LEAVE IT ALL BEHIND…

Posted on June 27, 2014 by randscallawayffm

I remember it well. We were walking on Grandpa’s land, after a rain, when my feet got stuck in the wet earth. The longer I stood and struggled to get free the more I sank into the sand. As I sank up to my ankles, I yelled for help. Grandpa came, picked me up, with the shoes still stuck in the mud and silt. “Oh well, we will get you some more shoes.” And he carried me back to the house…leaving the shoes behind. I liked those shoes. 

We have followed God’s call to move, to leave all that was, before the call, a few times in our life’s journey. We still try to stay alert and ask God, evaluating where we are and what we are doing, as a way to stay focused on Him and be ready for His next call. We may have to move around the world or just across town, but whenever He invites us to move, we must move. Or be miserable.

God always has our best in His heart. Our names are written on the palm of His hand! Trust Him. 

Be very sure, be very sure, In times like these, as the song encourages…He is the only solid rock to stand on. Everything else shifts and moves and cannot be counted on. But God remains forever. Unchanging in His love. He will get you new shoes!

Abram knew it for he departed as soon as God’s call was expressed.

“Then the LORD told Abram, ‘Leave your country, your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. I will case you to become the father of a great nation.'” Genesis 12:1-2, NLT

“So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed him, and Lot went with him.” Genesis 12:4, NLT

Are you ready to depart, immediately…if God calls? It is a tough question we need to think about before God calls. Would I be willing to move if God said move. May He will and maybe He won’t. But our attitude should be one of readiness. Am I ready to move if God says move. Am I ready to stay if God says stay? Both are of equal importance. I want what God wants. No matter what others say, I want what God thinks is best for us…right now. 

How about You? Ready to leave those muddy shoes behind?
Image
Dear Heavenly Father, We do not want to become so comfortable in one part of the journey and miss the blessed best that You want us to experience next. May we always be ready and alert to hear your call. May we always be listening, even in the midst of our busy, productive lives, to listen with willingness to move or stay. Thank you for your forever love, guidance, mercy and grace wherever we are in every moment. We know that this life is temporary and it should be treated as such, so help us. Be with us. Continue to teach us. Thank you, Lord.
In Jesus Name, Amen

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

THERE’S NO OTHER PLACE TO GO…BUT GOD!

Posted on June 26, 2014 by randscallawayffm

THERE’S NO OTHER PLACE TO GO…BUT GOD!.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

THERE’S NO OTHER PLACE TO GO…BUT GOD!

Posted on June 26, 2014 by randscallawayffm

As we approach a familiar story of Abram who comes to the forefront of our attention in the Genesis of God’s Story of beginnings, I are reminded that it is indeed the story of God in humans. God is the subject of life. God is the foundation for living. God first and last. A few imperfect human’s stories are told so that we will get a glimpse of Who God is and how He works. 

It’s not about Abram and Sarai…but about God and His power to make anything and everything possible. This is another example of the power and majesty of God. 

If we pay attention, we find that we ourselves are living variations on these very stories: Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and his sons, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel, Joseph and his brothers. 

The stories show clearly that we are never outsiders or spectators to anything in heaven and earth. God doesn’t work impersonally from space, he works with us where we are, as he finds us. No matter what we do, whether good or bad, we continue to be part of everything that God is doing. Nobody can drop out—there’s no place to drop out to. So we may as well get started and take our place in the story–at the beginning. 

“God told Abram: ‘Leave your country, your family, and your father’s home for a land that I will show you.'” Genesis 12:1, Msg

And it begins…God showing another human what He can do. More tomorrow…

Image
Dear Heavenly Father, Sometimes we have to stop and meditate on the reason we read your word. It is not only to learn but to know You more and be transformed continually by Your power working in us. Thank you for stopping us this morning to just think about You. And then Your Story in us. In Jesus Name, Amen

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

WANTING MORE THAN WE NEED

Posted on June 25, 2014 by randscallawayffm

WANTING MORE THAN WE NEED.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

WANTING MORE THAN WE NEED

Posted on June 25, 2014 by randscallawayffm

Have you ever noticed that, as children and adults, we humans always want more than is necessary? We were passing out free candy bars to a group of older students, when many asked, can we have another one? Is this all we can have? Just one? These questions were asked before consuming the unexpected, free, bar they had in their hand. We ask for more, even while we are receiving more than we need. 

We ask God for what we think we need. Our God is gracious, loving, merciful and kind and always gives more than we need, it seems, so is our first thought gratitude or wondering if there’s more we could have asked for? I shudder at the thought, but we are a sinful, selfish lot. 

Noah and his family leave the boat with a fresh start and God’s promise to never flood the earth again. An eternal promise. “I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my permanent promise to you and to all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth the rainbows will be seen in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with everything that lives. 

A fresh start on a newly cleansed earth. Descendants of Noah abound and fill the earth. 

But they want more…a monument to their own greatness. So, they get together to build a great city with a tower that “reaches to the skies”. God brings confusion to this human misguided unity of effort by giving them different languages. “In that way, the LORD scattered them all over the earth; and that ended the building of the city. That is why the city was called Babel, because it was there that the LORD confused the people by giving them many languages, thus scattering them across the earth.” Genesis 11, NLT

We always want more. Sad.

God is God and we are not. God’s Story is a reminder that we do not know what is best for us. We do not even know what we need. We must turn to God first with a prayer of gratitude for what He has already done. Then ask HIM for what HE thinks we need. He will remember us. He will provide. For God is our Father who wants what is best for His children. That is us. His children who He created and loves more than anyone on this earth. So, ask…with a grateful heart.

Image
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for teaching us our weakness of selfishness in Your Story about Your Greatness. We come with gratitude for all You have done for us. We ask that You give us this day all You know we will need to live a life pleasing to You and will be helpful to others seeking you. Here is my life. Have Your own Way, Lord. In Jesus Name, Amen

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

STUCK, UNTIL GOD SAYS LEAVE THE BOAT!

Posted on June 24, 2014 by randscallawayffm

STUCK, UNTIL GOD SAYS LEAVE THE BOAT!.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

STUCK, UNTIL GOD SAYS LEAVE THE BOAT!

Posted on June 24, 2014 by randscallawayffm

Genesis, chapter 8 begins with “But God remembered Noah and all the animals in the boat.” I am a bit amused at the statement this morning. How could God forget!? I’m sure Noah and his family didn’t forget being stuck in God’s boat for five months while God worked on drying out the landy, landy…yes, I also can’t help but think of the song we all sang in our younger years! 

Have you ever been stuck? Inside? Wanting desperately to be outside? After our challenging winter, I relate some but nothing compares to being stuck like Noah, his family and the animals inside a huge boat. The only comfort is knowing God was protecting them. He was still protecting them and is drying out the land to prepare it for their habitation and production once again.

But in the meantime, they are stuck. Noah feels the pressures of being stuck and keeps sending out a dove, a sign, to see if God is ready for them to move out, move forward…or just get out! Is it safe, yet? God have you forgotten us? We are still in the boat, you know!

I think of the times I have been spiritually stuck in my life. It wasn’t always a bad thing, it was always a “growing thing”, but it was the most frustrating times of my life, waiting on God to tell me when to get unstuck. I tried sending out signs, too. My motivations and efforts to “help” God were in vain and just caused more frustration. So, I relaxed, became more submissive, then the door opened, surprising me, overwhelming me with excitement and renewal, at the just the right time, in the right way. Mm, God always remembers, always knows what is best.

Noah finally gets out of the boat…at God’s command. After sending a dove out to check God’s progress, God says, “Leave the boat, all of you.”

Noah worships! Before doing anything else, Noah stops first to worship. Thank you for pointing that out, dear LORD, in Your story of You.

“Noah built an altar to the LORD and sacrificed on it the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose. And the LORD was pleased with the sacrifice and said to himself. ‘I will never again curse the earth, destroying all living things, even though people’s thoughts and actions are bent toward evil from childhood. As long as the earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night.” Genesis 8:20-22, NLT

Image
Stuck? There is joy in the morning! God remembers you and is already working in You while He is preparing to open the door, the right door for you. My prayer. For all of us. In Jesus Name, Amen

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

THE CLEANSING

Posted on June 23, 2014 by randscallawayffm

THE CLEANSING.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

THE CLEANSING

Posted on June 23, 2014 by randscallawayffm

When God says go. We go. Noah did just that and he and his family were saved. God’s created earth, once covered with the corruption of evil beyond imagination is cleansed…with water. Lots of water. With the waters God created, he used to cleanse his earth. I am reminded of the song we sing every Easter, “Up from the grave He arose” as I read how up from the ground the mighty waters rose to cleanse the earth. Parallel? Maybe. Evil has to be destroyed and our lives cleansed and healed, renewed and restored from it’s destruction. When God says go. We go.

GET IN THE BOAT!
“Finally, the day came when the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth, I consider you alone to be righteous.” Genesis 7:1, NLT

NOAH OBEYS
“So, Noah did exactly as the LORD had commanded him.” 
Genesis 7:5, NLT

THE CLEANSING
“When Noah was 600 years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month, the underground waters burst forth on the earth, and the rain fell in mighty torrents from the sky. The rain continued to fall for forty days and forty nights.” Genesis 7:11, NLT

“For forty days the floods prevailed, covering the ground and lifting the boat high above the earth. As the waters rose higher and higher above the ground, the boat floated safely on the surface. Finally, the water covered even the highest mountains on the earth, standing more than twenty-two feet above the highest peaks. All the living things on earth died–birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all kinds of small animals, and all the people. Everything died that breathed and lived on dry land. Every living thing on the earth was wiped out—people, animals both large and small, and birds. They were all destroyed, and only Noah was left alive, along with those who were with him in the boat. And the water covered the earth for 150 days.” Genesis 7:12-24, NLT

“But God remembered Noah…” Genesis 8:1, NLT

“Noah built an altar to the LORD and sacrificed…” Genesis 8:20

“And the LORD was pleased with the sacrifice…”Genesis 8:21

Image
Dear Heavenly Father, Your story reminds us to consistently focus on You, asking for your help in thinking higher thoughts so that our behavior is more pleasing to you. Our desire to to do EXACTLY what you command us to do…like Noah did. May we worship You with our very lives in everything we do today. Thank you for Your cleansing in our very lives. Thank you for restoration. Thank you for your promise. Thank you for Jesus Christ, our salvation. In Jesus Name, Amen

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

FROM CREATION TO CORRUPTION TO CATASTROPHE

Posted on June 22, 2014 by randscallawayffm

FROM CREATION TO CORRUPTION TO CATASTROPHE.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment