We all love things that are NEW!

• new socks
• new shoes
• new car smell 🙂

I have good news! God is not just the God of old, he is also the God of NEW.

For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. -Isaiah 43:19

We all have the tendency to live life from memory instead of imagination.

God spoke through Isaiah to remind us that he is not finished yet in our lives. There is new for you, but you have to look for it. He is already working even now just as he was in Isaiah’s day.

So today:

Look for brand new routes

Look for brand new relationships

Look for brand new revelations

Look for the new. God is with you!

The best is yet to come!

-Brandon

“The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized within the lifetime of the opportunity.” -Leonard Ravenhill

For the last three weeks we have been talking about how to live our the calling that God has for our lives!  We have talked about how God has called us all to be ministers with a specific purpose.  Let’s look at two more aspects of the callings that God has on our lives.

At an Opportune Time

God placed you here on the planet at a specific time and place. It is no accident that you live where you live today and do what you are doing today!

From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. (Acts 17:26)

You are at your particular spot by design. It is no accident that you are where you are today! RIGHT NOW!

When I was a kid we would have a missionary couple that would come speak at our church every year. They were older and had so many stories from a lifetime of ministry. Their names were the Freemans and they would come tell stories about their life and ministry in Africa that began in the 1940s. They were an amazing couple. One of the stories that I will never forget from her is one that she told about a time before she went on the mission field in Africa. She said that they were living in a small town in rural Texas on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. Then one day when she was at home alone she felt the Lord tell her that she needed to go out on her front porch and wave. She thought, that is so stupid. She thought, “Why would I stand out there and wave? I live in the middle of no where and no one is going to see it.” She said eventually she gave in and stepped out on her front porch and began to wave her hand in the air in the dusty Texas air. Then just before she was about to quit, she saw a dust cloud in the distance. So she started waving harder as a car topped the hill driving toward her porch. So she waved and waved with enthusiasm as the car drove buy her house until she could see it no more. Then after the car was out of site she felt released from her assignment and went about the rest of her day.

Then not too many years later, the Lord called her and her husband to be missionaries to Africa. They rarely came home for long periods of time but to raise new support and tell the church about the revival taking place over the ocean. And the story goes, that on one trip, over 20 years later she was speaking at a church in Rural Texas, not far from where they used to live 20 years before. In the service a man stood up and began to tell his story about how God saved him. He said that he was on his way to commit suicide at the end of a dusty road on a hot Texas day, and while on his way to this spot of death he said to God, “If you are real, could you give me a sign.” Right about that time, the man looks up and sees a lady standing on a nearby porch waving their hand with joy and vigor with the biggest smile on her face. She was not waving asking for help, he said it was as if God himself was waving at him and saying, “I love you, and I have a great plan for your life.” He said, I don’t know who that woman was, but I am thankful for her.

We will never know the big picture this side of eternity. Could it be that our lives are the foundations for miracles that we may never see. Every once in a while we get a glimpse of the plan of God, but I believe most of the times we are just like Missionary Freeman, waving in the wind bringing about miracles that only the mind of God could orchestrate.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be part of those kind of stories. We can be if we say, “Yes” to our calling today. The will of god is in “The Now.” And in this moment, right now, we can say yes to God and His calling for our lives!

To Make an Eternal Difference

The impact that you and I have the opportunity to make is not just one that affects the here and now. We have the opportunity to affect eternity. The only thing you will ever touch that is eternal this side of eternity is a soul. Everyone you meet will live forever somewhere. Have you ever thought about that reality? Your boss will live for eternity somewhere, your neighbor will live for eternity somewhere. Every person that we see will live in eternity somewhere. We have the opportunity to make an influence on where. Wow! Think about it, the words that come out of your mouth, and the simple actions that you take on a Tuesday afternoon can affect eternity.

This is why to God all people have value. People are not valuable because of how much money they make, or what level of education they have completed, or what the color of their skin is. People are valuable because of whose they are. They are valuable because of who created them!

What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? (Matthew 16:26)

God gives us here the value of a soul. If you had a scale as big as the world itself and on one side you could sit the entire universe and on the other side you could would put one person. The scale would tip to the person every single time. You are more valuable to God than the entire universe.

“I am a minister, with a specific purpose, at an opportune time, to make an eternal difference.”

Write this out and put it on your mirror or in your car. Take a picture and make it the background on your phone. Walk your world understanding that God has put you here today for a purpose. It is risky, but it is the only way to truly live.

Life isn’t worth living until you have found something worth dying for. – Martin Luther King Jr.

Did you know that you have a calling? I know what you may be thinking, “That’s not for me, that is for pastors and missionaries.” I feel you! That is what I thought. I thought that there were this rare breed of people that existed that possessed some type of mutant-supernatural x-men like powers who could see though walls and read your mind.

I grew up in a church where we would have people called “Prophets” come through every year or so to preach. If you have never seen something like this you haven’t lived. Trust me, the religious TV doesn’t do it justice. Let me give you the rundown. These people would come to the church and the entire congregation would be a buzz for weeks. Some people were excited and others planned to skip that Sunday as if we were having a foot washing service. If you don’t know about foot washing services, I’ll have to explain them to you at another time. So back to the “Prophets,” while they were preaching would stop dead in their tracks, mid-sentence, and as if God had totally called and interrupted their message. They would proceed to ask people to ask random people to stand up and say something to the effect of “Thus sayith the Lord.” Why God always speaks in the King’s english I will never know. They would then proceed to tell them some type of encrypted message about their past, present, or future that usually ended up in the person crying signifying that their mail had just officially been read. Now I am not trying to make lite of these experiences, or to say that what happened was not valid. But sufficeth to say, as a kid, I was terrified. I didn’t want these “Prophets” to be there. Much less to look at me in the eyes, and see the dark secrets that lied in my teenage mind.

I thought “Callings” were reserved for people like this. I don’t think I am the only one. If you grew up in church like I did, you too may think “Ministers” are those special breed of people who have a direct line to Jesus and the rest of us have “no signal.” Ministers are people who go to Bible college and speak in front of people on Sunday mornings.

The Clergy and the Laity

We have even have words to differentiate between the “Man of God” and the common people. The “Clergy” and “Laity.” Neither of these words are found in the Bible. The word “Cleargy” comes from the word “Cleric” which means “One who can read.” So what would happen years ago when the common man was illiterate, they gave the ministry jobs to the literate people (the clearly) and then the rest of the people (the laymen) would just “lay” around and listen to the preacher “READ” once a week and then go about their everyday life. Void of the responsibility to themselves carry out ministry. Their job as laymen was to simply show up each week to the church building and be ministered to.

There is only one problem with this paradigm. Namely, the fact that Jesus did not teach this. He actually taught the opposite, and he got crucified much because the religious leaders of the day did not like his teaching.

In the Old Testament there was a process of priests that would mediate between the common person and the Lord. Priests were a special people who had their job because of the family that they were born into. One tribe, the tribe of Levi, was the priestly tribe and handled all of the “Spiritual things” for the people. They were born into the ministry and were separated from the common man. If people needed God, they would come to them, and they represented God to the people and the people to God.

Then here comes Jesus preaching and teaching the common people things like this:

(Matthew 4:11) YOU are the light of the world, YOU are the salt of the earth.

Everyone was amazed. Well, not everyone. The religious elite was not happy because they were thinking, “No way. That is our job. We are the light of the world, not them.” If they get ahold of this, they will not need us. See, the religious had developed a pretty sweet system that benefited themselves. They had even invented more rule that God even gave to make themselves even more necessary. Two words, JOB. SECURITY.

But Jesus looked at the common man and said, YOU have a part to play in the kingdom. It is the same today. You have an unbelievably important role to play in the kingdom of God and without you fulfilling that role the body of Christ will suffer!

I want to give you a statement that you can rehearse in your mind daily to help remind you about who you are.

I am a minister, with a specific purpose, at an opportune time, do make an eternal difference.

I Am a Minister

Did you know that you are a minister? Maybe you thought that ministers were people who went to Bible College. This is not true. You are a minister!

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (2 Peter 2:9)

Welcome to the ministry! The next time someone asks you what you do for a living, simply tell them, “I’m in the ministry.” I know what you’re thinking. No way, that’s not me. That is for someone else. I am an accountant. I am a stay-at-home Mom. I am not a minister.

I want to fire you up about the reality that you have a calling to fulfill with your life. I believe one of the biggest tools in the Devil’s arsenal is insignificance. If he can cause us to see ourselves as insignificant then he can rob us of our impact. There is one thing both God and the devil agree on about you, and that is the potential value that you have in their kingdom.

Satan really works hard to make us thing that what we do is not important. He makes us think that it is not spiritual or impacting to the kingdom of God. We think, I am not doing anything really spiritual, I am JUST a barista. I am JUST an engineer, what can I do of spiritual value?

I want to challenge you with this statement: Your vocation is your ministry location. Take whatever you are doing and realize that you are in your workplace by divine design.

The “spiritual stuff” does not happen at church and the “worldly stuff” happen everywhere else. God wants you to realize you are ding what you are doing because he knew YOU would be the one who could make a difference where no one else could.

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. (Romans 12:1)

Whatever you do, do it with all you have! Realize that God has you where you are for a specific plan and purpose and the best is yet to come. There is impact to be made regardless of the job that you have.

Take this Job and Love It

The real question is, “What do you call that thing you do after you leave the house in the morning? Is is a career? A job? A paycheck? Or is it part of your mission? Your calling?” It is all in how you view it. I have never seen someone who can’t wait to wake up in the morning full of energy, vision, and excitement for something they say is “A paycheck.”

I have seen this for myself in the life of my Grandparents. I have watched them my entire life turn their everyday life into ministry. The same year I started kindergarten my grandfather started a new job at that same elementary school as a custodian. Then, my grandmother was a lunch lady at the same school. These kind of connections have their benefits when you are in elementary school. I had a pretty good chance of getting into the kitchen at the school whenever I wanted and it is probably one of the contributing reasons that I wore “Husky” pants throughout my adolescence. Can I get an “Amen” from my brothers who knew what it was like to wear some husky pants!

My grandparents worked there for the next 20 years and made such an impact. First of all, they did their jobs with excellence and pride. They were thankful for their job and took pride in a job well done. Sometime we think that we need to have our dream job before we can give our best. If you don’t give your best today, then you will never have the opportunity to fulfill your dream tomorrow.

I can remember them prayer-walking that little elementary school so many times! They were praying for the students and faculty at that school. They were praying that God will do a powerful work in the people who walk the halls each week. That is ministry! They realized that they were a minister, right where they were. Their vocation truly was their ministry location.

When we started City Hills Church we first met in a school. One day my grandparents called me and told me that they felt the Lord said to them that he reminded them about all of the prayers that they prayed for the school that they worked at. They said that the Lord was going to use those prayers to bless the church that was meeting in a school all the way in Knoxville, Tennessee. Those prayers worked and God blessed our church there in that school.

With a Specific Purpose

You are not just a minister. You are a minister with a specific purpose. There was a specific idea that God had in mind when he created you! You are not an accident, but you are divinely created to do a specific work for God!

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

Think about this, before you were born God had a something for you to do! Before there was a YOU, God had a DO in mind for your life! That means that you are not one in a million, you are one of a kind. God has a specific purpose for you!

The real question is, “Do you know what it is?” Do you know Why you are here?

We will explore the other final two aspects of our calling next week.

• • •

Questions for Reflection:

Who is someone who you feel lives their life from a sense of “Calling?”  How have they inspired you?

What do you think of when you hear the word, “Minister?”  Is it strange to see yourself as one? Why or why not?

Do you feel like you have a specific purpose?  If so, what is that purpose?

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsch

Does anyone remember life before social media? A long time ago in a galaxy far far away. A time when the only thing tweeting was the bird in your backyard and when writing on someone’s wall unannounced would probably get you arrested.

I often think about how funny it would be if we treated real life like social media. How funny would it be to walk up to random people and retweet them. How about to deny someone’s friend request in person. “Hey, it was great to meet you the other day at the coffee shop. Can we be friends?” And you simply look them in the eyes, and say, “Friend Request Denied.”

Follow

There have been some words that have been lost in transition from virtual to reality. One example is the word “Follow.” In real life making the decision to follow someone could potentially be a creepy thing. Imagine if every time you approved a new friend request another person would line up behind you and begin to follow every move you make. Wherever you went, there they are… you have a “follower.”

When we talk about “following” someone these days we do not mean actually following them. What we mean is that we have made the choice to know things about that person. We see what they are doing. We know things about their life, like what dessert they ate last Thursday, or the name of their cat. But even though we know these things it does not necessarily mean that we know them. I follow tons of people that I have never met. I knowledge of them, but I don’t have a relationship with them.

The disciples actually followed Jesus. Literally. Everywhere he went there they were. What would it have been like to follow Jesus? What an amazing opportunity.

The Gospels are full of the accounts of ordinary people who followed Jesus, literally. They followed him everywhere he would go. The crazy thing about it is that his ministry did not extend much beyond the boarders of normal Jewish life at the time.

In Matthew Chapter 15 we see Jesus near the Sea of Galilee feeding 4,000 men, plus women and children. This is the area where Jesus spent most of his life and ministry. Then in the next chapter Jesus decides to lead his “followers” to a precarious place called Caesarea Philippi.

Caesarea Philippi

To us this is not a big deal, but to his followers this was a day they would never forget. First of all, this was undoubtably a place that they had never been to before. It was 25 miles away in the northern most area of Judea. This is the farthest north that Jesus had been in his ministry. Caesarea Philippi was a infamous place. It was a pagan place. King Herrod ruled there and because he was under Rome, he allowed this city to be a center of various Roman gods and goddesses. The city was famous because is had a huge rock that the entire town was built around. This rock could be seen for miles and it has pagan temples built into it. Here there were temples to Bail, Ashthroth, Zeus, Athena, Echo, Aphrodite and Pan just to name a few. Here they would see unimaginable things in the open for all eyes to see. Human sacrifice and temple prostitution were just a normal part of life in Caesarea Philippi. This is a town that had a slogan, “What happens in Caesarea Philippi stays in Caesarea Philippi.” Just kidding about the last part, but you get the point.

This is a place a good Jewish boy or girl would never step foot in, much less a Rabbi. But here Jesus is, leading his disciples on a field trip to a risky place. He leads them far from the familiar to a place that they had never been before.

Jesus takes the disciples to a place they will never forget and then has as conversation that they will never forget:

Matthew 16:13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”. 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

That had to be an amazing moment! I just imagine thunder roaring while Jesus says the words, “Upon this rock I will build my church.” A powerful promise! Jesus will build his church! Where will Jesus build his church? On this rock. This begs the question, what is the rock that he is talking about?

Scholars have mused about what exactly Jesus was talking about in this moment. Some say that the rock was Peter. Jesus was going to use Peter to build the church. He was going to use this ordinary guy to be a significant part of building his church. We know this indeed is what happened. God did use Peter to make a great difference! Others say that the rock was the revelation that Peter had. I believe this is right again!The church would be built upon Jesus and the revelation that he is indeed the son of the living God.

A Third Perspective

Not to take away from the other ideas, I want to add a third perspective on what the rock could have been. Could Jesus have also said what he said where he said it so that the disciples would never forget this moment. Get the picture, Jesus takes the disciples to a very risky place that is built on a massive rock and then says that he is going to build his church ON THIS ROCK.

I’m sure the disciples were thinking, “Here? Jesus, you must be crazy! You’re going to build your church here? Have you looked around? These people are messed up.” There is a lot better real estate than this! I believe Jesus trying to teach them something about their calling.

Jesus was trying to tell them is that their calling was beyond their comfort zone.

The disciples had spent most of their lives in a “Safe” familiar place. They lived in Judea, worked in Judea, had friends in Judea… all of live was lived in the confines of Judea. They were comfortable with this place. I’m sure they imagined themselves spending the rest of their lives in Judea living it up as famous disciples, enjoying all the perks of being one of those who were “Chosen” by Jesus.

With one trip to this not-so-far-away place, everything changes. What I have learned is that you’re calling usually is not very far away from where you are right now, but it usually lies on the other side of familiar.

• • •

Read:

Matthew 16

Ask:

Have you ever followed someone that you didn’t know personally? Have you ever met that person in person before?

Is your relationship with God knowledge-based or experiential?

Why did Jesus take the disciples to this place where they had never been before? Have you ever had a similar experience?t

What place/what people out of your “familiar” is God calling you to right now?

What can you do this week to

Speak:

“I have been created on purpose for a purpose.”

Pray:

Reach out to God this week about what he is calling you to do.  Be real about your fears and doubts.  Submit your life and future to Jesus.

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. -Antoine de Saint-Exupery

This is one of my favorite leadership quotes by far. My tendency is the talk about ship-building. However, this reminds me that the immensity of the sea is what called me from the shore years ago.

This is what happened in the life of Ezekiel the prophet. He had a revelation of the immensity of who God is.

The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side. As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. -Ezekiel 47:1–3

What was God trying to teach Ezekiel? Water coming from the temple? What was all this about?

The Source

Could it be that God was trying to show him first of all that God is the source. Water makes up 3/4 of our earth. Water makes up 3/4 of our bodies. We cannot survive without it. God is the source of our lives. In moments of fear, disappointment, and anxiety, God is the one who truly gives us life. Too many times we look for our source of life in so many things that are dead and cannot sustain us.

To take this one step further, the passage says that the source of the water was the “door” of the temple. It is not coincidence that Jesus calls himself “The Door” (John 10:9). Jesus is the source of life. He brings both salvation and satisfaction.

It is interesting to me that the water itself does not change Ezekiel. Many times we are content just being near the water… singing songs about the water… reading about the water… But the reality is that we are only changed when we choose to step in.

Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep.

Ankle-deep

Then Ezekiel starts getting his feet wet. Literally, up to his ankles. Have you ever went to the beach and rolled up your jeans to stand in the surf? This is what is happening to Ezekiel. He was enjoying the refreshing waters from God. He was ankle-deep.

I think this is how it is when we first come to Christ. We are amazed by the refreshing of the waters of God. We have an experience with him that is like nothing we have ever had before. We are getting our feet wet. Maybe you have recently come to Christ and you are experiencing the joy of the river! That is awesome. By faith, you have crossed from death to life. Things are beginning to change. The sky is bluer, life is more beautiful.

But this is not where the river ends. This is where it begins! God allows us to get our feet wet but then he invites us to go deeper. That is God’s desire for your life. It seems like it is easy to plateau on our walk with God. God is leading Ezekiel progressively deeper.

Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep.

Knee-deep

This next depth is up to his knees. He is experiencing more of the refreshing of the waters, but still has mobility. He can easily move in and out of the water. He is experiencing some of the benefits, without the commitment.

I was here for much of my life. I grew up going to church. I can count the number of Sundays I have not been to church on one hand. We even went to church on vacation! I tell people that as a kid I had a “Drug Problem.” Every week I was “Drug” to church, “drug” to Sunday School, “Drug” to Bible Study, “Drug” to Prayer meeting, “Drug” to choir practice. But in all of this, I was totally an ankle-deep Christian. I was physically at church, but my heart was so far away. I was quick to blend-in with the world around me, being very careful to not stand out in any way for my faith. I was terrified of not “Fitting-in” and would do just about anything to go with the crowd and be accepted. Yes, I went to church, I knew the songs, I could even quote the Bible, but I was only knee deep.

Knee-deep Christians are characterized by a lack of commitment. They want to experience all the benefits of Christ, without the commitment of Christ. When times get hard they come stand in the water, but then quickly jump back onto the comfort of the shore when the problem subsides in their lives. Ankle deep Christians are hard to distinguish from everyone else around them. If the topic ever comes up, people may even say that they didn’t even know you were a Christian. To an knee-deep Christian, faith is a private matter. It is not something that should be spoken about openly with others. Knee-deep Christians attend church when it is convenient for them. They try hard to ensure that they do not get “tied-down” to one place. They are quick to point out that there are hypocrites at church.

Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep.

Waist-deep

But God leads him deeper. Deeper in the river to a place where he was up to his waist. If you are in waist deep water, you are. at a place in your walk with God that you are committed to him. You have experienced life change. No doubt, Jesus has turned your life around. But you are also in a place of safety. Others on the shore may not be able to tell it, but your feet are touching the floor.

You love Jesus, you are living for him. You don’t want to get out of the water. You are not ashamed of Jesus, but your feet are still on the floor. To put it concisely, you are still in control. It does not require much faith to live at a place where your feet are on the floor.

How much of your daily walk with God even requires faith? How much of your daily walk with God requires risk? God, why wouldn’t you be happy having Ezekiel in waist-deep water? It is so far from where he once was. It is so far from the time when he just had his feet wet. He is waist deep. That should be enough right? Is God finished? Let’s see…

Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. (Ezekiel 47:1–5 ESV)

All-in

Wow. What a sight. Can you see it? The water had risen. At every other depth he had one key part of his body dry; his head. For the first time Ezekiel was in over his head.

That is the life that God is calling us to. A life where we get in over our heads with God. A place where we relinquish control and go deep with God. A place where we trust him. A place where we see the beauty, and experience the risk. A place where we will say, “Yes” to whatever God calls us to.

What is God calling you to? It may be out of your comfort zone, it may be beyond your comprehension of what is possible.

There are moments in our lives when God interrupts us with an invitation. Your invitation may not look like mine, but you will get one if you haven’t already. An invitation to step out of your comfort zone and dive in to a God-adventure. It could be as simple as pursuing a new career, or simply walking across the room to share hope with a co-worker. It could be a new small group that you start or a story that you tell with courageous honesty.

It could be a call that you are supposed to make or a check that you are supposed to write. It does not matter if you see the call to be small or great… the only thing that matters is, “Will you say yes?”

What I have found is that in these moments, these times when we are “In over our heads” is when we really come alive! As long as we are still ankle, knee, or even waist deep, we may wonder if God is real, but in the moments we accept the invitation to dive in, we discover who he is.

Questions for reflection…

Which depth do you feel that you are currently at and why?

Who is someone in your life that you have been inspired by their willingness to take a risk for God?

What risk you have in front of you right now?