JESUS LIKES ME, THIS I KNOW

A friend led us in a get-to-know-each-other question in small groups the other day. The question (modified from David Roadcup) goes something like this: You are in bed when suddenly you become aware of a light in your room and a presence at the foot of your bed. There is no mistaking it; it is Jesus. He spreads out his arms and tells you not to be afraid. And he says, “I have come to answer a question that is your deepest question of me. What question would you like to ask?”

An answer came to me almost immediately, and then grabbed me with a strong emotion, and I knew what I wanted to ask Him. Do you have one in mind? Because I don’t want you to rush on to hear mine before you think of your own….

…Okay, here is mine: “Jesus, I guess I really want to know one very personal thing from You. You know that I have worked hard for you, and you know that I have failed in many ways. What I want to know is, Have I pleased you? My theology tells me that you love me, but my heart wants to know if you like me, if I make you happy, if I bring you pleasure. I don’t want you to only tolerate me and forgive me; I want to know if you like being with me. That’s my question: Have I pleased you?”

The answer from Jesus brings me tears. You know what it is. I am blessed. "LORD, thank you for loving me. Teach us to love each other as you love us in Christ Jesus. Amen."
-ker

GOD'S CALLING AND HIS TIMING

I have a friend who says God's calling and God's timing are not necessarily the same. In his life, this is true. He senses a call to significant pulpit ministry, but God has him placed in a less prominent situation right now, and he has faithfully served there for decades now. He knows God's calling, but is waiting on God's timing.

Moses seems to have had this problem. He had been told his manifest destiny by his mother, perhaps from the days when she nursed him while he lived in Pharoah's household. His calling was to lead God's people out of Egypt. When Moses was 40, he thought that the time had come, but the people did not follow, and Moses fled in fear. The timing was not right until Moses was 80, and by then he tried to refuse the calling.

I have a friend who is wonderfully gifted by God, and he found a way to serve the Lord by exercising his gifts. But he was awakened to wrong motives in his heart, and he repented. The problem is that he went so far in his repentance to run from God's gifting. He tried to be something he was not, to his detriment and loss to the Kingdom's advancement.

Perhaps even Jesus dealt with the issue of God's calling and God's timing. When he was twelve, Jesus' parents lost track of him and found him in the Temple, talking with the scribes and teachers of the Law. When they asked him about it, he replied, "I must be about my father's business." Now, the Bible doesn't provide Mary's response, but perhaps it was some sort of motherly words, such as, "Not NOW, you don't! You stay with us until we tell you it's time." And Jesus went home and obeyed his parents.

The next time we see Jesus is 18 years later, at a wedding in Cana. His mother comes to him and hints, "They have no wine." Jesus says, "Woman, it is not yet my time." Again, we have to read between the lines here, but perhaps Mary said to him, "You came home as we asked. And you have obeyed us as a son. But now is your time. Go and do it." God's calling and His timing came together with his mother's permission, and Jesus completed the work of His Father.

To be frank, I have abused God's calling on my life in the past. I have been proud and arrogant, and I have rushed God's timing. Then I repented, and have avoided more presumption. But in recent months, God seems to have been saying to me through several people that He has not abandoned His calling on my life, and that His timing is lining up with His calling. My tendency after all these years is to refuse the calling, but that would be wrong.

"LORD, I want to always say yes to You. I want to walk IN Your Spirit, not presumptuously walking ahead of Him or falling behind in false humility. I want to follow You and do Your will, just as Jesus did, who is one with You, Father, Son and Spirit, One God without end. Amen."
-ker

BREAKING THROUGH
So much has happened in the last few months, it makes my head swim. Spiritual battles, spiritual victories, changes in leadership, struggles in the flesh. The last thing I knew, we seemed to be on the verge of something. Now I am hearing that on some level as a church we are breaking through.

What I can say from my own perspective is that I am free of the weight of responsibility, and gaining my equilibrium in life. Tonight I stayed home from an elders' meeting and took care of my family, especially my boys. I am in small ways getting back in tune at home. In the meantime, Tom and Josh are stepping in where myself and Corey had been, and it is good. It is different, but it is right.

Not all is a bed of roses. My van and Daniel's weedeater were both stolen--again. Isaac has been sick for almost two weeks, and does not sleep through the night, so neither Ellen nor I have had more than 4 to 6 hours' of sleep a night. Finding time to keep a blog or time for personal reading has been impossible. Yet, through it all I am sensing a renewed spiritual power that comes from focusing on my calling.

"LORD, You have called me to be here for my family. You have called me to be a neighbor. You have called me to be a worship leader and a trainer of worship leaders. I am listening as You call. Here am I. Use me. Let me break through the fog of overcommitment and do Your will in Your strength, and I will break through. In the name of Jesus, who finished the work You gave to Him. Amen."