My heart, my calling

The Lord is calling me to obey, and to live radically for Him with reckless abandon.  The passion inside me grows every day. I can’t even really explain it to anyone, because it’s almost too much for me to grasp.  Every day the Lord shows me a new reason to serve, or reminds me of the Great Commission.  My heart is breaking for the lost, hungry, and broken.  I know I need to serve where I am at also…but I don’t want to disobey and miss the Lord’s calling for my life. 

It’s so hard to live in a place where so many people are comfortable just being safe and comfortable, living a mediocre life.  I don’t want to live a safe life. As a Christian, I’m not called to live a “safe” life.  I am called to live a bold life.  Life is short, and I can’t justify living a life centered around myself, my school, a career, etc.  Those things will all fade away.

I don’t know where I am supposed to go, or what I’m supposed to do. But, I can’t ignore this burning calling. 

I honestly can’t believe how dramatically the Lord has changed my heart over the past several years.   He continues to present me with new challenges that completely change what I ever used to think – it’s amazing.  I used to think that I would never want to be a missionary, and I also never wanted to live overseas.   Well that certainly changed when he told me to go live in Italy.   But, I don’t know that this time the opportunity will fall in my lap the same way.  I think that I have to take a step of faith.  I need to walk in obedience to his calling for me as a Christian – and that is to go out and make disciples. 

Genuine change comes from the heart

Romans 12:1-2 – "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

I always thought that not conforming to the ways of the world would take personal effort. You know daily saying, okay "I won't watch all the shows everyone is watching, or I won't say those bad words." But, this is a very works based viewpoint. I really thought that I had to DO all these things to please God, and that would further my relationship with Him. But I got it completely backwards. I needed to look at the entire verse. Because when you are transformed by the renewing of your mind, you won't want to follow the ways of the world. God wants to transform our hearts and our minds, and out of that we won't look like the world. Because, "out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks" - Luke 6:45.

And we won't be transformed until we offer our lives to God, in complete surrender. This is true worship.

"There isn't a whole lot of American Christianity that needs to be exported..."

This is so challenging and convicting to me...

Are you equipped for war?

Spiritual battle

God showed me a very vivid picture the other day; I saw a battle about to take place.   Warriors were rising up from all parts of the valley, and charging up the hills.  They were on horses or running on foot, and all had swords and spears, ready for battle.  I believe these are warriors from the Kingdom of God running to face the enemy and fight the battle for people’s souls.  We are in a Spiritual battle, and now is the time for us to turn to the Lord, and give Him control over our lives, that we might be effective warriors in the battle. 

Ephesians 6:12-17

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

The cost of following Christ

For those of us who call ourselves Christians, what is our Faith costing us?  We live our comfortable lives with much more than the essentials.  For so many Christians, Christianity has become a preventative treatment: take it and you’ll go to heaven.  Is that really all there is to it?  Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice, death on a cross, for us.  We are called to LAY DOWN our lives for him.  But, if you’re completely honest with yourself, what has following Christ cost you?  What opportunities have you given up, to follow Him instead?  Are we called to pray a prayer, talk a talk, and then just sort of live to try and please ourselves and our families?  Or are we called to lay down EVERYTHING to further the Kingdom of God? 

We are in a battle, a battle for people’s souls.  We live in a broken and hurting world, in desperate need of a Savior.  Romans 10:14 says “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”  We can’t just expect that going to church twice a week is somehow going to further the gospel. 

There are so many people that have never even heard of Jesus.  And then you have those who call themselves Christians without even knowing what that means. 


If Faith isn’t costing you your time, finances, resources, effort, and/or pain, than maybe you should question your heart. 

I believe that it is time for Believers to rise up out of the woodwork, proclaim the name of the Lord, spread truth in the U.S. and world, and help people facing devastation.  But, we can't do this in our own strength...we must turn to God.  He is our rock and foundation, and without Him we are nothing. 

Will Japan be a wake-up call for Kingdom living?

My heart breaks for Japan.  Only 1% of Japanese people proclaim to be Christians.  Over 12000 died in the recent Tsunami/hurricane.  That means over 10000 unbelievers PERISHED for ETERNITY.  This isn’t something we should just look at, and think “oh that’s sad”…this should dramatically alter our view of world missions.  Can a God fearing Christian look at those statistics, and go about living a comfortable, self-centered lifestyle.  Really, can you???  We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and go and make disciples.  If it is so critical, than why is it that we get more excited about a football game, or what our friends are doing this weekend, than what God is doing in the Kingdom? 

There are so many Christians in this country, who think that praying a prayer is their ticket to heaven.  There is so much more to Christianity to that.  And Christianity costs MUCH MORE than one little prayer.    The saddest thing is that so many people in the U.S. and elsewhere, know just enough about Christianity to give them a false sense of security that they’re going to heaven. 

Being a Christian is about more than just assurance of salvation, it comes with responsibility and calling.  The Lord has called you to be salt and light, and to proclaim the name of the Lord?  But will you?  What has your faith cost you?  What things, opportunities, or time have you given up for the Lord?  It is time for our generation to repent and turn to God and trust Him in everything, and for everything.  It’s time to let Him be Lord over your life, and reign in and through you. 

May we not forget our brothers and sisters, as well as the thousands of unbelievers in Japan.  Let us pray for comfort, relief, and changed hearts.