It's Time to Come In...

It’s a great time of year for kids and adults to play outside.  It’s damp in the afternoons and the thick blanket of leaves are becoming a haven for jumping feet. The smell of smoke is beginning to work through the air. Fireplaces are revving up and final yard work is being attended to.

When kids play outside they get dirty. Grubby. Filthy. Usually their feet are the grubbiest. Who’d think that someone with shoes and socks on could have dirt between their toes and yet kids do.  They’re covered but even the spots that are covered get dirty.

When kids are playing outside they rarely ever want to come in. Even as the dark of the fall evenings creeps into the yards, they want to stay out. They want to play forever. But eventually it’s time to insist they come inside. Mothers across the world whistle and call their children. After much calling, those playing kids drag in one by one.  First thing is a nice warm bath. They resist. They’d rather keep playing.

Somewhere between shedding dirty clothes and scrubbing behind the ears kids have an epiphany. They suddenly realize the bath is good! Getting clean feels great! Supper tastes better and beds feel better when a kiddo is clean as a whistle.  They end up crying because they have to leave the very tub they fought against just a few minutes earlier.

We are a lot like those kids – we believers. We enjoy our freedom in Christ. We play and enjoy and before we notice it we’ve gotten grubby. Even though we’re covered by the Blood of the Lamb, we’ve got dirt between our heart and His. We’ve been busy and we don’t hear the Father calling us into fellowship with Him. We don’t take time to keep in the Word. Finally we hear the Father calling, “Son come home”, “Daughter return to my fellowship”.  We drag ourselves in, we see the dirt on our hearts and yet we resist.  But as we go into sweet fellowship with the Father we find that we feel lighter, cleaner and refreshed. The washing of the water with the Word begins to do what only God can do – it makes us feel renewed. We will find that our meal will taste better and our rest will be sweeter.

God speaks to my heart: God is calling you. He’s calling me. And it’s a wonderful call into sweet communion with Him. He is such a wonderful Father that He has cleaned us thoroughly from sin’s penalty. But He loves us so much that He continually cleanses us from sin’s power. And one day we will be with Him and we will be totally liberated from sin’s presence. Oh what a wonderful day that will be.

If you are one who has ignored the call for a long, long time it’s not too late. Even if it’s grown quite dark and you aren’t sure if you will ever clean up again, God is ready and waiting with open arms and an Agape heart.  Return, precious child, and watch as He renews your faith and restores your commitment to Him alone.

Maybe you’ve decided that you have to live with the soiled situation of your life. You tried to be a people pleaser, a good egg, a team player, a giver. You put others first, you worked hard, you gave it all and still you find yourself dealing with the dirt of life. You might have hung out with the wrong crowd (bad company, bad thinking, bad decisions) or loved someone who didn’t treat you with respect and honor. You may feel you have been left out in the dark to try to clean yourself up so you can go home.  You’re hurt, you feel grimy and you’re not sure if you can return home. The load you carry is getting heavier and heavier and you don’t know if you can even make it. But God is calling you. The light is on and He’s waiting at the door to let you in. He’s held the door open for you all the while you’ve been out and He’s kept His eye on you all the time.

Oh beloved, run to the Word! Step inside the Father’s heart and read! His clean-up is gentle and His restoration is perfect – for your heart and your mind and your spirit.  He is calling you in Love and His desire is to care for you all the rest of your days. Trust Him and walk with Him and watch as He renews everything for His glory in you! As you learn to seek His face every day you will find that your outlook is refreshed, your heart is renewed and your rest gets sweeter and sweeter.

God loves you and He’s for you and that’s why you’re accepted in His beloved forever.

Isaiah 44:22 I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to Me, for I have paid the price to set you free.

Isaiah 50:4 The Sovereign Lord has given me His words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning He wakens me and opens my understanding to His will.

Exodus 15:13 With Your unfailing love You lead the people You have redeemed. In Your might, You guide them to Your sacred home.

Psalm 84:4 What joy for those who can live in Your house, always singing Your praises.

 

 

 

 

God is Calling!

 

At work I’ve been getting a lot of automated calls. They start out with a voice sounding so sincere, but then after you listen for a moment you realize it’s just a fake call, trying to sell you something, asking you to press a number to talk to a “real” person. These calls only serve themselves. Even when they start out with phrases like, “we know in these troubling times” or “if you have a few ...minutes, we think we can help” – they end up wanting your time and eventually your money. Some unknown company goes to elaborate and expensive lengths to hook you into thinking they care.

If they get the right person, one who is uninformed or misinformed, they can trick them into swallowing their line of reasoning and get money. Fortunately we are a business, so I hang up quickly and move on to other things. Still the calls keep coming. It’s pretty sad that if they get someone who’s lonely on the phone, they may, by appearing to be friendly and concerned, ultimately get the money they want and leave the person paying with little if anything to show for it.

This morning you need to know that there is a call worth answering. It’s the call of God. He’s always trying to reach you and He’s always thrilled when you pick up the call and respond. His call is full of love and affection. He’s always calling with something good to tell you. His calls won’t scam you or cost you, for He paid the ultimate price already. He calls because He genuinely wants to connect with you, to speak truth and life into your heart. He wants to build you up, not tear you down. He wants to give you something precious rather than take something from you.

The Lord’s call is on your life! He speaks wonderful things to you, too marvelous to believe! His call always begins with I love you! Then He will go on to say I am for you! He knows it may have been a tough week, a tough month, a tough year. He wants to let you know He’s been with you through it all. He also wants you to know that He saw every heartache, every teardrop, and every disappointment. He also has heard every call you made to Him – the prayer, the plea, the praise and the worship too.

Oh beloved, God delights in your conversations together! He rejoices when you call out to Him! He answers every single time you call on Him! His calls will always be worth answering for everything He has is covered in love and everything He does is covered in His abundant care and mercy. Answer the call beloved! It’s the One who loves you unconditionally calling to say He’s got your troubles covered and your heart cries answered. And He’s always available, no waiting and wondering for his beloved!

Psalm 91:15 When they call on Me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them.

Romans 9:25 As He says also in Hosea, “I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’ And her who was not beloved, ‘beloved.’”

Psalm 89:15 Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship,for they will walk in the light of your presence, LORD.

Psalm 36: 7 How precious is Your steadfast love, O God! The children of men take refuge and put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.

Answer His Call for He Calls You in Love!

I got a strange phone call on my cell phone during the holidays. It was an unknown number and when I answered there was a recording explaining that my cell phone wasn’t set up for collect calls. It went on to explain how I could start getting collect calls. Well, of course I hung up.  Then, my curiosity being what it is, I went to the internet to see if I could figure out where the call came from.  Turns out it was from a detention center in a nearby state.  A call from a stranger in a strange place, trying to get someone to accept the charges.  In this case it was probably somebody trying to call home for the holidays but still it was a strange feeling.

The enemy of our soul likes to make calls on our life.  He wants to give us advice, get us upset, give us reason to be unforgiving, unkind, unholy and more.  He is constantly dialing our number, knowing our weaknesses, attempting to cause trouble or wreak havoc.  Not only does he desire to ruin us, tempt us, rob us, kill us; he always wants to charge us with every conceivable charge.  He wants us to pay! He will convince us, if he can, that we’ve been wronged, damaged, offended, left undefended and then when we believe him and act on the lies, he hangs up and leaves us to pick up the pieces alone.  His ultimate desire is to steal our birthright and leave us hanging on the line.

It’s time to learn the Father’s Voice and follow Him alone!  While we have an enemy, he is not our spouse, our kids, our neighbors, our friends, or anyone else.  He just uses whoever he can to ring up a wrong message and reverse the charges. Unless we know the Word of God and understand our Heavenly Father’s nature, we will be fooled into accepting the call and acting on it.

Oh beloved, there is a call on your life! Our Father in Heaven is calling you daily. He asks you to pick up the Word, eat of it and live by it.  How much He loves to have sweet fellowship with His children, but not just for the fellowship. It’s for your good and His glory as well! He will not leave you to your own devices, He won’t leave you undefended, He won’t walk away, make you pay or reverse the charges.  In fact, He took the charges for everything you’ll ever be charged with – past, present and future – and nailed a Paid In Full sign on the cross! You are free! Free to call upon Him as well! Free to be God’s child, free to make decisions that are based on His Word, His Love and His nature! 

The more you listen to the Lord’s calls, beloved, the less you will be tempted to take other calls! All of the Lord’s calls begin with “I love you”.  God loves you so much that He’s calling you to love Him, obey Him and live for Him daily.  He will take the hurtful calls, your crank calls, the damaging calls and turn them out for good because He says so! His Word is your trustworthy answer, His call is your trustworthy path and His care for you is the trustworthy way to know that He is all that matters! Now that’s a call worth taking!

Psalm 91:15  When they call on Me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them.

Isaiah 41:17 When the poor and needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst, then I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them.

Zechariah 13:9  I will bring that group through the fire and make them pure. I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘These are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”

2 Samuel 22:4  “I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.

Philippians 3:14  I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Ephesians 4:1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.

Ephesians 1:18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope He has given to those He called--His holy people who are His rich and glorious inheritance.

I John 4:4 But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.