God.
Fighting over our time, our minds, our very souls.

It is a startling reality, but take heart!  There is Hope!

God doesn't just desire our holiness and wholeness, He is calling us to come and get it.  Our Father is asking that we take the path through Christ and past that torn curtain, right into His presence.  After all, we can only be made holy by such means.  The journey to sanctification begins with accepting this call from our Lord and asking Him to deliver us from evil every step of the way.

"May the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do this."
(1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, NRSV)



Oh Father,
There is no god before you, we ask that you will help our lives to reflect that truth.  We thank you for never giving up on your children.  Shape us and lead us and grow us into the likeness of your Son!  Father, we cast all idols aside, we turn from fornication of all kinds, and we ask that you strengthen us in our walk toward sanctity.
In the name of Christ Jesus we pray,
Amen.

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Yesterday I told you all about how one little list was going to take us on quite the adventure.  Well, my little SonShines, away we go!  Grab your travel mugs and Son-glasses and join me on the pages of HIStory!  First stop on our tour of seven divine calls to the Christian from God:  The call to salvation.   

“We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.  For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn within a large family.  And those whom He predestined He also called; and those whom He called he also justified; and those whom He justified He also glorified” (Romans 8:28-30, NRSV).

One of the most selectively quoted Scriptures I hear is that of Romans 8:28.  The hope that all things will work for good is just too tasty to resist, increasingly so for those who live outside of God’s light.  Unfortunately, the misuse of the words just doesn’t make room for the Word that lies therein.  Oh, we know that all things work together for good, but the majority of people overlook the fact that it is God bringing those things together and that He only does so for those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose.  Meaning they have accepted the gift of salvation and are being made to be more like Christ by their Heavenly Father.

Long before your decision to give your life to the Lord, God decided that He would ask it of you.  Salvation isn’t simply an open casting call.  It is an extremely intimate invocation to the individual.  A summoning from The Spirit to ours, the call to salvation is personal and predestined with all the uniqueness and love that sort of forethought brings.  

The idea of predestination is a slippery beast to wrap one’s head around…or at least it is for this one.  Freewill and predestination go together like bananas and beef jerky, yet they are both very real gifts from God, just like that beef jerky---I can live without the bananas.  I digress.  Extremely.  Ephesians 1:11 clears up a bit of the confusion for me and the two become like peas and carrots in this tiny mind of mine…freewill and predestination, that is.  Bananas and beef jerky will never mix.

“In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of Him who accomplishes all things according to His counsel and will” (Ephesians 1:11, NRSV).

See, freewill is about our individual destinies, but God is going to work things toward His purpose no matter what our will might be.  Our destinies cannot be fulfilled without us, but God’s purpose is beyond the scope of our freewill.  It is beyond the reach of the individual decision. 

Predestination and freewill don’t clash.  They aren’t even in the same time zone.  And you were worried that I had lost my mind after the banana/jerky incident.

God is no telemarketer.  He calls only those chosen in accordance with His will.  If you are on the list it is because He already knows how you will answer, even if you have yet to decide.  How we live out our salvation is up to the individual but the end result remains the same.  All things will be worked together through and for the purpose of our Sovereign Lord.  That purpose is to conform His children to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn within a large family.  His family.
 

Father,

Help us to understand the complexities of your Word.  Give us wisdom to study from Scripture and apply your Truths to our lives.  Shape us, Abba, into the likeness of your Son so that we can be members of your family.  Thank you so much for thinking of us and seeking us, choosing the hearts you know will choose you.  Your love is wonderful, your will divine.  Father God, we thank you for the call to salvation!

In the name of Christ Jesus we pray,
Amen.

I've got this book of Bible lists, and from time to time I'll crack it open and read of the many recurrent themes that fill the pages of God-breathed Scripture.  It never ceases to amaze me that our God saw fit to craft not merely a manual for Christian life, but also the most beautiful book ever written. 

From start to finish the Bible is brimming with foreshadowing, providence, poetry, love, beauty, balance, and jaw-dropping moments of awe.  Today as I flipped through the many common elements found in Scripture, the heading of "Christian Life" caught my eye and led me down the most exciting of all rabbit holes--the kind that takes you on a journey through Biblical truths!

"Seven Divine Calls to the Christian from God" was the first tantalizing subheading, and as I read each divine call aloud, I was blown away by the fact that the beauty in God's Word was evident even in list form. 

The call to salvation
The call to sanctification
The call to service
The call to separation
The call to son-ship
The call to subjection
The call to suffering

Just thinking about following each call into its passages of verse has me eager for the lessons God would soon reveal. 

We'll be exploring each topic in depth over the coming weeks and I hope you'll join me for each adventure in learning from God's perfect Word!