God's Heavenly Call
The heavenly call to seek the Lord
Belove, the Lord over and over again in the Scriptures call us to seek Him, and we are told that if we do, we will find Him. What an awesome thought to think that the God who created the Heavens and the Earth and everything in them wants you and me to seek Him. We seek what we really want, and what God wants to know as He looks into your heart, is that He is important to you, that you really want fellowship with Him, not just to get stuff from Him, but you want fellowship with Him, just as much as He wants fellowship with you, and therefore He calls us to seek Him.
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart….. (Jeremiah 29:11-13)
“ But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul….( Deuteronomy 4:29)
“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you….. ( 1 Chronicles 28:9)
“The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God….(Psalms 14:2)
“The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing…..(Psalms 34:10)
“Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near…(Isaiah 55:6)
Then they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul.......( 2 Chronicles 15:12 )
What an honestly sincere soul-searching question to ask ourselves. Am I willing to enter into a covenant to seek the Lord as they did?
The heavenly call to Trust the Lord
One line of an old church hymn song says, “trust and obey, for there’s no better way”. Those two words are inseparable when referring to the Lord. To trust Him is to obey Him. It is only as our knowledge of the greatness of God grows through the Scriptures, that our trust in Him grows and that leads to obedience to Him from the heart because we gain an increasing awareness of who we are dealing with. The very God that holds in His hand, our very next breath.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths… (Proverbs 3:5-6)
As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him….(2 Samuel 22:31)
Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And put your trust in the LORD…..(Psalms 4:5)
The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned… (Psalms 34:22)
Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness..(Psalms 37:3)
Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass..(Psalms 37:5)
You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield…(Psalms 115:11)
It is better to trust in the LORD, Than to put confidence in man….(Psalms 118:8)
The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him.
(Nahum 1:7)
Trusting the Lord has to lead to obeying the Lord if it is truly trust, and obeying the Lord has to come for what God has said in the Scriptures, not our feelings, if it's truly obeying the Lord.
The heavenly call to call upon the Lord
When God created us, He gave us the ability to choose to obey Him. True love is love that chooses to love someone because we want to. God loves mankind whom He created so much that He sent His Son the Lord Jesus Christ to die for our sins so we through faith in Him can live eternally with Him in that heavenly city He has prepared for us. God actually wants to give us a free gift, but it must be received by calling on the name of Jesus Christ by faith. God wants us to call upon the name of the Lord and be saved eternally and then call upon Him in the mist of the circumstances of life that we find ourselves in.
And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’….(Acts 22:16)
I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.(Psalms 18:3)
I will take up the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the LORD….(Psalms 116:13)
The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth…(Psalms 145:18)
Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near…(Isaiah 55:6)
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” ( Romans 10:12-13 )
“Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.…( Isaiah 45:22)
Make no mistake about it belove, you will never regret a decision to call upon the name of the Lord. God wants to show Himself as God not only through saving our souls eternally, but God wants to reveal Himself as God even in the lowest valleys we may find ourselves in in life. "You will find Me, the Lord says when you search for Me with all your heart"......(Jeremiah 29:13).
The heavenly call to follow the Lord
The ultimate test or whether or not we really believe in a leader and his teaching, is whether or not we are willing to following them. That’s true in business world, in the political world, in the sports world, as well as in the religious world. We by nature only follow people we believe in. When God calls us to believe in His Son Jesus Christ and we then say yes, I believe, then the faith we confess to have in Jesus must manifest itself by following Him. That is what God Himself, speaking in His Son Jesus Christ has said. Jesus said, “the words I speak unto you, I speak not on my own authority, rather, it is the Father, living in Me, who is doing His work, (John 14:10). So then, it is God the Father, calling out to you and I through His Son Jesus Christ, to you and I who have confessed belief in Jesus Christ, to follow Him. Belove, this call comes from the very throne of God. So now, we have a decision to make. Are we going to allow Him to lead us through His written words in the Scriptures or are we going to live our life as we please.
And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. (1 Kings 18:21)
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? …(.Matthew 16:24-26)
And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me..(Matthew 10:38)
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.” (John 10:27-30)
If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor, Jesus said in.. (John 12:26)
The question we all need to answer correctly to the very God that created us and gives us our very next breath is this,.."Am I willing to follow Him? When He speaks to me on a matter, through His word,.. am I willing to obey Him from my heart because of who He is? The living God who revealed Himself in human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ our Lord.
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THE HEAVENLY CALL TO WAIT ON THE LORD
One of the most difficult lessons we have to learn when it comes to our faith, is waiting on the Lord. We by nature want to see things and know things and have some type of control over things so we can influence in some matter, the outcome of whatever situation we are facing... and waiting on the Lord involves releasing all of those concerns to Him. God knows it’s difficult for us and so God shows us in the Scriptures, the testimony of those who have learned to wait for Him, even though they failed at times. They were not perfect, but even in their failures, they learned that waiting on the Lord has led to a renewed strength and increase in their faith.
Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!......( Psalms 27:14)
“Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day……. (Psalms 25:5)
“But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint…( Isaiah 40:31)
Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him…..( Isaiah 30:18)
“My soul, wait silently for God alone,.For my expectation is from Him…(Psalms 62:5)
“For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth…..( Psalms 37:9)
“Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me……( Micah 7:7)
“Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, Because we have trusted in His holy name. Let Your mercy, O LORD, be upon us, Just as we hope in You…..( Psalms 33:20-22)
What are you waiting on the Lord for? While you wait set your mind and heart on the faithfulness of God,..on the love of God,..on the presence of God, and the wisdom of God who has a perfect understanding of you and your situation which He has allowed for reasons God may or may not reveal to us on this side of eternity, And then finally set your mind on the power of God to bring you through whatever you are going through because of who He is, God.
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD...( Lamentations 3:25-26 )
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THE HEAVENLY CALL TO REPENTANCE
Repentance,..What did Jesus Christ really mean when He talked a number of times about repentance? Here in Mathew 9:13,.. He says this,..
“But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”…(Matthew 9:13)
Belove, repentance, in the biblical sense, is a change of mind, that leads to a change of direction, in one’s life. It is not merely just changing your mind about something. If what you change your mind about does not lead to a change of direction in your life,.. then it is not the repentance Jesus talked about in (Mathew 9:13). When Jesus sent His apostles out to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God, He commanded them to preach that men should repent and believe the gospel. At one time in my past, I believed that Jesus Christ was the Lord, but He was not my Lord. In other words, I lived my life the way I wanted to with no regard at all for looking at His word, or even listening to His word being preached. Then a day came that He open my eyes and caused me to see what I truly am in His sight, a sinner heading for a day of judgement before Him that would lead to eternal separation from God forever, in Hell. That act of grace upon my heart caused me to repent. I changed my mind toward Jesus Christ, and that led to a change of direction in my life. Now to me, Jesus was not just the Lord, now He is my Lord, who I seek to obey with my whole heart by the strength He supplies and trusting Him alone to get me into Heaven, not the good I felt I was doing in God's sight that I felt made me alright with Him. It’s His will and His plans, and His ways that He reveals to me through the Scriptures, that are the priority in my life now. My life has totally changed direction because I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with my whole heart. That is what Jesus means when He talks about repentance toward God.
“And He (Jesus), opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem….( Luke 24:45-47)
“When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”..(Mark 2:17)
“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained….( Acts 17:30-31)
The apostle PauI testified saying,.. "I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ....... (Acts 20:20-21)
Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? ......( Romans 2:4 )
Belove, as you think about where you would be when you take your very last breath, do you really know in your heart, without a shadow of doubt, that heaven will be your eternal home? Do you know that based on what God Himself said in the Scriptures? Have you invited Jesus Christ into your life and surrendered to Him as your Lord? Have you realized that no amount of good you do in life can pay for your sins before a Holy God because you don't have a perfect life to present before Him like Jesus Christ had? Have you realized that God loves to show mercy to you and forgive your sins, but that can only happen through Jesus Christ when you call upon Him? Does the thought of going to a place of eternal torment trouble you? This is why Jesus Christ came into this world, to save sinners, which we all are. Belove, God wants you to have to security of knowing you will spend eternity with Him in that glorious city He has prepared for us. If you want the assurance in your heart to know without a doubt that you will spend eternity with Him, go back to the "Prayers" page under the "Encouragement" menu and pray the prayer to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and answer the Heavenly call to repentance. Then let God see you are willing to follow Him by joining a church and begin the process of growing there in the knowledge of Him, through the Scriptures. Belove, this is God's will for this world we live in. Are you willing to repent and make it your will too?
“Look to Me, and be saved,..All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other…….(Isaiah 45:22)