Understanding the call of God! by Pastor Lantz

       Everyone is called! God’s desire is that every person will come to him and be a part of his royal family! God is so gracious, so loving, so forgiving, so generous, so righteous that he made a way for fallen man to be redeemed from his sin and reborn into a new creature in Christ. This may be a new thought to some that God has called them to come unto him, but he has.  Eph. 4:4 Amp.  [There is] one body and one spirit, just as there is also one hope [that belongs] to the calling you received.  A big part of the Holy Spirit’s first workings in us is to enlighten us to the truth that without salvation through Jesus Christ we are doomed for all of eternity. This enlightenment reveals God’s great love, mercy, and desire for us to come to Him, which is the calling of God!  Eph. 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his  calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,  Notice the Holy Spirit refers to this calling as God’s calling because it was God’s plan to forgive and to save through the Lordship of Jesus the Christ.  Eph.2:11&12  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh,  . . .  that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

The Holy Spirit’s illuminating our understanding is a big part of the call of God!

     Jesus said that he came to call sinners to repentance. This included all of us since we all were sinners by nature. God purposed that everyone who would receive his Son Jesus, would receive the life of God and every good gift that comes with Him.  Eph. 1:4 & 5  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,   God predestinated that everyone who would believe on and receive his Son Jesus would be saved. This is the holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.  2 Peter 1:10  . . . rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:  Peter refers to the call of God as your calling, meaning God has personally called you. God is rich in mercy and you are invited to come to him. 

      In this day of grace in which we live, God is still the same awesome Holy God he always was. God has not changed, but the way we approach God has changed through the bringing in of a better covenant. Even prior to this new covenant God always accepted everyone who would honor him and do right. God spoke to Cain, If you do well, shall you not be accepted. Rahab understood that if she would do right, she would be accepted by God. She believed God and God honored her to be in the ancestry of Jesus Christ.  Rahab and the rest of her family who believed the men of God were spared when everyone else in Jericho died. Notice that God required some faith out of all Rahab’s family, they had to believe that going to Rahab’s house would save their lives. We can not enter the kingdom of God on someone else’s faith. (Ps. 103:17&18)  You do not necessarily become a person of strong faith just because a lifestyle of faith is modeled right in front of your eyes year after year.  Hagar, the bondwoman, lived near to Abraham and Sarah for over thirteen years and when she was cast out she had less faith than thirteen years earlier. She would not have been cast out if she had been reverently walking in faith and submitted to the plan of God.  Pro. 22:10  Cast out the scorner (scoffer), and contention shall go out; yea strife and reproach shall cease.  Hagar witnessed the supernatural pregnancy and birth of Isaac but failed to learn the life of faith. When she and Ishmael were cast out she didn’t even have faith to cry out to God for help like she did thirteen years earlier.  Gen. 21:17  . . . What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.  We are not going to grow strong in faith if we think little of God’s call and plan for our lives. God accepts no man’s person but he does accept those who believe him and obey him.   Acts 10:34&35  Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.  Its not a question of, am I called, the question is, how have I responded to the high calling of God.

The question is not, am I called, but have I answered the call?

Mt. 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.  God has revealed to us that he has chosen those who humble themselves before him, dying to self and making Jesus the Lord of their lives. Moses saw a burning bush but he didn’t hear the voice of God until he drew near.  Ex. 3:4  And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here I.   I realize this was Moses call to the ministry but most of us responded to God’s call without knowing our place in the church (body). God always has something bigger and better and more glorious for his children than what he first reveals to us. Peter and Andrew had a desire to know the Messiah and were looking for him! Desire is one of the ways God uses to call people! I almost missed stepping into God’s plan for my life, because for a long time, I had refused to accept God’s chosen method of desire in regards to my life’s work. I have learned that the same word that empowers us to become a new creation also empowers us to fulfill whatever God calls us to. One of the ways God taught me about his empowering ability was opening my eyes to the fact that Jesus put the emphasis on the seed and not on the soil. In the parable of the sower, the word of God is the main subject, not the dirt.  Mark 4:13&14  And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know  all parables?  The sower soweth the word.   Jesus said that we must understand this parable or else we will not understand any of them. The four types of soil represent the four main conditions of peoples hearts. The wayside or path (trodden down and hard), the stoney ground (a little good soil), the thorny soil (good soil but contaminated with bad seed), the good soil (good heart that bears fruit or receives reward). According to Jesus not everyone who receives the Lord (word) will be rewarded. Luke gives us more insight to what is special about this persons heart. They have an honest and good heart and they are doers of the word, and with patience bring forth fruit. The hard hearted person sees no benefit to the word of God and the devil steals it easily. The stoney hearted person gets excited when they hear the word but give up when difficulties arise because they are not rooted and grounded in the truth. The thorny soiled person is distracted by cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches, and the love of pleasure. This person started out good but did not maintain the garden of their heart by being a doer of the word. The good hearted person recognizes that this glorious salvation we have received must be held onto and that we must continue to be diligent doers of the word. Our hearts were made righteous before God when we were baptized into the body of Christ, however, reverting to our old way of thinking will bring contamination into our hearts. ( See Acts 8:13&21, James 4:3, Heb. 12:15 )

God expects us to renew our minds to his instructions and above all else guard our hearts. It is the word of God that saves us, it is the word of God that keeps us, it is the word of God that cleanses us, it is the word of God that directs us, it is the word of God that instructs us, it is the word of God that empowers us! It was the Word of God (Jesus) that sent us the Holy Spirit to be our helper! Glory to God!  John 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.  Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved! If you have not yet called upon the name of the Lord this is your invitation to receive eternal life. Pray this prayer. 

      Dear God, I believe that Jesus is your Son and that he is raised from the dead. I repent of my sin and declare that Jesus is the Lord of my life from this day forward! Thank you for receiving me in Jesus name. Amen!

  Hallelujah, praise the Lord!

Ps. 67:5&6  Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. Then shall the earth        yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.