Tag: Holy Spirit urgings

The Cost of Not Accepting the Call of God

Luke 19:42
If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.

As Jesus weeped over Jerusalem, He spoke the words in Luke 19 to the Jews, who He knew would reject Him and His offer of salvation. Because they rejected His offer, He transferred His offer to the willing Gentiles.

This principle is carried out in a different way in our daily lives. Jesus prepares us to do His work and asks us to be obedient to His calling. Sometimes He will give us simple urgings in the spirit to do something nice for someone, to pray for someone, to forgive someone or to ask forgiveness from someone. Often His urging may be for a simple act to bring a smile upon the face of another. At other times, His bidding will have much more significant impact. Whatever He asks of us, if we accept His call, we will be given greater things to do for Him. We will experience the peace and comfort that flows from serving Him. If we do not accept His bidding, we will miss the peace He offers and we will miss a portion of the bigger plans that He has for our lives. Sadly, He will move on to find the one who is willing serve Him readily.

Let us not miss the satisfaction of living in the peace and comfort of the Lord. Let us eagerly accept and carry out any task, big or small, that the Lord is asking us to do. Let us discover how simple acts of obedience bring complete peace and comfort into our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to serve You. We rejoice in knowing that You are pleased when we are obedient to Your urging. We pray that You make us sensitive to the work that You call us to do. May we find joy in even the smallest tasks. May it all bring honor and glory to You, to Your Son and to the Holy Spirit. We ask all these things in the name of the One that gives us peace at all times and in every way, Jesus Christ.

Seeking Our Personal Vision from God

Acts 26:19
And so, King Agrippa, I obeyed that vision from heaven.

The apostle Paul was brought before the Judean Monarch, King Agrippa, to defend himself and his gospel. In his defense, he told the king why he was doing what he was doing, “I obeyed the vision from heaven.” Paul was not driven by a well thought out plan based on practicality or his own competence. He went out and proclaimed the gospel against all hindrances imaginable, many of which could not be overcome without the hand of God. He also went where God told him to go at the time that God told him to go.

Paul is our model for following visions. When urged by the Holy Spirit to do so, we should move forward without regard for our own capabilities for God always provides what is needed to complete His good work. Just as important, we should not rush ahead in consideration of our current skills and circumstances. We should only move when and where the Holy Spirit urges us to move.

While we are not likely to have a vision for our lives delivered to us in a dramatic encounter with Jesus like the apostle Paul did, we are all called to respond to the plan that Almighty God has willed for our lives. If we are diligent in seeking “our vision”, it will be revealed to us in a manner that will be sufficient to guide us and inspire us to pursue our vision. It will be given to us when the way has been prepared in advance for our success.

Let us seek God’s will and plan for our lives. Let us obey the urgings of the Holy Spirit as we fully surrender to a life of service to Our King.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You allowing us to serve You. We rejoice in knowing that we will serve You for all eternity. We pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us to seek and discover Your plans for our lives. We ask that You teach us how to turn to You alone for our direction. We ask that You teach us how to wait on You to prepare the way before we move. We ask all these things in the name of Our Wonderful Counselor, Jesus Christ.